Did you know there is a vacant lot between the Farragut Post Office and ORNL Credit Union on Municipal Center Drive?
Almost all in the room listening to R. Knick Myers’ plans for a new multi-use building across from Farragut Town Hall were scratching their heads as the developer talked about the space. Sue Stuhl, Parks and Leisure Services director, finally got up, opened the blinds on the window and pointed to the treed lot across the street.
Myers laughed. “It’s funny. Most people don’t think there is a vacant lot there, but there is.”
Not for long. Myers Bros. Holdings is in the final stages of approval for a new three-story building with 12,000 square feet of space to lease to interested businesses. “We hope to be under construction this year,” said Myers. “The use will be tenant-driven, but the zone is Z1 for mixed use. We have had questions about whether some of it would be residential, and, while it could, it seems unlikely to us that that will happen at this time.”
Vacant lot on Municipal Center Drive. To the left is the Farragut Branch Post Office.
Myers said they are marketing the space heavily. “We see this as a benchmark to establish the level of expectations of what a future downtown district would look like,” he said. “We believe it will primarily attract offices and definitely some destination retail tenants.”
Myers explained “destination retail” as what you would have called a Kinkos in the past – a place of business but not one that relies heavily on a lot of walk-by traffic.
The building will be called the Knickerbocker, which is Myers’ mother’s maiden name.