New construction projects on the horizon
Parker Wright news-herald.net
COVID-19 hasn’t slowed progress in one area as Lenoir City and Loudon continue with new projects. Beth Collins, Lenoir City planner, said the virus hasn’t had much of an impact on the construction industry. “This is typically the beginning of our busy season in the spring,” she said. “We’ve not had any kind of slowdown that I’ve seen. … We’ve had kind of an upswing on residential calls, inquiries on remodels. Seems like a lot of people are taking advantage of maybe this extra time to do a project at home — fencing, decks, that sort of thing.”
Travis Gray, Loudon inspector and codes officer, agreed there is
consistency in construction work.
“Even through this COVID-19
emergency we’ve had, we’ve had consistent people building
houses on a consistent basis,” he said. “Nobody’s really
quit. We tried our best to get those permits out and keep
them moving forward and letting these contractors and
homeowners build them a home if that’s what they want. …
There hasn’t been any slowing down.”
Loudon’s current projects are
all residential, Gray said.
“Sweetwater Creek is going
into its second phase,” he said. “We have a new subdivision
at the interstate called Cedar Grove and they’re moving
right along. I think they’ve got maybe 10 or 12 houses
started in that subdivision. That’s pretty much the biggest
part of our construction right now is in the residential
market. We don’t have anything commercial or industrial
going at the moment.”
Lenoir City has both residential and commercial projects in
the works, Collins said.
“Commercial-wise, we’ve got
Firestone Tire being built over at the market at Town
Creek,” she said. “Of course, the Lenoir City fire hall over
on Depot Street is being remodeled with additions. There’s a
building called Lenoir City Retail Four located beside
Gondolier so it’s a four-tenant space. Little Caesars is in
there … Campbell’s Pool and Spa is going in one of the
spaces. They’re working on it now. There’s a Jimmy Johns
going into one of the spaces, and then we don’t know who the
fourth tenant will be at this time. They’ve not submitted
for our fourth tenant.”
There are also projects
“coming down the pipeline,” Collins said. Avid Hotel will be
going up on U.S. Highway 321 near Bimbo’s, and GatorStep
Marine Decking will be relocating to Lenoir City from
Knoxville.
Lenoir City will also
have new residential projects.
“The Creekwood Villas
that were going on, going to be built down on Creekwood
Boulevard, that is still proposed,” Collins said. “They
have actually moved the site down one parcel, so we’re
kind of starting over with the process now. It’s going
to be on our May planning commission agenda for rezoning
and site plans. There’s a proposed 274 units. It’s one-
and two-story apartments. The amenities that are being
proposed, there’s going to be a clubhouse, a pool, a
playground and a dog park. So it looks like a very nice
thing.
“We also have a project
off Williams Ferry that’s going to be called Harper
Village, and that is the old Tennessee Baptist property,
and that is a proposed 200 unit townhome development.
Off Ash Avenue where the old Ash Trailer Park used to
be, they are proposing a 100 single-family home
subdivision.”
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5/13/20