Crossville eyed for workforce housing development

Jul. 1—By Cheryl Duncan — Editor

cduncan@crossville-chronicle.com

While the Crossville Sports Authority moves forward with funding for a planned indoor recreation center, the property city officials initially purchased as the facility's site sits vacant.

But if City Council acts on a proposal presented last month, those 24 acres could eventually become the site of a housing community that would give working professionals and young couples an affordable place to rent as they work toward eventual home ownership.

"Housing is, by far, one of the major issues we're dealing with across the region," said Upper Cumberland Development District Director Mark Farley. "We're excited about a project like this because it could be the first step in possibly other developments throughout the 14 counties of the Upper Cumberland. So it is certainly a need."

A Nashville-based developer and builder believes the city-owned site on Webb Ave. is ideal for a workforce housing community. Workforce housing targets middle-income professionals earning between 80-120% of area median income, said Matt Nicholson, president of The Clear Blue Co.

These professionals and families may not qualify for subsidized housing but need an affordable option, Farley said.

"That's going to be the gap that you're missing," he noted. "You may have plenty of homes being built, but that first-time family — they're usually going to start out in an apartment renting and then work up toward home ownership."

He added, "You're losing that ability for the starter families to start out through the rental process."

Nicholson said The Clear Blue Co. owns and operates 4,200 workforce housing units across the Southeast. Though chiefly in Nashville, Knoxville and Louisville, KY, developments are also spread across different areas of Tennessee.

The company creates such housing by buying, stabilizing and preserving existing structures to convert into housing units, as well as building ground-up developments.

"Everything that we're talking about today is purely conceptual," said Nicholson during the June council workshop. "We're very, very early on. Any time that we look at doing a development, the first thing that we do is we listen and make sure anything we're going to do is integrated properly with the community and contributes in a positive manner to the fabric of the associated community."

He showed council members conceptual images of a development now under construction in Nashville. The 238-unit will, upon completion, will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in seven residential buildings, as well as a clubhouse with a business center.

"We do a very thorough analysis of the local market to make sure that the unit mix that we provide and the amenities that we provide are, again, focused on serving the needs of the community," Nicholson said. "In this particular [Nashville] neighborhood, there's a lot of families. So we have a lot of two- and three-bed units in this particular development. Should we move forward on the development here in Crossville, we would go through the same exercise to make sure that we land on the proper unit mix."

Builders on the Nashville project are working with the natural contours of the site to include as much greenspace as possible. The company is also in a partnership with Metro Nashville to develop a network of trails.

Nicholson envisions a similar concept for the Webb Ave. property, which has 6 unbuildable acres and a stream running through it. He said the company will work closely with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to preserve these areas.

Showing council members an early conceptual image of what the Crossville development might look like, Nicholson explained that Clear Blue performs traffic studies and works to integrate its developments to the street network and traffic flow patterns.

"We want the project to be aesthetically pleasing to passersby should they be in vehicle or pedestrian traffic," he continued. "As we get into development — again, this is very conceptual — being very thoughtful in terms how we're laying out buildings, making sure that we're centralizing amenities, that these amenities are easy to access for all the residents, and that we're maximizing the greenspace."

Nicholson is scheduled to give more details about his proposal and the next steps that would need to be taken during the council's August retreat.

"I'm interested," council member Mike Turner said.

Added council member Rob Harrison, "I'm certainly open to listen."

The city paid $540,000 plus fees for the Webb Ave. property in May 2021. It was dismissed as a possible site for the recreation center when officials decided months later to buy three parcels on N. Main St. and Livingston Rd. for the facility.

Council members discussed selling the land earlier this year, but no action was taken.

Contact Cheryl Duncan at cduncan@crossville-chronicle.com or 931-484-5145.