Over $198 million in public improvements are planned at The Bend, the ambitious project on 120 acres at the former Alstom site downtown on the riverbank, according to documents prepared in connection with an application for a TIF.
Developer Jimmy White of Urban Story Ventures is seeking Tax Increment Financing for the project, which would be by far the largest TIF for the city and county thus far.
With a TIF, improvements are made up front and then repaid through property tax and sales tax collections in the district.
The Bend improvements include streets, sidewalks, utilities and sewer lines as well as a canal water feature. The sitework construction budget was put at $95,658,884. The canal infrastructure allowance is listed at $16,451,332.
The developer said almost all of the riverfront portion will be retained as green space and eventually turned over to the city as a park.
Term of the TIF is 20 years.
The city Industrial Development Board, which meets on the project on Monday, will be asked to approve two TIFS - one on the site improvements as well as a Brownfield TIF. The location is the long-term site of industrial operations that left behind a number of contaminants. The former owner was put under an agreement with TDEC that involves continued oversight and compliance measures.
Total "hard" costs at The Bend are expected to be $2.1 billion. The "soft" costs add another $129 million.
There are projected to be over 2,000 people working at The Bend by the time it is built out.
It is designed to be a corporate campus attracting regional, national and international business in such areas as medical and wellness, technology, transportation and logistics, professional services and mixed-use projects.
The city's tallest building in 40 years is planned at 1111 W. Main. It will have 10 stories and 220,000 square feet. It is planned as an office building with ground floor retail.
Condos, townhomes and apartments are also part of the plan.
The total project is to add over 7.3 million square feet to the downtown community.
A project evaluation by Younger Associates of Jackson, Tn., computed an economic impact of $4.1 billion during construction with 17,459 construction jobs.
The 20-year impact of one-time project construction plus full operation is estimated at $34.1 billion economic impact.
Construction is slated to start this November and continue through the end of 2035.
Grace Construction of Chattanooga (Jonathan Horne) is the contractor/manager. Architects are Tinker Ma, Thomas Palmer and Jessica Stack. Engineering is by Ragan Smith. HHM (Trip Farmer) is the accountant.
Hiren Desai, of 3h Group Hotels and a Jimmy White associate, is expected to build one or more hotels at the site.
Officials said the huge site was acquired for $45.8 million.
The TIF application says Mr. White is a Chattanooga native and current resident who has over two decades of real estate experience. He began his career as a real estate broker in South Florida working for the Sheehan Realty Corporation from 2005-2007. He formed West End Property in 2018 at the time plans were being formulated for The Bend.