In the News

CBID Names New Board Members and Officers
June 25, 2008 (Knoxville, Tenn.) – In its annual meeting today, the Central Business Improvement District Board of Directors and membership voted in two new members to replace John Pace and Joe Petre, who have served for three and six years respectively, and whose board terms are ending. The new board members include:

• John Sanders, who was elected to the board’s Business representative position, is a 10 year resident of downtown, a downtown property owner and partner in Sanders|Pace Architecture.


• Matt Synowiez, who was elected as a Stakeholder representative, has worked downtown for BB&T for the past 11 years in capital and commercial formation department.



• Bill Threlkeld, a TVA employee and longtime CBID Development Incentives committee member and chair, was nominated and elected by the board to fill the unexpired term of Terrell Burkhart, who resigned from the board last month.
  
  Board officer positions were also voted on as follows:
  
  • Steve Wise, Wise & Reeves, P.C. - Chair
  
  
  • Gregg White, Nama / LaCosta - Vice-Chair
  
  
  • Madeleine Weil, City of Knoxville - Secretary
  
  
  • Jeff Johnson, McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Inc. - Treasurer
  
  

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  CBID Board Approves Development Grants
  June 25, 2008 (Knoxville, Tenn.) – In its annual meeting today, the Central Business Improvement District Board of Directors unanimously approved a total of $134,778 in Development Incentive grants for seven downtown properties.
  
  Designed to continue the momentum of redevelopment, the CBID administers grants for renovation and restoration projects that involve both façade and interior improvements. Funding for grants is made payable after all improvements are made.
  
  Grants were awarded to seven properties:
  
  

  • 128 W. Jackson Avenue – This project is being developed by Testerman, Testerman, and Buckner, LLC and will bring six one-bedroom lofts and four two-bedroom lofts to the Old City. The building is on the National Register and development is consistent with the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Historic Properties. This project was granted $25,000 by the CBID.
  
  
  
  • 516, 518, 522 & 524 S. Gay Street – This project represents three currently unoccupied properties, formerly home to WROL, the S&W, and the Athletic House. The project is designed to rehabilitate and renovate each of the three unoccupied and blighted properties, and will target restaurant and general retail for the ground floors, as well as office and residential mixed use projects on the upper floors. These three properties were collectively granted $52,480 by the CBID.
  
  
  
  • 100 N. Broadway – The Southeastern Glass Building, on the corner of Jackson Avenue and Gay Street was granted $25,000 in funding by the CBID. The mixed- use project will have residential units on the top three levels and commercial/retail space on street and sub-surface levels. The project is considered by many to be a “gateway” building into downtown, and is anticipated for completion in mid-2009.
  
  
  
  • 514 W. Jackson – The full rehabilitation of this unoccupied building will result in two new commercial spaces, one of which will house Sanders|Pace Architecture. This project was granted $17,820 for façade improvements by the CBID.
  
  
  
  • 713 S. Central – This project, being developed by Kevin and Melinda Grimac, is nearly complete, and has renovated a blighted building into four live/work loft spaces, with private off-street parking and dedicated green space for each occupant. This project was granted $14,478 by the CBID for façade improvements completed on the structure.
  
  
  

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  Mast Store Celebrates Land Trust Day on June 7
  Recognized for the sixth year at Mast Store, Land Trust Day is a friend-raising event encouraging new memberships in local land trusts as well as an educational opportunity to learn how these groups unite the past and future by preserving our land heritage.
  
  "According to the Tennessee Environmental Council, an average of 80,000 acres are developed each year in Tennessee, which is the seventh highest amount of land lost in the country. The Nashville and Knoxville areas have been rated as among the most sprawling metro areas in the United States,” said John Cooper, president of the Mast General Store. “With those statistics in mind, it’s more important than ever to have an active plan to protect our open farmland, scenic vistas, and significant landmarks for future generations to enjoy and benefit from. Our annual Land Trust Day helps highlight local organizations that are working hard to do just that."
  
  Representatives from the Foothills Land Conservancy (FLC) will be on hand at the Mast Store in Downtown Knoxville on June 7th to share with guests the activities they are undertaking to conserve the open spaces in the region. Since its founding in 1985, FLC has protected more than 21,000 acres throughout the region. The Mast General Store will donate 20 percent of sales on that Saturday to this organization.
  
  With the organization’s 25th anniversary on the horizon, it is striving toward protecting 25,000 acres of land in 25 years. According to Bill Clabough, FLC executive director, “No tract is too small. Five acres for an urban nature park can have a huge impact.” The campaign was started in 2007, which was the organization’s most successful year ever when projects encompassing over 3,500 acres were placed under conservation easements.
  
  The land trust movement is not new. Some land trusts have been in place for over a century. In the past five years the amount of land protected by local and regional land trusts has doubled nationwide. Currently, there are more than 1,600 land trusts active across the nation. These organizations are extraordinarily successful in their missions, having protected more than 37 million acres of land according to the National Land Trust Census.
  
  "We are excited about providing this opportunity to the land trusts in our local areas," said Cooper. "President Theodore Roosevelt said in 1912 ‘There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.’ Those words still ring true today. The preservation activities in our area are beneficial to the quality of life for residents and go a long way to further the sustainability of the tourism industry, a mainstay of our economy."
  
  For more information on land trusts, stop by the information table on Saturday, June 7th at the Mast Store in Knoxville or visit the Foothills Land Conservancy’s website - www.foothillsland.org. For further information on land trusts in Tennessee, go to www.landtrusttn.org. To learn more about land trust activities in general, visit the Land Trust Alliance online at www.lta.org.

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  Knox Heritage to Honor Kristopher Kendrick
  Knox Heritage is pleased to announce an event honoring historic preservationist and pioneering downtown developer Kristopher Kendrick on Friday, June 6. A thirty-minute film highlighting Kendrick’s accomplishments will be screened at the Bijou Theatre beginning at 6:30 p.m. and repeated continuously until approximately 8:30 p.m.
  
  “Conceptions, Visions, Dreams: The Kristopher Kendrick Story,” produced by DoubleJay Creative, features interviews with Kendrick, some of his family members, and friends and associates that have been touched by Kendrick’s maverick spirit and stalwart commitment to preserving historic properties throughout Knoxville. After the public screening, a copy of the film will be archived at the McClung Historical Collection at the East Tennessee History Center.
  
  William “Kristopher” Kendrick, an east Tennessee native, first made his mark in Knoxville as a sought-after hairdresser in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At the same time he began collecting antique furniture and developed an interest in older buildings in Knoxville that he believed should be saved. By the 1970s, Kendrick had opened The Orangery, still Knoxville’s only 4-star restaurant, and had begun purchasing historic properties to restore and renovate for various residential and commercial uses. The bulk of his development work occurred in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Some of the more well-known buildings that were restored by Kendrick include Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon in The Old City; The Lord Lindsey on Hill Avenue; the Nicholas condominiums, the Taylor home, and the Dulin home, all on Kingston Pike; and historic residential buildings at Maplehurst, on Fifth Avenue, in Parkridge, and throughout downtown. In 1981 Kendrick was given a restoration award by Knox Heritage, and in 1984 he was named the organization’s “Preservationist of the Year.” He is one of only four honorary lifetime members of Knox Heritage.
  
  For more information, visit www.knoxheritage.org
  

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  MAKE DOWNTOWN GREEN, BLOCK FOR BLOCK
  Downtown residents and businesses: Buy Green Power and help us reach our goal of 400 blocks – one for each of the 400 city blocks in downtown Knoxville, extending from just past Interstate 40 to the north, Blount Avenue to the south, Hall of Fame Drive to the east and 11th Street to the west. Block for block, we’ll have a green downtown.
  
  The downtown Green Power Switch initiative was launched in April 2008 by KUB, the city of Knoxville, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Central Business Improvement District, the Knoxville Chamber and the Market Square District Association.
  
  Green power, which is energy created by renewable resources such as wind, solar power and methane gas, is provided by KUB through TVA’s Green Power Switch program. Each 150-kilowatt-hour block of green power purchased costs $4, which is added to your monthly utility bill.
  
  To learn more about the Green Power Switch program and to sign up for green power, go to the Environment section of www.kub.org.
  
  As the leaves of the tree turn green, we are closer to reaching our downtown goal of 400 green power blocks. Help us make downtown green by signing up for Green Power Switch.

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  Downtown Businesses Big Winners in
  According to the Metro Pulse Readers Poll, Downtown Knoxville is the place to be with many downtown spots taking home top honors in their categories, such as Best New Business, Best Store, Best Wine List, Best Restaurant and more. For a complete list of winners, visit MetroPulse.com. Downtown winners, include:

  
  
  • Best Store, Best Gift Shop - Bliss
  
  
  • Best Restaurant, Best Sushi – Nama Sushi Bar
  
  
  • Best Bar, Best Pizza, Best Beer Selection – Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria
  
  
  • Best Kept Secret About Knoxville – Market Square
  
  
  • Best New or Renovated Building, Best Concert Venue – Tennessee Theatre
  
  
  • Best Eyesore – Sunsphere
  
  
  • Best Public Servant & Doo-Gooder – Mayor Bill Haslam
  
  
  • Best New Restaurant, Best New Business – Crown & Goose
  
  
  • Best Breakfast – Pete’s Coffee Shop
  
  
  • Best Lunch Spot – Tomato Head
  
  
  • Best Coffee House, Best Local Wi-Fi Spot – Old City Java
  
  
  • Best Salads – Trio Café
  
  
  • Best Seafood – Chesapeake’s
  
  
  • Best Place to Eat When Someone Else Pays – Ruth’s Chris Steak House
  
  
  • Best Wine List – Oodles
  
  
  • Best Restaurant Bar – Downtown Grill & Brewery
  
  
  • Best Appetizers – La Costa
  
  
  • Best Bartender – Forest Hunter (Valarium/Blue Cats)
  
  
  • Best Museum – Knoxville Museum of Art
  
  
  • Best Dance Club – Hanna’s in the Old City
  
  
  • Best Pub – Preservation Pub
  
  
  • Best Dry Cleaners – Prestige Cleaners
  
  
  
  

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  Board Approves Downtown Rent Guarantee Program
  The Central Business Improvement District Board of Directors has approved a new rent guarantee program, which aims to serve as a retail development catalyst for downtown Knoxville by encouraging the creation of new, tenant-ready retail space on the street level of the 400 and 500 blocks of Gay Street.
  
  The CBID’s rent guarantee program is aimed to eliminate blight in the center of downtown and encourage retail development. The CBID will pay eligible property owners a portion of market-rate rent once their retail space is made tenant-ready.
  
  “Our hope is that this program will stimulate the property owners’ interest in developing their buildings. By incentivizing the buildings rather than individual tenants or businesses, we can ensure the investment stays downtown,” said Steve Wise, CBID Board chairman. “Of course, with the CBID only paying a portion of market-rate rent, we hope property owners will be encouraged to get an actual tenant in the space who will pay market-rate rent, lessening the financial risk for the CBID.”
  
  In order to be considered for the program, property owners must submit an application detailing the project construction and financial information. If selected, they will also be required to provide a detailed marketing plan to lease retail space and enter into a contract with a licensed broker, in order to ensure that every effort is being made to get a tenant into the space.
  
  The CBID is accepting applications from eligible property owners now through February 15. An RFP workshop will be scheduled for the beginning of the year for interested property owners. The application may be downloaded at www.downtownknoxville.org.
  

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  Downtown Late Line Trolley Expands Hours
  Downtown trolley riders can now catch the Late Line even earlier, beginning at 6 p.m., thanks to a sponsorship by Regal Entertainment Group.
  The Late Line Trolley operates fare-free every 15 minutes on Friday and Saturday evenings, on a route that runs through The University of Tennessee, The Cumberland Avenue Strip, Market Square, The Old City, and by the new Regal Cinemas Rivera Stadium 8. The route is ideal for UT students heading to entertainment venues downtown, as it runs until 3:30 a.m. By beginning at 6:00 p.m., students can now reach the new theater, restaurants, and other venues even earlier, which also appeals to the many hotels encompassed by the route.
  
  To encourage riders, KAT has enhanced on-street information at major stops along the Late Line route, indicating when trolleys are due to arrive, and showing a map of the route.
  
  For more information on the Late Line Trolley, visit KAT’s website at www.katbus.com or call 637-3000.
  

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  Downtown Recycling Center Now Open
  The new Downtown Recycling Center opened last month with a ribbon cutting at the center's 400 State Street location.
  
  "This is something that downtown residents and businesses have wanted for a long time and we're very pleased that it's up and running, I think it will see a lot of use," Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said. "I also want to thank Knox County for helping us to make this center a reality."
  
  Haslam and Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale signed an agreement earlier this year - approved by the Knoxville City County and the Knox County Commission - that allowed Knoxville to develop the new recycling center on Knox County property at no charge.
  
  The new center is also the city's newest "Super Recycling Center" meaning that it involves a partnership between the city and Goodwill, which will have an attendant and a trailer at the site for collections.
  
  It will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., seven days a week.
  

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  Free Parking Downtown
  With all the events happening in downtown Knoxville, keep in mind that free parking is available at all city-owned garages after 6 p.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekends, except for specific special events. City-owned garages include the State Street garage, Locust Street garage and the new Market Square garage. Parking during the day is also affordable in these garages at only $1 for the first two hours and a maximum of $7 per day.
  
  Many downtown visitors still do not know about the free parking during evenings and weekends. Businesses, please help spread the word by telling customers, clients and associates about the free and reduced price parking.
  

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