South Broad Stadium project still awaiting approval
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Chattanooga Sports Authority Board received an update Thursday morning on the status of the South Broad Stadium project.
Despite months of discussions, there still has been no groundbreaking for the future home of the Chattanooga Lookouts.
There are still several documents that need to be signed before shovels can hit the ground here, and they are in negotiation.
A development agreement between the developers, Lookouts, and other partners is still being finalized.
The agreement, which is 10 pages, highlights various aspects of the South Broad Development such as financial responsibilities, infrastructure needs, and community impacts.
A bond lawyer working with developers, Mark Mamantov, said, “We certainly expect probably within the year that he would be breaking ground on these projects. Now, what was so hard about negotiating this agreement is that interest rates could go crazy again, something weird could happen, but right now that is the expectation.”
He says one of the main sticking points has been disagreement over deadlines for the project site.
He says city and county government told him the following about what they want to see.
Mamantov said, “They wanted to see a meaningful development timeline commitment for the Wheland Foundry site and US Pipe site… Broad Street is going to develop, there’s already quite a bit of development along Broad Street. We want them to develop the US Pipe and Wheland Foundry site not, I hate to say piggyback off of Broad Street development.”
Also of note, there is a new community organization fronting the Community Benefits Agreement for the southside of Chattanooga.
Previously CALEB, the Chattanoogans for Love, Equality, and Benevolence, fronted those negotiations, but backed out because they couldn’t find an agreement they supported.
Now the Bethlehem Center has taken over those negotiations.
They up to this point has been just a signatory to these talks.
The Chief of Staff for Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, Jermaine Freeman said, “The Sports Authority and the city and the county won’t be a party to the Community Benefits Agreement. The agreement will largely be between just the neighborhoods, the Bethlehem Center, Perimeter Properties, and the Lookouts. They have had several conversations at this point and are making great progress.”
He says that he expects to send the development agreement to the Hamilton County Commission and Chattanooga City Council in the next week or two.
However, at the last meeting in April, officials said documents were ready to be sent in a similar timeframe.
