Former Alstom manufacturing site rezoning request passes first read

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Sometimes if you want plans for a property to move forward, you have to ask city council members for a rezone.

And if they give you what you want, then you can use the land for what you envisioned.

That’s appearing to be the case for a big plan for the former Alstom manufacturing site.

That’s after Chattanooga Council Members gave their first approval of mixed-use rezoning for most of the property at their meeting Tuesday night.

“This is a transformational project that can really do a lot to enhance the quality of life and the economic sustainability of our community,” Chattanooga City Council Member Erskine Oglesby said.

The proposed development is called the Bend.

It’s projected to be a multi billion-dollar investment and bring in over 5,000 jobs.

“Our mission here is pretty unique. This location is really about bringing the land back on line as a productive part of the region at the region’s economic core and to do that in a mixed-use development pattern,” Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planner Victor Dover said.

While one project looks ahead, another takes a step back.

A proposed project on Mercer Street by the old mill in Lupton City will go back to the drawing board after concerns that the neighborhood did not support the plans.

“The character of Lupton City, the cottage style homes with the homes that Chris and his investors are proposing, it was almost like, you know, it’s the pencil stick homes and it’s just two dense and too close,” Resident Patti Mitchell said.

Investors were initially asking for a rezone of properties, but decided to withdraw.

“I’d rather have a withdrawal, so we have the flexibility to bring something back in less than 9 months that maybe the neighborhood can live http://with. A withdrawal grants us that,” Chris Anderson with Greentech Homes

Council members allowed the withdrawal.

Council members will make a final decision on these proposals during a second and final reading next Tuesday.