Riverview Square gains site plan approval; 2 downtown parking garages in works

Site plans have been approved for the $50 million downtown Clarksville Riverview Square private retail development with its revamped hotel to be accompanied by stores, restaurants and a new parking garage.

The Regional Planning Commission quickly and unanimously approved the development Tuesday when it met in monthly session. Site plan approval is one of the initial steps in the various permitting and approval phases for commercial developments.

The application was filed by Catalyst Design Group with Phillip Piercy as agent.

The plans for the development include close to 4.4 acres at 604 N. First Street.

Riverview Square is being led by the Hand Family as an offshoot of the existing Riverview Inn hotel, planned for a major makeover under the Hilton Hotel brand.

A key component of the revamped site is the parking garage, which is expected to be one of two planned for downtown Clarksville in support of new retail development being led by F&M Bank Arena.

The arena is expected to open to the public next year.

The Riverview Square parking garage concept has been boosted by a $14 million state appropriation announced recently by 22nd District State Sen. Bill Powers (R-Clarksville), and state Deputy House Speaker Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville).

Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett and developers of the Riverview Square site say details remain to be ironed out with the parking garage and broader retail development, but the garage itself is likely being designed to handle more than 700 vehicles.

At peak capacity, the arena, alone, is expected to attract crowds of up to 6,000 people.

"We will not receive the state grant until July, so we really don't have all the answers to those questions," Durrett said. "We have reached out to the folks at Riverview Square with some preliminary discussions, but they are very preliminary.

"We hope to be able to work out something where the garage is at the corner of College and First streets and have over 700 parking spaces, but again, we have just started discussions."

Durrett realizes many Clarksville-area residents have concerns about what is at least a perceived lack of parking for the arena and redeveloping downtown, he said.

"Obviously having two new parking garages would eliminate any conceived notion regarding no parking in downtown," he said.

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Second parking garage

While First and College Streets next to the arena is the focus of the Riverview Square parking garage, a second downtown parking garage of comparable size and scope is in development at City Hall, after the Clarksville City Council recently approved funding.

Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts emphasizes that the two garages are separate entities with different funding sources.

"That state money goes toward a garage on the Hand Family property that fronts the Riverview Inn," Pitts said. "It will be privately owned and operated and has no bearing on our plans to build a public parking garage on the corner of First Street and Commerce Street, attached to the Cumberland Parking Plaza Garage."

In early May, the city council approved an ordinance amending the city's operational and capital budgets for 2022 "to create and add additional funding, totaling $27.5 million for capital budgets.

"The amended budget will fund the community's much-needed downtown parking garage," Pitts said, "to accommodate the exploding downtown growth and provide parking for the upcoming F&M Bank Arena, the future Roxy Regional Performing Arts Center and evolving downtown businesses."

Of the $27.5 million, City Hall says it will use $7.4 million to cover the costs of critical repairs, improvements and renovations for the existing Cumberland Plaza Parking Garage plus unrelated projects to include the Frosty Morn revitalization project in the Red River District, Smith-Trahern Mansion repairs and Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) multi -modal projects, such as sidewalks and bus stops along several city streets that are state-maintained roads.

Riverview Square plans reviewed

The Charles Hand family is moving forward with plans first confirmed in November 2019 for a $50 million retail and commercial development to be sandwiched between F&M Bank Arena and the current Riverview Inn.

Riverview Square will be a 4-acre, mixed-use destination designed to enhance downtown Clarksville with additional retail and entertainment.

The development by BNA Associates will include a makeover of the Riverview Inn as a 156-room full-service hotel with national Hilton hotel branding.

Along with that, 55,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space is planned.

Charles Hand and Philip Welker, of BNA Associates, say the project is being built to, "complement the new 250,000-square foot-and-6,000-seat F&M Bank Arena.

"This project is just a starting point for downtown. What we're trying to do is build some confidence in downtown Clarksville, and if you build it, people will come," Welker has said.

A Clarksville native, Welker is a managing partner in BNA Associates, a Nashville-based real estate development company that targets unique projects with both social and economic objectives in improving communities.

"Through this project, we are going to be creating an environment that national retailers can identify with and be attracted to," he said.

In other words, big names in the national restaurant and shopping scene could become part of the downtown Clarksville retail mix.

Charles Hand's daughters, Charlsie and Aim-ee, are the specific owners of the Riverview Inn, and they, and their brother, JR Hand, own the surrounding 4 acres that are key to the Riverview Square project.

BNA Associates has also confirmed that Cooper Carry has been appointed as the architect and designer for the Riverview Square project.

The firm’s "The Johnson Studio" is currently master-planning the entire site as well as handling architecture and interior design for the hotel renovation, entertainment district and parking garage that's set to be built on the Riverview Square property.

The Johnson Studio is an award-winning team of architects and interior designers "creating extraordinary spaces, with a focus on hotels and chef-driven dining experiences," the company announced earlier this year.

Based in Atlanta, the studio has a national presence with projects across the country. Notable recent work includes The Garden Room in Atlanta and Oak Steakhouse in Nashville.

The studio will work in tandem with Clarksville architectural firm, Lyle Cook Martin.

For more information on Riverview Square, visit www.riverview-square.com .

Reach Jimmy Settle at jimmysettle@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0247. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: Clarksville Riverview Square site approval; 2 downtown parking garages