$100 Million Project Slated to “Revitalize” Hixson Industrial Park

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) — Mayor Tim Kelly has announced an agreement with Rise Partners to revitalize the industrial site in Hixson that was once home to DuPont Chemicals.

According to the city, the existing nylon production facility will be replaced with 800,000 square feet of Class A industrial space.

“That’s going to be thick walls, big cranes up top, lots of parking — easy out, easy in — as well as some green space that we’re working on, south, closer to the river,” said Chattanooga Director of Special Projects Ellis Smith.

The city claims that the new industrial space could directly create up to 600 jobs.

Additionally, City Director of Special Projects Ellis Smith says this project will enable the Chattanooga area to more easily bring in large employers.

“As we try to show them sites that are ready to go, we’ll have this 800,000 square foot site that can support hundreds of jobs of the future,” said Smith.

The price tag on this project is 100 million dollars.

The project is being funded through a method called “tax increment financing.” As the taxable value of the property goes up, half of all new tax revenue will go back into the project.

“The city spends no cash on this — there’s no cash up front. In fact, the city continues collecting 100 percent — so does the county — of the current property taxes. But as the property increases in value because of the construction that’s happening on-site, that we’re enabling to happen, the increase in that tax base, half of it goes back to the project, and half of that increase we get, so we actually get new money out of it,” Smith added.

Hamilton County is allocating 45.2% of new tax revenue for the school system, and the rest will go back into the project