May 27, 2025 | More News

2024 Development Activity Report Available

The local construction industry remains active in Knox County, evidenced by another year of record-setting investment.

The area’s strong demand for housing in recent years has led developers to increase supply of new residential units permitted, in keeping with a trend of increasing activity year-over-year that has been observed since 2020. In 2024, nearly 5,600 residential units were permitted, approximately 1,100 units above the 5-year average and 400 more units than the year before.

While Northwest and Southwest County have topped residential development charts for most of recent memory, in 2024 Central City saw the most units permitted overall. Predominantly comprised of multi-family dwellings, 1,665 new residential units were added with significant contributions coming from large complexes like HUB Knoxville on Cumberland Avenue and The Mark at Knoxville on South Concord Street.

Though new residential permits in Northwest County were slightly down from last year, this popular area still came in a close second and ranked first for non-residential permits. A total of 1,637 new residential units and 31 non-residential units were permitted here, indicating continued popularity. Notable projects include Silver Creek Apartments, a new medical center at Tennessee Orthopedic Clinics, and an addition at Hardin Valley Academy.

Other countywide non-residential highlights include an expansion of Axle Logistics, two new Home2 Suites hotels, and a major renovation of the Tennessee Theatre.

Rezoning and subdivision activity from the past year was also notable. Knox County saw a nearly 66 percent increase in residential lots created by subdivisions from 2020, returning to pre-COVID levels. The majority of those new lots were delineated in the Northwest and Northeast County. There was also an increased acreage of agriculturally zoned land converted to other zoning types over 2023. Agriculturally zoned properties can represent a wide variety of existing uses ranging from farms to vacant, unused tracts to single-family homes on large lots.

All told, more than $1.7 billion was invested in new construction last year with new residential development surpassing the $1 billion mark for the second year in a row. New non-residential investment, on the other hand, was the lowest since 2018 at $235 million. Despite that dip, non-residential renovations ranked the second highest of the past decade at $282 million.

Visit knoxplanning.org/data to view the full report as well as past versions. For a version of this report in screen-reader accessible format, contact Aubrey Weiland at aubrey.weiland@knoxplanning.org or 865-215-3832.