Developer planning ‘Heritage Point’ project
Kingsport Times-News Article by Sharon Caskey Hayes
Imagine a new multimillion-dollar development with retail, restaurants, theater and hotels attracting folks from throughout the region and beyond to shop, eat, play and stay in Sullivan County.
Thats the vision of local businessman Stewart Taylor, whos spent 10 years accumulating farmland at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 26 to turn his dream into reality.
Taylor hopes to develop what hes calling the new Heritage Point Towne Center, with 1.4 million square feet of space for retailers, eateries, a 14-screen cinema‚ ‚ and hotels. The development would include 50 percent green space, with parks, walking trails and creeks.
I just visualize something absolutely great out here, and Im excited about it, Taylor said. This is what a regional destination center can be.‚ ‚
Its an ambitious plan, and Taylor said it will likely take years to develop. But hes hoping a new state law will move the process forward more quickly and give this area a boost in the economic arm.
Last week, the Kingsport Board of Mayor & Aldermen took the first steps to establish a Border Region Retail Tourism District as part of new legislation passed by the Tennessee General Assembly earlier this year.
The new law creates special tax districts of up to 950 acres in which the local city can recapture up to 59 percent of all state sales taxes generated inside the district for up to 30 years. These funds can be used to provide incentives for development to boost the local economy and tourism efforts.
Simply put, the new law is designed to help recruit new development in communities such as Kingsport that border states with a lower sales tax.‚ ‚
This gives us a more level playing field, Taylor said.
Taylor is expected to enter into an agreement with the BMA as part of the special tax district. And other property owners in the vicinity can take part as well, if they want to develop their land or sell it for development.
People may not want to sell their property, but its going to make their property more valuable, without a doubt, Taylor said.
Taylor has acquired about 400 acres at the site from different landowners over the years, and hes spent lots of money on environmental studies, core drilling and design work. He said grading the land for development ‚¬â€ which includes blasting and removing 750,000 yards of rock ‚¬â€ will cost $16 million, while building infrastructure at the site will cost another $8 million. Grading alone is expected to take a year, he said.
Meanwhile, the city and state‚ ‚ are expected to begin accepting bids in December for the extension of Fordtown Road, which will open up the property for the new development.
We anticipate that once this is all done, it will create about 5,000 jobs, and sales will be about $400 million a year, Taylor said.
So far, hes secured two letters of intent and received several verbals from businesses wanting to locate at the site, he said. Hes traveling to Atlanta later this month for the International Shipping Center Trade Show in hopes of attracting other retailers to the development.
Taylor said hes hoping to locate businesses that arent already located in Kingsport. And the special tax district legislation encourages that ‚¬â€ it states that if a retailer already located in a community wants to move to the new development, it must build a store thats 35 percent larger than its existing one.
Were wanting to have new‚ ‚ experiences in Kingsport, Taylor said.
He said hes moving forward with the vision that local leaders have shared for 30 years ‚¬â€ the development of land where the two major interstates cross.
They knew the future was out here. We feel this is our duty to make this a great asset for our community, and improve the quality of life here, Taylor said.
He said hell be working hand in hand with Kingsport city officials to help turn the development into reality. And he credited state lawmakers, particularly Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Reps. Jon Lundberg and Tony Shipley, for their efforts to pass the special tax district legislation to help move the project forward.
Things are set for things to happen out here. I hope I can see it through and bring something that our community can be proud of, Taylor said.‚ ‚