Burnside neighborhood open in Chattanooga’s Southside

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (WDEF)- Chattanooga’s Southside experienced a large housing and commercial revitalization with the opening of a new building.

Burnside neighborhood is now open for living in Chattanooga’s Southside after an abandoned building was turned into a multi-purpose building.

“We bought the property in 2016 and it literally took us four years to figure out what to do with it. I bought it the day it went on the market with my husband Towson and then we’re like OK we have that’s what we gonna do with it,” said investor Dede Engsberg.

Burnside is a $25 million project which includes 33 apartments.

“We are proud we haven’t displaced anybody so we’re not looking to take over anybody’s homes. We just took something that was abandoned and made something communal out of it,” said Engsberg.

The 60,000 sq ft building will also add an additional economic boost to the area through a future Number 10 Steakhouse and retail opportunity.

“We’ve both always had a passion for the south and after being away from the south for a while we just kind of felt like it was the right time to come back,” said Adam Johnston.

They say all of this is contributing to a revitalization of a previously overlooked area and serve the city as a whole.

“The idea of seeing the revitalization of an area is critical to us. We realize that the businesses are sort of what bring the jobs back in. One of the things were most proud about is all through Covid we didn’t have to lay a single person off and the restaurants. We were able to keep all of our people’s jobs,” said Vern Kennedy.

“I was familiar with the buildings, I love buildings like this. I like the train tracks. I like the part Of town where you can still see people actually working,” said Engsberg.

Townhouses will also be built in the area in the near future and they expect the restaurant to open by end of the 2021.