Mayor speaks of Town growth in many forms
A new middle school proposed for the heart of Town, a downtown Biddle Farms project and a grocery store to be built off Watt Road are among the new developments coming to Farragut.
Farragut Mayor Ron Williams shared news of new developments as he provided an economic update to Rotary Club of Farragut during the club’s meeting in Farragut Community Center Wednesday, Sept. 26.
“When I was elected, my plan was to tackle the chore of either renovating or removing all the derelict properties in our Town,” Williams said. “We had 16 abandoned buildings; we had four burned-down houses, we had a burned-down barn and two shopping centers were sitting in disrepair, both empty — really additions to the many eyesores we were looking at everyday when we drove down Kingston Pike.
“We’ve been looking into the future with this program, and we hired a codes inspector who was really dedicated, working on those, and one by one we were able to get rid of all of them — either renovate or tear them down — and in their place, we’ve seen a lot of things pop up that are now the future of our Town,” he added.
Currently, the Town Center area at the old Kroger’s, owned by the Biddle family, who sold a portion of their property to developer Budd Cullom to develop Farragut at Biddle Farms Town Center.
“You’re starting to see now the Chase Bank foundation come out of the ground, and right next to it is the Super Chix restaurant,” the mayor said. “The foundation is starting right next to it.
“(Cullom will) do (the buildings) one by one … until he gets all the buildings under way,” Williams added. “I think the next one is the doughnut shop, Doughnuts and Milkshakes.
“The apartments are all up now and starting to get bricked. That will be a whole, complete system done, really, before this time next year.
Currently, “he’s got four restaurants signed,” Williams said. “(Cullom)’s very secretive to tell us who some of them are.
“That area will have a road coming in from Concord Road,” he added. “Brooklawn will be widened and have public parking along it, across from the Kroger.”
Additionally, Williams said there should be 58 three-story townhomes, with the corner units having a roof patio.
Heading west, he said the Watt Road area — from the Renaissance to the Knox-Loudon county line — “is the area that’s starting to explode” with designs for a national grocery store in the works.
Also, ”there is an out parcel there,” Williams said. “We’re anxious to see who they lease it to.”
The apartments across the street at the corner of Kingston Pike and South Watt Road are under way and should be “ready to be checked, inspected for (certificates of occupancy) probably the first of the year,” he said. “The commercial part in front, which was going to be Food City, is no more … but it will be commercial.”
Another Dollar General Store and auto parts store is planned for property in front of Icearium and across the street from Renaissance | Farragut.
“And there’s a rumor about a doughnut shop going in there,” Williams said.
Meanwhile a granite Church of Latter-day Saints temple is planned to be built next to Urgent Care. “The site plans have been approved,” he said.
Returning east and across from Old Stage Road, plans for another development with commercial and some residential homes is still in the design phase while grading is being done.
On another part of Town, McFee Road is experiencing new subdivisions with single-family houses.
