Level III: 250 Patton St
6-A-26-DT
Recommendations will be available 1 week prior to the meeting.
Applicant Request
Level III: New primary structureNew primary structure
- SUMMARY: Proposed new seven-story mixed-use structure encompassing the block of Patton Street between Florida Street and Georgia Street, east of Covenant Health Park. A retail space with approximately 3,400 sqft of floor area is in the northwest corner of the building. The remainder of the building is dedicated to the 245-unit residential development, including amenities and leasing on the ground floor and mezzanine level, and indoor and outdoor amenities on the second floor to the rear of the building. A 3-story parking structure is located to the rear of the building and beneath it, containing approximately 263 parking spaces.
- ACCESS AND SITE LAYOUT: The retail space has an entrance at the corner of the building, as recommended by the design guidelines, with entries spaced no more than 50 ft apart along the three street-facing facades, as required by the DK-W (Downtown Knoxville Warehouse Subdistrict) design standard. The main residential entrance is along Patton Street. There are two accesses on the Patton Street elevation that are recessed from the sidewalk level and require stairs and guardrails. The lowest entry is approximately 4'-6" below the sidewalk grade. The parking garage has a single access from Florida Street. The service and loading dock are accessed from Georgia Street.
- DESIGN ELEMENTS AND BUILDING MATERIALS: The flat-roofed, contemporary building with the front façade featuring a 2-story brick base with aluminum storefront systems and upper levels primarily clad in high density fiber cement and architectural metal panels, with the tower in the northwest corner clad in fiber cement architectural panels with a faux wood finish and wood soffits. The same exterior materials are used on the other facades, with the exception of metal louvers at the parking garage openings on east, west, and south elevations; commercial garage doors on the east and west elevations; and in the rear courtyard, the building is clad in two different fiber cement materials. NOTE: The rest of the rear (south) elevation is clad in the same materials as the north, east, and west elevations.
Property Notes / Work to be Completed
- ZONING STANDARDS: The property is zoned DK-W (Downtown Knoxville Warehouse Subdistrict). The proposal meets the district dimensional standards (build-to zone/percentage and height), and design standards (entry separation, blank wall, and transparency). Compliance with other zoning and development standards will be confirmed during the permitting process. Still, the project appears to meet the standards or can accommodate requirements such as landscaping without significant modifications.
- PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLIST SAFETY: The project will repair and improve the existing sidewalks along the three street frontages. The development team should work with the City's Engineering and Urban Design and Development departments during permitting to prioritize pedestrian safety on the access routes to the garage, considering the heavy pedestrian traffic during events at Covenant Health Park.
- DOWNTOWN BEAUTIFICATION: The applicant is coordinating with the City's Urban Design and Development department regarding the streetscape improvements along the development's frontages.
- BUILDING MASS, SCALE, AND FORM: The board should discuss whether the building meets the intent of the guideline recommendation of dividing larger buildings into 'modules' that are similar in scale to traditional downtown buildings, and designed with a recognizable base, middle, and top.
- BUILDING LOCATION: The proposal meets these recommendations.
- BUILDING MATERIALS: The board should discuss whether the proposed exterior materials relate to the scale, durability, color, and texture of the predominant building materials in the area.
- ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: The board should discuss whether the design meets the intent of this section of creating visually interesting buildings that express human scale through materials and forms, as experienced at close proximity by pedestrians.
- GROUND FLOOR DOORS AND WINDOWS: The proposal meets these recommendations.
- RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS: This proposal meets these recommendations.
- MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT AND SERVICE UTILITIES: This proposal meets these recommendations.
- RECOMMENDED SIGNS: The signage package will be submitted in a separate application.
Applicable Guidelines
Downtown Design Guidelines
See Guidelines- Section 1:
- A. PUBLIC REALM
- The public realm is composed of streets, sidewalks, and public open spaces. Public space is defined by development and supports a diversity of uses. It promotes transit use and pedestrian activity. It can be considered the "outdoor room" created by surrounding buildings.
- 1. Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
- Consider pedestrians first, then transit, then the automobile in designing and developing downtown places.
- 1a. Prioritize pedestrian safety and comfort through public amenities, such as pedestrian-scale lighting, benches, and trash receptacles.
- 1d. Widen sidewalks to accommodate street trees and amenities with a minimum 5-foot clear pedestrian passage.
- 1g. Consolidate curb-cuts and locate driveways near mid-block, when necessary; alley access should be provided for service and parking, if feasible.
- 1i. Provide safe bicycle connections to downtown and accommodate bicycle parking.
- 3. Parking Facilities
- It is important to ensure that parking facilities (both public and private) are safe, accessible, and clearly marked. New parking facilities should be designed to be attractive, compatible additions to downtown. In general, new parking facilities should remain subordinate to the street scene.
- 3a. Create parking garages that do not contain blank walls. Allow for future commercial uses that may not be feasible at the time of construction.
- 3b. Locate parking garages under structures, or provide for retail, residential, or office uses that line the garage. Corner locations are preferable for commercial uses.
- 3d. Screen surface lots, where they abut a public sidewalk, with decorative walls, fencing and landscaping.
- 4. Downtown Beautification
- Beautifying downtown can occur through many different elements including architecture, landscape architecture, horticulture, art, and performing art.
- 4a. Foster downtown beautification with landscaping and plantings, public art, and public open space.
- 4c. Plant street trees where possible. Choose tree planting locations that will not significantly alter the setting of or harm the materials of historic buildings.
- B. PRIVATE REALM
- The private realm is composed of the buildings, structures, and private or quasi-public open spaces. The private realm is commonly defined by building envelopes.
- 1. Building Mass, Scale and Form
- Building form should be consistent with the character of downtown as an urban setting and should reinforce the pedestrian activity at the street level. Creating pedestrian-scale buildings, especially at street level, can reduce the perceived mass of buildings. Human-scale design elements are details and shapes that are sized to be proportional to the human body, such as, upper story setbacks, covered entries, and window size and placement.
- 1a. Maintain a pedestrian-scaled environment from block to block.
- 1b. Foster air circulation and sunlight penetration around new buildings. Buildings may be designed with open space, as allowed under existing DK zoning; or buildings may be 'stepped back' on upper floors with lower floors meeting the sidewalk edge.
- 1c. Use building materials, cornice lines, signs, and awnings of a human scale in order to reduce the mass of buildings as experienced at the street level.
- 1d. Divide larger buildings into 'modules' that are similar in scale to traditional downtown buildings. Buildings should be designed with a recognizable base, middle, and top on all exposed elevations.
- 1e. Avoid blank walls along street-facing elevations.
- 2. Building Location
- It is important to establish a strong relationship among buildings, sidewalks, and streets. This is typically accomplished through consistent setbacks that locate buildings on the same line.
- 2a. Set buildings back five feet in order to provide wider sidewalk space when new construction in non-historic areas is to be more than half the length of the block.
- 2b. Consider using landscape elements to define the sidewalk edge where a building is to be set back from the sidewalk.
- 2d. Limit grade separations above or below the sidewalk, generally no more than 3 feet. Allow for clear sightlines into and out of buildings and plazas.
- 3. Building Materials
- New building materials should relate to the scale, durability, color, and texture of the predominate building materials in the area.
- 3a. Use complementary materials and elements, especially next to historic buildings.
- 4. Architectural Character
- Buildings should be visually interesting to invite exploration by pedestrians. A building should express human scale through materials and forms that were seen traditionally. This is important because buildings are experienced at close proximity by the pedestrian.
- 4a. Encourage first floor uses that draw walk-in traffic; businesses that do not require pedestrian traffic should be located on other floors.
- 4b. Enhance pedestrian interest in commercial and office buildings by creating a largely transparent and consistent rhythm of entrances and windows.
- 4c. Scale first floor signs to pedestrians.
- 4d. Differentiate the architectural features of ground floors from upper floors with traditional considerations such as show-windows, transoms, friezes, and sign boards.
- 4e. Design top floors to enhance the skyline of the block through cornices and details that are harmonious with adjacent architecture.
- 4f. Encourage the use of 'green roofs' and other sustainable practices, while minimizing the visual impact from the street.
- 5. Ground Floor Doors and Windows
- Entrances and ground floor windows should foster pedestrian comfort, safety and orientation.
- 5a. Use consistent rhythm of openings, windows, doorways, and entries.
- 5b. Orient primary front entrances to the main street; secondary entrances should be clearly defined and oriented to streets or alleys, as appropriate.
- 5c. Design entrances according to the proportions of the building's height and width.
- 5e. All windows at the pedestrian level should be clear.
- 5f. Recess ground floor window frames and doors from the exterior building face to provide depth to the façade.
- 6. Residential Buildings
- Solely residential buildings, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, are rare in downtown Knoxville. Privacy and safety are concerns with residential units that meet the sidewalk. Mixed use buildings, with apartments above shops or offices, can avoid these challenges and add to downtown vitality.
- 6b. Design entrances to residential buildings so that access is separated from pedestrian flow on the sidewalk.
- 6c. Encourage the development of mixed-use buildings with apartments over lower story commercial uses.
- 7. Mechanical Equipment and Service Utilities
- Adequate space for these utilities should be planned in a project from the outset and they should be designed such that their visual and noise impacts are minimized.
- 7a. Minimize the visual impact of mechanical equipment through screens or recessed/ low-profile equipment.
- 7b. Do not locate units on a primary façade.
- 7c. Screen rooftop vents, heating/ cooling units and related utilities with parapet walls or other screens. Consider sound-buffering of the units as part of the design.
- 7d. Locate utility connections and service boxes on secondary walls.
- 7e. Reduce the visual impacts of trash storage and service areas by locating them at the rear of a building or off an alley, when possible.
- 7f. Screen dumpsters from view.
Meeting Date
July 15, 2026
250 Patton St
250 Patton St. 37915
DK-W (Downtown Knoxville, Warehouse Subdistrict)
