Redevelopment will ‘happen quick’ around new Chattanooga Lookouts stadium, planner says

CHATTANOOGA — Jul. 18— Redevelopment of the former foundry site around a new Chattanooga Lookouts stadium will take place without a lot of delay should the proposal move ahead, the project’s master developer said.

“Once everybody sees the public investment, it will happen quick,” Jim Irwin, the president of Atlanta-based New City Properties, said in an interview last week.

He cited initial plans by Nashville-based Core Development for $150 million in new residential and commercial space on an 11-acre portion of the 120-acre tract.

Irwin will serve as master developer of the Wheland Foundry/u.s. Pipe tract. In a deal worked out with landowner Perimeter Properties, he said he’ll look at the best uses of each part of the sprawling site that sits between Broad Street and Interstate 24.

“We’ll master plan 100% of the area,” the developer said.

Infrastructure, street grids, trees, and bike lanes will be knitted together, said Irwin.

“We’ll look at the appropriate use for each block,” he said. That will include combining the foundry site with the rest of the city around it, Irwin said, adding he foresees several public park spaces within the project.

At the same time, Irwin said he’ll work on what he termed “vertical development,” where new residential, retail, office and other commercial space may go up. He’ll work with developers and craft guidelines for the foundry property, he said. He’ll also look at his company doing work there, too, Irwin said.

Several new projects hopefully will include old foundry buildings that will be preserved in some fashion, he said.