New velopment planned for 200 block of Gay Street Knoxville

Contents:

• COULD REVELOPG GAY STREET'S 200 BLOCK CREATE A NEW DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE DISTRICT?
• CONSTCTN PREPARED TO START ON THE 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET
• THIS $26M PROJECT WOULD FILL GAY STREET'S 'GREAT DIVI' WH SHOPPG, HOG AND DG
• 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET
• THE 200 BLOCK OF GAY ST. N NOW BE VELOPED. BUT WHAT WILL GO THERE TO 'BRIDGE THAT GAP'?
• $30M GAY STREET VELOPMENT ULD CHANGE FACE OF DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE
• 200 BLOCK OF SOUTH GAY STREET
• NEW VELOPMENT PLANNED FOR 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET KNOXVILLE
• DID YOU KNOW THE 100 BLOCK OF GAY STREET WAS RAISED? TAKE AN UNRGROUND TOUR
• NEW VELOPMENT PLANNED FOR 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET KNOXVILLE
• COULD REVELOPG GAY STREET'S 200 BLOCK CREATE A NEW DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE DISTRICT?

COULD REVELOPG GAY STREET'S 200 BLOCK CREATE A NEW DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE DISTRICT?

North of the Vis Knoxville office is a quiet and quat neighborhood known as the 100 block of Gay Street — a place where rints enjoy the ameni of livg downtown Knoxville wh ls htle and btle. Between the 100 block and the re of Gay Street is the multi-lane Summ Hill Drive and the empty 200 block, currently home to a surface parkg lot and an agg Cradle of Country Mic Park.

CONSTCTN PREPARED TO START ON THE 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET

200 Block of Gay Street Prepared for Constctn of Caledonia Pass.

It re-nnects the 100 and 300 blocks of Gay Street and will be the first nstctn project to break ground on our most loved street sce the Riverview Tower was pleted 1985 at the other end of downtown. Long nsired one of Gay Street's most notor voids, a rare surface lot downtown Knoxville on the 200 block uld transform to a h visn of shoppg, hog and dg.

THIS $26M PROJECT WOULD FILL GAY STREET'S 'GREAT DIVI' WH SHOPPG, HOG AND DG

Hill told Knox News the pany is unr ntract wh KCDC, but the project n't move forward as planned whout tax-crement Livg: Rintial worth almost $200 ln uld change downtown livgThe velopment, currently ed Caldonia Pass, would clu two large buildgs that would span the entire lot — 180 feet along the wt si of Gay Street and 150 feet along Wt Ve Avenue and Wt Summ Hill Drive property l.

Connectg Gay Street is 'our ltle part'The empty 200 block has been ced for years by downtown lears as a barrier that keeps people om wanrg om the heart of Gay Street to the 100 block and the Old Cy. "Right now, people on Gay Street get to Summ Hill and n see the 100 block, but isn’t an easy transn, " Ben Bentley, executive director of KCDC, told Knox News the time, veloper Leigh Burch III had released ntrol of the lot back to KCDC. " Retail plaza 'ak to Market Square'The proposed buildg clost to Gay Street would be three stori tall, wh plans for mercial and retail space on the first two first floor would have storeonts on the Gay Street si, while the send-floor mercial space would be accsed via public urtyard on the backsi of the buildg.

200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET

"We wanted the Gay Street buildg to look like f .

" Addnal parkg would be leased om Capol Lofts if need and, addn to bridgg the Gay Street gap, the TIF applitn c the project's creatn of 105 permanent jobs as a public benef. In a very signifint velopment for downtown, Hatcher-Hill Properti has troduced a project that will rtore the wtern si of the 200 block of Gay Street. It’s somethg we’ve talked about on this blog for years as a missg piece the downtown velopment equatn: the missg 200 block of South Gay Street.

THE 200 BLOCK OF GAY ST. N NOW BE VELOPED. BUT WHAT WILL GO THERE TO 'BRIDGE THAT GAP'?

The 200 Block of Gay Street, Wt Si - The Gaps of Gay Street Part 4.

For our forth stallment of the "Gaps of Gay Street", and a follow-up to the 200 Block East si, we'll cross Gay Street to the wt si. He purchased his first saloon, The Poplar Log, at the rner of Central and Ve the 1890's and then shortly opened this place, The Lone Tree Saloon, namg after the last tree standg on Gay St.

Cal Johnson's Lone Tree Saloon and the "Last Tree on Gay Street". An 1890's view of the wt si of the 200 block of Gay Street.

$30M GAY STREET VELOPMENT ULD CHANGE FACE OF DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE

While the tre are pretty, thk of how much more hive downtown would feel if the 100 block hadn't been severed om the rt of Gay Street. Below are some aerial shots showg the gap where Gay street was terpted. Until next time, when we move south back down Gay Street seekg to fill "The Gaps of Gay Street.

The 200 Block of Gay Street, East Si - The Gaps of Gay Street Part 3.

He found a real cy, an unbroken nyon of merce all the way om the tra rails to the railgs on the Gay Street Bridge. And that, rears, is what Gay Street ed to be like.

200 BLOCK OF SOUTH GAY STREET

Jam, The Summ Apartments, the Commerce Street Fire Hall, the old Lawson-McGhee library, the rectory of Immaculate Conceptn Church, the Termal buildg, one of the Victorian Southern Railroad office buildgs at the Gay St. Viaduct, 3 buildgs on Jackson Avenue the Old Cy (now a parkg lot across om Boyd's Jig and Reel), the entire 200 block of Gay Street on both sis, and on and on.

That's seven buildgs ontg Gay Street or the addrs 200 through 218. Back 1880, there wasn't much on this particular stretch of Gay Street.

NEW VELOPMENT PLANNED FOR 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET KNOXVILLE

Groceri and then The Gay Barber Shop and Turkish Baths. Gay rried all kds of thgs.

Gay St. All except one, the one at the rner of Gay and Ve. Lookg South on Gay St.

(As an asi, one n see the old Diftler's safe at Rick Terry Jewelers on Gay St. Lookg north on Gay, 1930's.

DID YOU KNOW THE 100 BLOCK OF GAY STREET WAS RAISED? TAKE AN UNRGROUND TOUR

Later, 212 would be home to the Gay Street Cema Theater the 1970's. Gay jt before moln (ed wh permissn of Jack Kirkland, photographer). What's missg (jt on Gay St.

We'll take a look at next time the Gaps of Gay Street seri. The 200 block of Gay Street, home to two parkg lots and no storeonts, n now be veloped followg an agreement ma between the Knoxville Communy Development Corporatn and downtown veloper Leigh Burch III, who has released ntrol of the lot to lot, which ss next to the Crowne Plaza and across om the Cradle of Country Mic Park, currently acts as private parkg for tenants of Burch's Sterchi Lofts. "I heard om a number of people would make sense to have street-level retail to bridge that gap between the 100 block of Gay Street and the area of Gay Street south of Summ Hill.

"Right now, people on Gay Street get to Summ Hill and n see the 100 block, but isn’t an easy transn. ”Strikg 'while the iron is hot'Burch was supposed to ntrol the Gay Street lot for 50 years.

NEW VELOPMENT PLANNED FOR 200 BLOCK OF GAY STREET KNOXVILLE

That agreement had four major ponents: The 50-year lease was nceled, and Burch released the Gay Street lot to purchased the Ve Street parkg lot om KCDC to provi new parkg for Sterchi signed a new two-month lease on the Gay Street lot to ease the transn for his agreed to velop the property on Ve Street down the Ve Street lot has around 90 spots pared to 76 the lot on Gay Street. Bentley said the Gay Street lot will likely bee public until the begng of the velopment procs, which clus property surveys, public put, a requt for proposal, evaluatns and a selectn before nstctn begs. " Developg 'somethg signifint'Although KCDC works wh hog, the potential e of the Gay Street lot is much broar.

While securg a larger lot for his tenants was part of Burch's reasong behd the agreement, he also views the Gay Street and Ve Street velopments as beneficial to downtown properti, cludg his own. "I thk (velopg Gay Street) will help the mercial ponent by havg this velopment but, then aga, don't help the rintial ponent, " he is, unls Burch n create more rintial uns, he said. Of urse, other piec clu a renovated Cradle of Country Mic Park directly across Gay Street and the property Burch plans to velop up the hill on Ve Street.

The plan is to have the lot striped next week and to beg movg tenants om the Gay Street lot to Ve Street. Sterchi Lofts:Gay Street ndos to have parkg, rooftop lounge and more — but the currentoccupants mt goCradle of Country Mic Park:Cy Council approv $500, 000 'Pier 865' sculpture, Knoxville's most expensive public artDowntown Knoxville livg:More than 1, 000 new uns g, excg current urban dwellers. The $30-ln project is unr nstctn, signed to nnect the parts of Gay Street that are separated by a by tersectn.

COULD REVELOPG GAY STREET'S 200 BLOCK CREATE A NEW DOWNTOWN KNOXVILLE DISTRICT?

The whole ia behd the project is to get people visg the 300 block of Gay Street to cross Summ Hill and go on toward the 200 block. The se ss next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the rner of Gay Street and Summ Hill. “The wt buildg is seven stori and the buildg facg Gay Street is three stori.

It will likely be the first ground-up nstctn to beg se-work on Gay Street. The 200 block of Gay Street has been missg sce the 1970s when Summ Hill Drive, an oversized suburban boulevard, stroyed the entire blocks at the heart. The five-lane gap formed one part of an urban chasm that later clud a large parkg lot bound by Crowne Plaza, Summ Hill, Gay Street, and Ve.

Night View of Caldonia Pass om the Corner of Ve and Gay. Caldonia Pass Direct view om Gay Street.