The city of Knoxville is planning a public hearing for next month, designed to gather suggestions for what to do with a key downtown property area.
The parcels of land along Jackson Avenue, just north of downtown, used to be the site of five buildings collectively known as the McClung Warehouses. For years, local leaders and property owners debated about the best use for the abandoned structures. Knoxville acquired them after a 2007 fire heavily damaged some of the structures, with plans to renovate them for residential or commercial use. But another blaze that swept through in February damaged the surviving warehouses beyond repair. The city tore them down, killing the renovation plans and leaving municipal leaders with some big questions about how to move forward.
The hearing, scheduled for Thursday, April 3, is intended to solicit suggestions from the public, developers, area residents and others who have ideas about how the city can best make use of the properties between downtown and the Old City neighborhood.
A city press release says the comments made at the April forum will be made publicly available, and that the city plans to being formally seeking development proposals this summer.