A coordinated approach to redeveloping a major vacant lot in Kingsport led to reduced development costs and more affordable homes while also meeting health, safety, and welfare standards.
City: Kingsport, TN
Purpose: To redevelop and repurpose a large vacant property in a Redevelopment District and support the developer in converting the property to new housing.
Lead Stakeholders: City, Private Sector
Process: A developer in Kingsport, TN faced major obstacles to redeveloping a long-vacant Walmart lot. The City of Kingsport rezoned the property from commercial to R-3 Medium Density, which allowed for a mixture of townhouses (14 units) and single-family detached homes (77 units). The City facilitated significant cost savings for the developer by lowering right-of-way requirements, reducing minimum lot widths, and coordinating with emergency services to provide alternate methods of site entry that eliminated the need for an additional road entrance to the site.
The City of Kingsport also worked with the site developer to obtain TIF assistance with initial site rehabilitation and implemented a Materials Agreement for the city to fund a limited portion of water and sewer infrastructure.
Outcomes:
- The urban infill WestGate project was completed within 2.5 years with all homes sold.
- Significant cost savings for the developer and by extension homebuyers.
- Ongoing review of city regulations to meet both city and developer needs and to minimize costs.
View or download PDF of the Adaptive Reuse and Collaboration on Vacant Properties case study.
