Chattanooga’s new neighborhood development, Mill Town

Mill towns were once pretty popular across the US. There’s lots of history here, but the abridged version is that large industrial mills were built in cities, subsequently bringing rural workers to the center of town. These companies built residential space surrounding the mills to house these workers + their families, creating small “towns.”

Now, a local developer is working to put a twist on the mill town concept by revitalizing the former Standard-Coosa-Thatcher textile mill village.

Wait, what’s happening?

An abandoned ~40 acres of land located at the former mill area will become a modernized take on the “mill town,” with 450 homes surrounding a hub of offices and retail space.

Think Warehouse Row, but larger + with lots of housing.

Details, please.

• Housing | Mill Town will feature homes for purchase and for lease. Some of the units are already for sale, with closing anticipated in June. Other units are available for lease beginning mid-March.
• Prices | Collier partnered with nonprofit Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise on the development so that Mill Town can offer homes starting in the high $300,000s along with more affordable housing.
• The Mill | While there are no potential retail tenants currently, the mill will eventually become a hub with restaurants, offices + shopping.

Gimme a timeline.

• 89 of the 450 planned homes are expected to be completed by late summer this year.
• Collier believes that all 450 will be built + sold in the next three years.
• Renovations for the mill will begin the fall of this year, with an anticipated completion date in mid-2023.

Big picture.

• Once completed, Mill Town will offer a whole new space — in an often overlooked part of Chattanooga — for people to live, work, and play.
• Mill Town is also creating a model in which neighborhood revitalization is led by the private developer — in most instances, a municipality or nonprofit is the catalyst for neighborhood redevelopment efforts.
• Through adaptive reuse, what was once a lively mill town in Chattanooga for 200 years will once again connect community members.