Knoxville's Redevelopment Plan Creates 'Downtown North'
Revitalization and redevelopment aren't just buzzwords in Knoxville. With Market Square's successful revitalization, new retail and restaurants on Gay Street and in the Old City, and the South Waterfront redevelopment underway, officials have turned their attention to North Knoxville, moving forward with plans for the "Downtown North" redevelopment. The plan is ambitious, involving "the second-largest redevelopment area ever identified in the city."
Photo by J. Miles Cary.
The plans include recreating the North Central Avenue corridor "as a mixed-use area ripe for new retail, commercial and residential investment," and narrowing of certain parts of Central Avenue to create a two lane street that will allow "more room for a pedestrian-friendly streetscape with bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks and on-street parking." This plan is to work in conjunction with the redevelopment of Broadway Avenue, which crosses North Central at the historic Fourth and Gill residential area (see page 2 for a map of that area; click here for maps of the downtown area and the City of Knoxville).
Although new development in the extended North Knoxville area has been among the most active in recent years, redevelopment of the area which connects downtown to it has been slower. While the Fourth and Gill and Old North Knoxville neighborhoods have enjoyed a growing popularity with renovations to their historic homes and the formation of strong neighborhood associations, the businesses and properties along Central and Broadway remained in decline. This redevelopment plan targets those areas, which will ultimately extend the downtown's successful revitalization by linking it to the nearby historic neighborhoods and, eventually, to the new development further to the north. The result will be a continuous and integrated mixed-use area with a focus on green spaces, economic development, and preservation of the area's historic resources. Although it will take several years before the area is fully transformed, several businesses are already improving their buildings' facades while investors are purchasing and renovating existing apartments. As one developer said, "It's coming. … It's come quite a way in just the last year." Want to know more about Knoxville development? Submit your inquiry here.
