Andrew Johnson hotel developers say the project will continue as planned, and in fact that they had a hand in setting the new deadline county officials plan to consider this month. If the new deadline is green-lighted, developers must start construction at the historic Gay Street building by the end of the year.
Philip Welker, cofounder of BNA Associates, said the new timeline to be voted on by county commissioners on Aug. 31 is simply a way to bring the development agreement between BNA and the county up to date and into compliance. As it stands now, the due date already has passed, said Chris Caldwell, chief financial officer and co-chief of staff for Knox County.
Welker told Knox News on Aug. 13 the updated agreement is necessary for BNA to close
the financing.
The project has been long delayed, and Knox News reported Aug. 12 the county was pushing to set hard deadlines or shift control of the building's future to another developer. Welker said the delays were out of BNA's control as it had to contend with the pandemic and related supply chain issues, as well as high interest rates.
"These projects seem like they're dead. They take a long time," Welker said. "There's just a lot of ingredients that go into them, and you have to rely on a lot of people doing what they say they're going to do."
BNA successfully developed the high-profile Oliver Hotel on Market Square and a DoubleTree hotel in Clarksville that opened in 2024.
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Welker said plans for the music-themed hotel in the Andrew Johnson Building, most recently outlined in 2024, remain the same. He assured Knox News his team is "approaching starting demolition." A permit to begin internal renovations of nonhistoric elements is listed as "waiting for payment" of $15,000. Welker said work will start this fall and the hotel is slated to open in 2028.
The long, fascinating history of the Andrew Johnson Hotel
When the hotel opened in 1929, it was the tallest building in Knoxville.
In its heyday, the Andrew Johnson Hotel was a hot spot for live music happenings, from hosting WNOX's “Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round” to accommodating legendary guests such as Duke Ellington, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Hank Williams. The latter supposedly stayed there in the hours leading up to his death.
In addition to its musical guests, the hotel once hosted historic figures such as Amelia Earhart, Paul “Bear” Bryant and King Hussein of Jordan. It also employed the city's first female hotel clerk.
By 1979, plans were being made to convert it into office space. In 1992, the building became home to Knox County Schools.
Hayden Dunbar Evans is the storyteller reporter. Email: hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com. Instagram: @knoxstoryteller.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Downtown hotel developer says delayed project will happen | Exclusive
