After years of public input, design work, site studies, and negotiation between private parties and local elected leaders, construction officially began today on Chattanooga’s new public multi-use stadium in the South Broad District.
The future home of the Chattanooga Lookouts will redefine the city’s western gateway and spur the redevelopment of 140 acres of blighted structures into new downtown homes, hotels, restaurants, and office space — all tied together by the Tennessee Riverwalk.
“As Chattanoogans, we have many reasons to celebrate this long-awaited and historic moment: This project allows us to remake the western gateway into our city and attract over a billion dollars of new investment to a historically neglected part of town, including badly-needed new housing. We will also make history with our city’s first Community Benefits Agreement so that everyone – including Howard students and Alton Park's legacy residents – will benefit." said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly.
"I ran for mayor because I believed Chattanooga could be the best city in America, but I knew at times the path forward would be winding, steep and filled with obstacles. So I am particularly proud that our persistence and determination have brought us another step toward that vision today."
Not only is the stadium development expected to pay for itself through future tax revenue generated around the stadium through a financial tool known as a TIF, but it will generate $186 million in new education funding for Hamilton County Schools and $102 million in new tax revenue for the City and County over the next 30 years, without raising taxes, according to an independent analysis conducted by Younger.
“The Lookouts thank our amazing fans and the everyone in Chattanooga who has supported the team since we were founded in 1885," said Jason Freier, Chattanooga Lookouts Managing Owner. "Chattanooga’s new multi-use stadium will be a unique place that blends history with modernity—an iconic venue that will set Chattanooga apart. It will be a place for all Chattanoogans to enjoy a game, concert, special event, or simply a peaceful walk around the concourse, which will be open to the public as an extension of the Tennessee Riverwalk.”
Despite historically high inflation and interest rates, the landowners, the Lookouts, private developers, and local elected officials settled on a fair financing structure to build the $115 million mixed-use stadium. Details of the financing structure are publicly available at https://www.southbroad.info/economics.
“This new state-of-the-art stadium in Chattanooga will put the Lookouts, and by extension the Reds, in a beautiful environment to entertain fans and prepare our players for the big leagues," Shawn Pender, Senior Advisor to President of Baseball Ops. & GM of the Cincinnati Reds. "We appreciate the great efforts of the Lookouts’ Jason Freier and Rich Mozingo, as well as the many city, county, and state officials who made this possible.”
Jim Irwin, a nationally recognized master developer with award-winning experience restoring legacy structures for modern uses — including Neuhoff in Nashville and Ponce City Market in Atlanta — will oversee the construction of the stadium and the surrounding development. All relevant partners have agreed to a Development Agreement to ensure the development meets key investment milestones. A Community Benefits Agreement (the first in Chattanooga’s history) will also be completed to ensure the economic and social benefits of the development benefit all people in the area.
“From the first time I visited the former U.S. Pipe and Wheland Foundries in 2021 I recognized this site had the potential to be transformed into an authentic and unique place where every Chattanoogan will want to watch live events, meet for a meal, go to work, enjoy the outdoors, and even find a home. It checks every box to become something spectacular. The site’s raw characteristics—from its enormous unimpeded indoor spaces to the Tennessee Riverwalk that runs through it—make it ideal for adaptive reuse as a modern, accessible, mixed-use neighborhood that will come to be known as The Foundries District.”
- Mixed-use stadium will be jointly owned by the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County
- Nine acres of land for the stadium is donated by Perimeter Properties
- Stadium will be paid for by new, future tax revenue generated around the stadium and $1 million per year rent by the Chattanooga Lookouts (the highest in Minor League history)
- Stadium is expected to spur $1 billion in new investment and $2.3 billion in economic impact to the area, according to an independent analysis