MEMPHIS & KNOXVILLE/CHATTANOOGA/HUNSTVILLE BOARDS

[PruneTracy]

TDOT released a map of potential roadway improvements around the megasite that includes a new interchange between SR 59 and SR 222. These will likely be alternative delivery given the compressed schedule.

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/construction/alternative_delivery/InterstateAccessRouteMap_9.28.21.pdf

[markhollin]

Nashville business leaders talk about how the new Ford plants in west TN will have positive effects locally:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/09/29/ford-sk-innovation-megasite.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=0

A crisper rendering:
 

[MDC26]

18 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

Haywood County has lost 15% of its population since 1980 which is pretty typical of rural West Tennessee counties.  I am very excited for rural West Tennessee which will hugely benefit from this, maybe even more than Memphis will benefit from it.  This megasite is closer to downtown Jackson than it is to downtown Memphis and will likely employ people from all over the western third of the state.  

Downtown Jackson is only about 5 miles closer than downtown Memphis.  With 5700+ employees, people will live all over, probably even Arkansas and Mississippi.  I'm guessing that the cities that get the most growth from it are Arlington and Lakeland which are 20 and 28 miles away down I-40.  Both have already seen steady growth over the past decade and were already poised for more growth.  This project will likely accelerate their growth even more. 

[bnacincy]

What I would like to see is suppliers and subcontractors opening up shop in Memphis itself and throughout West Tennessee where the job need is the greatest.

[Sean blackdog]

Blue Oval City, the $5.6 billion Ford Motor Co. 
New Map of Stanton, TN. 

[smeagolsfree]

Smith & Wesson to relocate HQ to Maryville and create 750 jobs and 125 million investment.

 

https://tnecd.com/news/governor-lee-commissioner-rolfe-announce-smith-wesson-brands-inc-to-relocate-headquarters-and-other-major-operations-to-tennessee/

[downtownresident]

Great for East TN. Glad to see the entire state getting in on the relocation action. Hopefully another Middle TN announcement comes soon. 

[nashvylle]

Hopefully Lee embraces mass transit for Middle Tennessee. I think if enough business leaders (Amazon, AB, Oracle, HCA, Asurion, etc.) tell him it's a necessity for business growth, he will start coordinating with metro on a regional basis. It'd be great if there was a partnership between Metro, State, BNA, and MCC. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by nashvylle

[satalac]

I'm really glad to see the other grand divisions getting big deals too, especially the Ford deal. West TN needed that badly, and that's a great area since it's between Memphis and Jackson, both of which need an economic shot in the arm. 

[smeagolsfree]

All parts of the state need to prosper for sure and it cant just be Middle TN. I do worry though that the State is not looking closely at the importance of transportation and transit not only in Nashville and MD TN but in other parts of the state. 

They are not going to be able to ignore the elephant in the room forever. With these large projects come people and population. They need to worry about infrastructure beforehand. Are they ready for the increase in traffic on that stretch of I 40 and the ancillary business that will come. Finger in the dam is the normal fix here.

[markhollin]

Tenn. state legislature approves $900 million spending package for the Ford electric vehicle plant in west Tennessee.

Incentives for the companies include $500 million in grants plus hundreds of millions of dollars in direct state spending on water and road infrastructure. The state will also spend $40 million, plus future operating costs, on a  new technical college at the site.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/state/state-legislature-approves-900m-ford-package/article_853a0c60-31d7-11ec-91e5-d31c6a143166.html

[UrbanWes03]

Just want to let anyone who is interested know that I am going to try and post some updates on projects in and around Knoxville as regularly as I can since I live and attend UTK there. I'll try to cover as many projects as I can, but because I am in school, the updates won't be daily, but I will try and post as time allows! Thanks and I hope you all enjoy.

[smeagolsfree]

Thanks Wes!

Those boards need some love.

[UrbanWes03]

On 11/10/2021 at 7:58 PM, UrbanWes03 said:

Just want to let anyone who is interested know that I am going to try and post some updates on projects in and around Knoxville as regularly as I can since I live and attend UTK there. I'll try to cover as many projects as I can, but because I am in school, the updates won't be daily, but I will try and post as time allows! Thanks and I hope you all enjoy.

On 11/10/2021 at 8:11 PM, smeagolsfree said:

Thanks Wes!

Those boards need some love.

I should have clarified this when I posted, but these updates will be on the Knoxville Construction and Updates board, not this one. Just in case anyone was confused! Thanks again everyone. 

[MLBrumby]

Appreciate your update this morning. Knoxville looking good on SEC Nation this morning. 

[markhollin]

Work is moving ahead at a great pace on Huntsville's 8,000 capacity Orion Amphitheater.  First shows are scheduled for next May.

More info here:

https://whnt.com/news/huntsville/huntsville-orion-amphitheater-releases-lineup-for-first-concert/?fbclid=IwAR37pqqRrszYnzEgeph5k9kQ72waMCY5kaZlqdhu96C40FKEmmlMr_nAERM
 

[dmillsphoto]

thought for half a second that was a colorized pic of the construction of the Shoe taken from a hot air balloon.

[Nathan_in_DC]

This is what Ascend should have looked like!

[UrbanWes03]

This looks great! So grand and classical. Definitely an impressive addition to Huntsville, especially with it being on the river. 

[L'burgnative]

16 hours ago, UrbanWes03 said:

This looks great! So grand and classical. Definitely an impressive addition to Huntsville, especially with it being on the river. 

That looks like a man made lake/creek, I can promise you that it's not on the river.  The Tennessee River is about 10 miles south of this location.

[markhollin]

The Tennessee Smokies AA baseball team are returning to downtown Knoxville with a new $74.5 million stadium in the Old City District. Team owner Randy Boyd is promising an additional $142 million in private money to build 630,000 sq. ft. of restaurants, retail shops, grocery store, and residences around the ballpark.  The team has been playing 20 miles east of the city in Sevierville for the past couple of decades.

More here:

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/16/after-council-stadium-approval-smokies-coming-back-knoxville/8589705002/?fbclid=IwAR2gWZqdickGAtjumpIPjNhyckXqFsFybefqyN0v8hWfR4WZ8nlYKnED4XY
 

[MLBrumby]

Several Friday evenings ago, wife and I met a friend who was there with their son to visit UTK campus that day.  We walked around Market Square and ate at a place on Gay Street. There were people everywhere. Surprisingly more on Gay St. than in Market. If Knoxville can get its act together and get more residential (I saw about 3-4 apartment blocks under construction) and link the various hubs like Market Square/Gay, Old City and the new ballpark, it will have one of the best downtowns of a city its size. 

[tragenvol]

Knoxville One SC, the city's new USL club, will have a home in the new stadium as well.

[Bark At The Sun]

Was watching some high school playoff football on My30 Channel today...........is a nice looking football stadium in Chattanooga

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Bark At The Sun

[MLBrumby]

Yes! That's our municipal stadium, Finley (cap. 20K) and home of the UTC Mocs football team and Chattanooga Football Club. I was there last night watching the McCallie Blue Tornado defeat the Montgomery Bell Academy Big Red.  This view is toward the NW, toward the Tennessee River west of downtown. You can see Raccoon Mtn and its "conjoined twin" Elder Mtn in the background.  That old 6-story building in the back has been a subject of many renovation discussions. It's about 100 years old and abandoned (a real hazard), originally an office building for an adjacent foundry.  About 15 years ago a young man was seriously injured in a fall from one of the upper floors to the ground floor. A portion of the foundry is visible in the background right and now houses the Chattanooga Market. The area surrounding the stadium has seen a lot of residential development in recent years. Just outside the stadium looking straight ahead will be The Bend, the continuation of the city's riverfront redevelopment which will include lots of mixed-use and an improved riverside link of the Riverwalk greenway. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by MLBrumby