The prospective redevelopment of downtown Clinton is moving ahead on several tracks: Clinch River bridge construction, sale of the riverfront Magnet Mills property, and grant applications to improve downtown itself.

Last spring the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce launched a downtown redevelopment initiative, bringing in consultant Gianni Longo to develop a “vision plan.”

Longo identified the 7-acre Magnet Mills site on the riverfront as crucial to redevelopment. It has 1,400 feet of frontage on the Clinch River and 1,200 feet of road frontage, but only one of the historic hosiery mill’s buildings remains — and it’s gutted.

For the site, Longo proposed a waterfront esplanade backed by multi-story housing, with ground-floor restaurants and retail. It should be linked to downtown’s major streets with pedestrian access across Charles G. Seviers Boulevard, he said.

The hosiery mill, which opened in 1905, was once Clinton’s largest employer with 1,100 workers by 1930. But it has been vacant, or largely so, since the mid-1980s. For years it has been owned by the Huang family of Knoxville through Clinch River Properties LLC. The site was listed for sale through US Realty, with prices hovering around $2 million.

The city wanted the complex of Magnet Mills buildings demolished, and six were torn down in 2017; the one remaining was damaged in a 2016 fire. Since then, owners and the city disputed whether the building was salvageable, and how much that would cost compared to demolishing it.

Buyer, be there?

In October, a buyer emerged — an unnamed Knoxville developer.

“It’s under contract,” said Jerry Glenn, commercial property broker for US Realty. But the sale has not closed: The current owners are looking to buy another piece of property with proceeds from the sale, a legal way to avoid taxes on the influx of cash, he said. When that purchase closes, sale of the Magnet Mills site will close automatically, Glenn said.

Glenn signed a nondisclosure agreement, preventing him from giving details about the buyer until the sale concludes and is made public, he said.

Clinton Mayor Scott Burton said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the successful sale and redevelopment of Magnet Mills.

The prospective new owner wants to keep the remaining brick building and restore it as a conference center, with a roof garden for events, Burton said. But issues remain to be resolved with the city, since that building is scheduled to be demolished in March, he said.

On the side of the building, facing a CVS store, the new owner is talking about retail development; on the opposite side, he plans condominiums, Burton said.

Rick Meredith, president of the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, pledged help from the chamber in those redevelopment efforts.

“We’re hoping that this new buyer fulfills the commitment of developing the property,” he said. “We’re just all hoping this turns into a positive result.”

Grants and a park

While the Magnet Mills site gets private work, the public side of the partnership could come into play on Clinton’s downtown streets.

The city has applied for a $1 million grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, which would mostly be spent on Main Street, where old utility lines are under the center of the road, Burton said.

“Everything underneath we need to replace, because it hasn’t been changed out since the town was created,” he said. Those utilities would be moved underneath sidewalks. The work should take three years, Burton said.

Word should come in July as to whether the grant is approved, he said. It would cover 80 percent of the costs, with the rest split by the city and Clinton Utilities Board.

Ultimately downtown Clinton could look like the revamped Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, with wide sidewalks, lighting and landscaping, which would make downtown inviting for visitors and therefore a target for business investment, Burton said.

The Anderson chamber is applying for a $15,000 grant to beautify Market and Main streets, and Clinton is a state-designated Tennessee Downtown, which makes it eligible for other help, Meredith said.

And there’s another initiative underway, he said.

“We are currently working with the Hollingsworth Foundation to develop a new park in south Clinton,” Meredith said.

One of the Clinton-based family foundation’s stated goals is to do specific development projects in the city. The plan is to convert a large plot next to railroad tracks, just across the Clinch River bridge from downtown, to a park with bicycle paths and walking trails, Meredith said. If all goes well, construction should start in early summer, he said.

Bridge work

One thing that sparked interest in redevelopment was TDOT’s announcement of plans to replace the Hon. William Everette Lewallen Memorial Bridge on U.S. Highway 25, commonly called the “green bridge” due to the paint on its superstructure.

The current steel-truss bridge over the Clinch River will be replaced with a flat, open one, slightly wider and with longer turn lanes, bicycle lanes and sidewalks on both sides, according to Mark Nagi, TDOT Region 1 community relations officer.

The new bridge will be adjacent and just north of the existing bridge, which will remain open during construction and will be torn down after the new one is built, he said.

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The new bridge is expected to cost $26 million, including realigning Riverside Drive beneath it, Nagi said. Three-quarters of the money will come from the federal government, and the rest from the state, he said.

Bridge work started on schedule this fall, and should take another three years, Burton said.

“They’re working on the bridge full-bore,” he said.

Downtown redevelopment should be well underway when the new bridge is complete, if the city gets the TDOT grant and Magnet Mills is being redeveloped, Burton said.

“I think downtown Clinton will be a much more inviting place to shop and socialize,” he said. “People will want to come downtown.”