News Coverage

Knoxville News Sentinel
August 2, 2006
Project Anchor Going Up
By Roger Harris

Construction of the first commercial building in the Northshore Town Center mixed-use development will start in the next few weeks, James Doran Co. executive George Tullos said during a trip to Knoxville last week. The $250 million "new urban village" project is being built on 155 acres at the northwest corner of the intersection of Northshore Drive and Pellisippi Parkway in West Knox County. Area business owners eager to open stores or offices in the demographic-rich South Northshore Drive area have heard similar promises since the project was announced in September 2004. But this time Tullos was emphatic.

"The site work is under way and the first building will start getting vertical before the end of September," said Tullos, vice president of marketing and sales for the Charleston, S.C.-based developer. First to come out of the ground is a three-story 36,000-square-foot building that will anchor The Village at Northshore. The current site plan shows a mix of office and retail space, townhouses and loft-style condominiums on 14.3 acres about 200 yards west of the Pellissippi Parkway-Northshore Drive interchange. Most of the ground floor of the first building has been leased and "we're really not doing anything yet to solicit tenants," Tullos said.

An artists' rendering of the L-shaped "Building 400" depicts an attractive brick structure with a curved front where the two legs of the L are joined. Office, retail and restaurant uses are planned. Tullos wouldn't say what businesses have signed leases or made verbal commitments. However, a major user would be a Knoxville-area company that plans to move its headquarters there. A contract to build a branch bank office "is just a signature away" from being final, Tullos added. A million-dollar offer from a fast-food restaurant was turned down "because that's not what we want to do with the site," Tullos said. Saying no to a million bucks isn't easy, but Doran Co. has a development plan and is sticking to it.

In addition to "Building 400" and space for a bank building, The Village site plan shows 123 townhouses and 30 condo lofts. The Village is the smaller of two commercial centers included in the overall town center project. The main commercial center would be immediately west of the Northshore Drive exit ramp. Overall, the town center development plan includes 550,000 square feet of retail space and 330,000 square feet of Class A office space. Final design of the main commercial center, which would have several times more retail and office space than The Village, depends on possible construction of a "slip ramp." A "slip ramp" coming off _the Northshore Drive exit ramp would funnel traffic directly into the main commercial center and on into the main residential portion of the overall town center development. Without a "slip ramp," traffic would enter the commercial center off Northshore Drive. Either way the main commercial center will be built, Tullos said.

Business writer Roger Harris' "Property Watch" column appears on Wednesday. He may be reached at 865-342-6342 or harrisr@knews.com