News Coverage

Knoxville News Sentinel
December 6, 2006
Westside ISIS units for sale
Roger Harris

Residential and retail condos at Northshore Town Center in West Knoxville are now for sale at pre-construction prices.

The $250 million, 155-acre, mixed-use development at the northwest corner of Pellissippi Parkway and Northshore Drive is being built by Charleston, S.C.-based James Doran Co.

The Isis Condominiums include 30 upscale residential units and eight retail units in a pair of four-story buildings at Thunderhead Road and Northshore Drive.

Each building will have about 5,300 square feet of retail space divided into units on the ground floor. Residential condos on the upper floors include 12 two-bedroom units with 1,432 square feet, 12 "oversize" one-bedroom units with 1,039 square feet and six one-bedroom units with 834 square feet.

Pre-construction prices for all condos start in the high $100,000s.

In keeping with the "new urban village" theme of the overall town center development, Isis residents will be within walking distance of shopping, parks with a five-acre lake, and a jogging/nature trail, Doran says.

New urbanism is an over-used phrase that means different things to different people. Doran's definition is a place that "brings shopping, living, working and playing together" in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.

The Isis condos are part of The Village at Northshore Town Center, an office-retail-residential complex on a 15-acre site about 200 yards west of the Pellissippi Parkway off ramp.

A larger commercial complex is planned immediately west of the ramp as part of the overall $250 million town center development.

Doran is starting small with the commercial component, but Knoxville homebuilder Mike Stevens is just glad to see progress on the retail front.

Stevens, president of Mike Stevens Homes, started building the first 22 homes in the town center development last year. Average price: $450,000.

Interest in the single-family houses, townhouses and urban lofts has been strong, "but a lot of people are waiting to see what's going to happen" with the retail plans, Stevens said.

"I'll be happy to see (Doran) get started with the commercial. That's going to help us a lot," said Stevens, who plans to move into one of the Northshore townhouses in February.

The urban lofts, which have three floors with a roof-top terrace for entertaining, have been a surprising success.

"We've sold two out of three, and we're getting ready to start construction on the next group of three," Stevens said.

The lofts were designed with the thirty-something crowd in mind, but retirees and empty nesters also are looking.

"The lofts have 51 steps and not everybody wants to walk up 51 steps. So with this next group the lofts will still have the steps, but we're going to include an optional elevator," Stevens said.

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