KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Construction crews placed the final steel beam on the residential complex next to the future home of the Knoxville Smokies in early October.
The Beauford Delaney Building is nine stories tall and 156 feet from the parking level to the roof. It will have 35 to 40 condominium units. It also includes underground parking, as well as restaurant, retail and commercial space. Crews have used 11,000 cubic yards of concrete, 970 tons of rebar and over 300,000 bricks to build the complex.
Knoxville Smokies' owner Randy Boyd said the Beauford Delaney Building is the tallest structure built in Knoxville since the Sunsphere, which was built for the 1982 World's Fair and is 26 stories or 266 feet tall.
The building is named after internationally acclaimed artists and Knoxville native Beauford Delaney. Delaney was a modernist painter whose childhood home was one block away from the site of the project on the edge of the Old City.
The building is part of a $100 million+ private development developers pledged to build concurrently with the stadium.
Partners Development is serving as the developer for the $83 million project. Developers said they have agreements with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and the Knoxville Area Urban League to preserve the history of that area, and uplift disadvantaged businesses.
City leaders and developers said they hope the stadium and the surrounding private development will connect the Old City with a blighted part of Knoxville, East of James White Parkway.
Boyd said he hopes that will connect East Knoxville to the rest of the city.
