KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — City leaders hope a pedestrian bridge some day will connect the University of Tennessee over Fort Loudoun Lake with South Knoxville.
Developers are already making plans nearby.
Records filed with the Knox County Register of Deeds Office show the Ready Mix USA site sold for $8 million on January 18 to "Vols View Residences LLC."
That LLC has the same Birmingham, Alabama, address as LIV Development. The company's website shows it has either developed or planned more than 20,000 units nationwide.
It specializes in Class A housing, which typically means luxury apartments with plenty of amenities. It filed preliminary plans to the Board of Zoning Appeals last May, showing what the complex could look like if approved.
Those documents show the Blount Avenue site could have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans totaling 321 apartments and 524 parking spots.
"Housing is definitely needed all throughout the area," said Kevin Summitt, who has lived in South Knoxville for most of his life. "The thing to me is finding the balance that keeps the communities unique and allows them to maintain that charm and desire that people had to come move there in the first place."
South Knoxville is bustling with construction projects and new businesses, including new housing at Blount Avenue and Chapman Highway and more apartments by Suttree Landing Park.
The possibility of a pedestrian bridge connecting the Blount Avenue area to UT makes that part of the waterfront even more enticing.
"It used to be the undiscovered country. It was kind of nice. People didn't really come across the bridge as much," Summitt said. "You're seeing a lot of stuff going up."
Summitt hopes developers will find a balance between new projects and the Urban Wilderness that makes South Knoxville so special.
"Sometimes growth can be a little too aggressive and you kind of lose that charm," he said. "Next thing you know, you kind of just have an overbuilt area without the amenities that the community was loved for in the first place."
The City of Knoxville is hosting an open house in South Knoxville 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday, February 13, at the Kerbela Temple up above Sevier Avenue.
A release said city staff, development and community partners will address a number of projects including the Sevier Avenue streetscapes, South Waterfront Form-Based Code, Urban Wilderness Gateway Park and the Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge across the Tennessee River.