River City Company is buzzing with ideas for downtown Chattanooga as the city completes traffic analysis for the Reimagine Broad Street project and big offices eye downsizing in the wake of the work-from-home movement.
Jim Williamson, vice-president of River City, presented three designs to the Chattanooga Engineers Club at its Monday meeting: named Promenade, Broad(er) Sidewalks and Park Street. While these designs stretch from Aquarium Way to MLK Boulevard, Mr. Williamson said it’s possible Reimagine Broad Street will extend south if the Tennessee Valley Authority offices at West 11th and 12th Streets are chosen as the site of a new federal courthouse.
The eight-acre TVA headquarters is one of the top three choices for the courthouse, which requires only 2-5 acres. The rest can be developed into much-needed homes, Mr. Williamson said.
Mr. Williamson also said that BlueCross BlueShield is discussing plans to repurpose part of its corporate headquarters building on Cameron Hill as employees now have the green light to work from home indefinitely. The BCBS building at street level on MLK Boulevard is already slated to be sold, he said.
However, a spokesperson for BlueCross said that was not accurate.
Gabrielle Cipriano said, "This story includes inaccurate information about BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. The person quoted, Jim Williamson, does not have knowledge of BCBST plans and was not speaking on behalf of BCBST. BlueCross does not have plans to repurpose Cameron Hill for anything other than serving as the headquarters for BlueCross employees only. In other words, we will not be selling or leasing any part of the campus."
Reimagine Broad Street
All three Broad Street designs feature one-lane, one-way traffic, with trees and gardens in the medians, street parking and bike lanes. Broad Street funnels fewer than 6,000 cars per day, Mr. Williamson said, making it a good candidate for one-lane traffic, even if that traffic doubled. Existing lanes would be sacrificed for pedestrian space, park space, and street café space.
In the three designs, that space is either consolidated in the middle as along Las Ramblas in Barcelona, the “Promenade,” it’s split to each side of the street along the storefronts for “Broad(er) Sidewalks,” or, in the “Park Street” design, it’s given to the west side of the street for an extra-wide “park,” though the east side still has a 25-foot sidewalk.
The project will cost more than $5 million per block.
If all goes well, Mr. Williamson said, engineering drawings will be finished one year from now, and then the projects will go to bid in phases of one or two blocks at a time.
Ross’s Landing
River City Company is making plans to “humanize” Ross’s Landing. Mr. Williamson said the current design works well for big events, but “on a daily basis, it’s not very comfortable,” he said. He said River City is working with two firms to make Ross’s Landing better for day-to-day use while keeping it ready for city-wide special events.
Market Analysis
“We need more people waking up in our downtown every day,” Mr. Williamson said. Offices everywhere downtown are downsizing, he said, and that space can become residential.
River City is working with Unum to convert its many unused surface parking lots, with success on three fronts already: River Rock, a 163-apartment complex that filled 95 percent of its units in its first year; five acres at Vine Street and Georgia Avenue will become 136 units for sale in the $350,000 to $600,000 range; Walnut Hill near 4th Street has 250 residential units and commercial space, too.
“We’re really, really trying to make downtown a neighborhood again,” Mr. Williamson said.
Downtown doesn’t necessarily need more retail, he said, but more residents would attract certain shops like grocery stores and drug stores, he said.
AT&T Stadium/Hawk Hill
River City owns the land under the stadium and surrounding parking lots, totaling 13 acres. When the Lookouts relocate in 2025, River City will purchase the old stadium and probably build housing, Mr. Williamson said.