GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — New commercial and residential space are coming to East Depot Street in downtown Greeneville. The new building is being constructed by Urban Dynamics and it will replace the old Yates Building.
“We have a fantastic downtown, lots of architecture, lots of history and to bring in a multi-use facility or building next to the partnership is really great,” said Jeff Taylor, president of the Greene County Partnership.
The old Yates Building was demolished last year but new construction has not yet started. Ferris Ellis, managing director with Urban Dynamics, said they have plans in place for the building.
“The bottom floor will be small commercial space, hoping to get local businesses in there,” Ellis said. “Then the floors above it will be residential apartments, aiming to have approximately 12 units by what we’re looking at right now.”
Taylor told News Channel 11 that having the new space on East Depot will bring more people to the area.
“That’s going to bring great foot traffic,” said Taylor. “Having residential is huge in economic development for revitalization and so our goal is and mission here really is to improve quality of life for Greene County.”
With construction not yet underway, Ellis said they have run into setbacks, prolonging the process.
“Construction costs have kind of plateaued at their peak, but they’re still up about 40% compared to four years ago before we went through all the change we’ve been experiencing,” said Ellis. “We’re really looking at those two lines to come down and meet some of our targets before we can pull the trigger on it.”
Ellis added that it’s a waiting game but they hope to break ground and start construction sometime next year. For more information about the space, you can visit their website.
