The city of Knoxville has selected a developer for the McClung Warehouses site, marking a major step toward redeveloping a stretch of downtown that has sat vacant for more than a decade.
Along with its redevelopment arm, Knoxville's Community Development Corporation, the city is working with an unnamed developer to finalize an agreement for the three-acre site along West Jackson Avenue and plans to share details about the project by the end of 2026.
The McClung Warehouses were destroyed by two fires, one in 2007 and another in 2014, leaving behind a prime piece of property that's ripe for redevelopment near the railroad tracks between Gay Street and North Broadway.
Rebekah Jane Justice, the city's chief of urban design and development, told Knox
News in 2023 the city spent roughly $2.5 million to acquire all the properties in the project area: the public parking lot at 401 W. Jackson Ave., the former McClung Warehouses site on the north side of West Jackson Avenue's 500 block and a single lot across the street at 512 W. Jackson Ave.
As the city was gathering public input in 2023, Justice said the land would likely be redeveloped with a mixed-use project that is "heavy on housing," something the city desperately needs. The following year, the city identified a need for an additional 6,000 to 8,000 housing units by 2029 to keep up with demand.
The McClung project is moving forward as the city and KCDC continue advancing several other redevelopment efforts across Knoxville, including the North Waterfront Redevelopment Plan aimed at connecting World's Fair Park, the riverfront and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus.
Redevelopment along the South Waterfront also is moving ahead, as KCDC continues its search for a developer for the South Knoxville landing of the future pedestrian bridge connecting South Knoxville and UT.
Sophia Tiedge is the growth and transformation reporter for Knox News. Email: sophia.tiedge@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville has a developer for downtown's vacant McClung Warehouses site
