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The nearly $100 million mixed-use project recently approved by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission for construction on Old Lee Highway is the largest of its kind to date for the Summit area, said engineer Mike Price.
“It’s a pretty big seed,” he said, referencing the ripeness of the area for future development.
With its two hotels and restaurants fronting Old Lee Highway and 216 apartment units behind that commercially zoned portion, the development itself will also spur future economic development for the area, according to Miriam Hamilton, director of research for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
She pointed out that for every 100 restaurant jobs an additional 20 other jobs are created and supported. Every 100 hotel jobs yields an extra 29 positions.
Throughout construction, which Price said should start this spring, an additional 47 jobs will be supported by each 100 construction workers.
Price would not comment on which hotels and restaurants are in discussions for the property, nor when those announcements can be expected. He did note that he and the developer, Knoxville’s Maddox Companies, have been in preliminary discussions with several different groups.
The commercial site will only support two of each kind of establishment, said Price.
“That number is based upon what we anticipate the area can handle, what the site can handle and what can really be accommodated there,” he said.
With its prime location near Interstate 75 and the soon-to-be developed interchange at Apison Pike and Old Lee Highway, Tennessee Department of Transportation officials said the roadways there should be able to handle the resultant increase in traffic.
Neighboring residents had voiced concerns over the volume of traffic in conjunction with McKee Foods Corporation’s approximately 3,200 employees, who already use the route as a main thoroughfare.
According to TDOT community relations officer Jennifer Flynn, roughly 5,000 vehicles per day come through the existing Apison Pike and Old Lee Highway intersection and continue along Apison Pike to Exit 7.
Once the road project is fully complete the roadway will adequately handle 17,500 vehicles per day.
“This is 3.5 times the amount currently using the roadway per day, which we believe will be sufficient for future development,” Flynn said, also noting that Apison Pike will be widened to five lanes after the interchange is complete sometime around the end of next year.
However, the apartments are expected to open before then to provide convenient housing for McKee, Volkswagen and other area employees, Price said, with an anticipated opening date in 2011.
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