706 Market St.
A downtown coffeehouse/church is realizing a dream project with the purchase this week of an historic downtown building for use as a ministry center.
Riverchurch purchased the four-story former S.H. Kress's building at 706 Market St. for $1.1 million from businessman Matt Hullander.
The project, led by minister Shannon Greer, will be known as the Oasis Center.
Minister Greer, who also operates the Cadence coffee shop at the site of Riverchurch on Seventh Street, said in a video, "We want to be in the heart of the city to strengthen the heart of the city."
He said the aim is to combine the focus of several different non-profits for a holistic approach to hurting people that he often encounters downtown.
"We want to create an oasis of resources under one roof," he said.
Minister Greer said, "For more than 100 years, 706 Market St. has provided a variety of services in the heart of downtown Chattanooga.
"Today, 706 Market sits empty, but it teems with potential as a future centralized hub for impacting the lives of countless Chattanoogans and people around the world.
"From 1905 and the 50 years following it was a S.H. Kress & Company Five and Ten. In the 1960’s, the building was home to Mangel’s Dress Store. Most recently Downtown Mart, a wig shop operated out of this historic building.
"This space will be revitalized storefront for an established Chattanooga coffee shop, as well as a multi-tenant non-profit incubator offering a variety of services including work force development; counseling and group support; addiction recovery; international impacts, as well as organized efforts to fight social cancers like homelessness, human trafficking and systemic poverty.
Shared resources will include the services of a CPA, it was stated.
The basement level is to be leased for income-generating event space. The ground floor is to be anchored by the Cadence coffee shop and co-working space. The next floor will have conference and media space that can be rented out. The top level is to offer office space to non-profits and supporting businesses with subsidized leases.
In an earlier posting, minister Greer said the group's fundraising drive was "closing in on $400,000." He said the total needed was $6.4 million.
He said the project was supported by Mr. Hullander, David Roddy, Travis Lytle, Matthew Macaulay and others.