FARRAGUT, Tenn. — A $100+ million development in Farragut, with a walkable town center, shops, restaurants and housing should be ready by Spring 2024, developer Bud Cullom said.
The area, across from Farragut High School, sat empty for years. It had a Kroger and graffiti on the storefronts, right off Kingston Pike.
Now, construction crews are building a main street, with shops and restaurants on either side.
"We're trying to bring downtown concepts, so elevated dining and shopping, out to the suburbs," Alex Quinn from CHM, LLC said.
Cullom said he's building 286 rental apartment units and more than 40 townhomes for sale.
"All of these units will be higher-end," Cullom said. "There are still a lot of people looking for places that aren't ready to come up with the down payment. They may have the income to support what would be analogous to a higher mortgage payment, but they're still preferring to rent. We feel like we're fitting that gap."
Records from the Knox County Commission show the county agreed to a $6 to $7 million TIF - tax increment financing - to help re-develop the area. That funding mechanism uses future property tax earnings to help develop blighted areas.
The town of Farragut will help pay for a public park with public restrooms and shows, as part of the development, the developers said.
In 2021, Cullom said the project was originally budgeted for $90 to $100 million. He said delays and increasing costs have pushed that figure higher.
"On a total project basis, I'm going to say we're $20+ million over what the original budget was," Cullom said.
Quinn said Tupelo Honey, which has a downtown Knoxville location, has agreed to be part of the development in Farragut. He said a donut shop and a Chase Bank will join.