A developer who plans to take over the long-running Lifestyle Way near Hamilton Place Mall says a major grocery store plans to move into the site at Gunbarrel Road and Shallowford Road.
Jack Haley of Branch Properties said his firm plans to finish out the development started by Ken and Byron Defoor.
He said the firm has a top retailer set for the site as well as a number of stores that will be in Chattanooga for the first time.
However, a complete rezoning of the 62-acre site still has to get by the Planning Commission and the City Council.
The Planning Commission on Monday deferred the project for 30 days to give time for the city and state transportation department's to study a new traffic report from the developers.
A TDOT official said there is concern about Napier Drive being open and funneling more traffic onto Shallowford Road and the nearby I-75. He said that section "is already saturated" with traffic.
City Councilman Larry Grohn said the property as envisioned was to have been 80 percent residential and 20 percent office. He said, "It has morphed to the Frankenstein we see now."
Current plans are for 380,000 square feet of retail, large parking lots, 20,000 square feet of restaurant space and the grocery site. There will also be three- and four-story apartments with 300 units.
Mr. Haley said the apartments "will be Class A with all the amenities."
He said the project will have connections via sidewalks and a multi-modal path.
Nearby residents along Gunbarrel said they already experience flooding and said traffic is so bad it is hard to get out of their neighborhood.
Attorney Mike St. Charles had pushed for the Planning Commission to go ahead and send it to the City Council, saying, "Time is money."