Cookeville News

[MLBrumby]

Sound like their recent announcement for a large new store in east ridge. I hope they’ll put in new equipment for better baked goods in their stores. When they bought all the bi-lo stores here they didn’t change anything in their bakery/deli departments… and that’s a shame. A grocery store’s bakery pulls me in and their deli meats are what keep me as a customer. So far here in Chattanooga it’s Publix. Plus, I have to admit the Publix generic brand foods are a cut or two above FC/Kroger. 

[jmtunafish]

2 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Sound like their recent announcement for a large new store in east ridge. I hope they’ll put in new equipment for better baked goods in their stores. When they bought all the bi-lo stores here they didn’t change anything in their bakery/deli departments… and that’s a shame. A grocery store’s bakery pulls me in and their deli meats are what keep me as a customer. So far here in Chattanooga it’s Publix. Plus, I have to admit the Publix generic brand foods are a cut or two above FC/Kroger. 

I absolutely agree.  Publix bakery is excellent, and Publix store-brand products (especially their ice cream!) are a huge leap better than FC/Kroger.  Before Publix came to Knoxville, I knew people who would drive from Knoxville to Chattanooga just to order cakes from the Publix bakery in Ooltewah (Cleveland's Publix hadn't opened yet).  And the Publix deli is second to none. Publix also does a really good job carrying more higher-end products like chocolates, cheeses, pre-made meals, etc.  I hope Food City has taken a page from the Publix playbook on how to lure more upscale customers beyond the bakery.

[bnacincy]

22 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

I absolutely agree.  Publix bakery is excellent, and Publix store-brand products (especially their ice cream!) are a huge leap better than FC/Kroger.  Before Publix came to Knoxville, I knew people who would drive from Knoxville to Chattanooga just to order cakes from the Publix bakery in Ooltewah (Cleveland's Publix hadn't opened yet).  And the Publix deli is second to none. Publix also does a really good job carrying more higher-end products like chocolates, cheeses, pre-made meals, etc.  I hope Food City has taken a page from the Publix playbook on how to lure more upscale customers beyond the bakery.

Glad to see Cookeville has a Publix.

I miss Publix since I left Nashville in 2015-Kroger is King up here as Cincinnati is Kroger's home base.  But the good news is that Louisville will get its first Publix but that the bad news is that it is scheduled to open in 2023.

The deli, the bakery, and the fried chicken are what I miss the most.

[jmtunafish]

There's a lot of infill going on in Cookeville, primarily townhouse developments springing up on vacant lots in town but also detached single family homes smooshed together on small lots.  Obviously, it pales in comparison to what's going on in the Nashville area, but I doubt there's another town in the state that's not a suburb of a bigger city that has more developments going on right now.    Here are some of the denser ones which, if I did my math correctly, comes to over 550 new homes in planned developments in the city announced in just the last few months.  This does not include apartments or individual SFH not part of planned developments.  Nor does it include the 500+ homes currently planned in several developments in little Baxter (pop. 1500) which is located just a couple of miles west of Cookeville.

121 detached homes on 33 acres on Shag Rag Road (love the name):

61 SFH homes on 31 acres on East Broad Street:

20 townhomes on 1.5 acres on 10th Street:

15 townhomes on 1 acre just off Willow Ave:

4

33 townhouses on 1.5 acres on East Spring Street:

19 townhouses on 2.5 acres on East Spring Street:

19 townhouses on 1.5 acres on 10th Street:

41 SFH on 17 acres on Cora Road:

63 units on 4 acres on North Washington Ave:

41 SFH on 11 acres on Buffalo Valley Road:

8 lots on 1 acre on West Broad Street:

8 lots on 3/4 acre on South Jefferson Ave:

7 detached homes on 1.9 acres on 10th Street:

5 townhouses on a half acre lot on 10th Street:

 

No site plan for this one which was just approved by the city planning commission:  92 townhomes on 12 acres on Salem Church Road:

Edited October 11, 2021 by jmtunafish

[jmtunafish]

With its 100^th season of football approaching in 2022, Tennessee Tech has announced plans for construction of a new state-of-the-art Football Operations Center. The 40,000-square-foot facility is phase one of a two-phase process to significantly upgrade and enhance the football program.

The new facility will be located next to the current Athletics Performance Center, across the street from the Hooper Eblen Center. It will feature a contemporary team locker room, a theater-style team meeting room as well as individual meeting rooms for specific position groups, and coaches’ offices. Its Football Academic Success Center includes a computer lab, and the entire facility will be built with an emphasis on technology. The center will also serve as the primary sports medicine and athletics training facility for all 14 Tech athletic teams. There will also be a full length outdoor lighted practice field.

In December, President Oldham will seek approval from the Tennessee Tech Board of Trustees for phase two, a complete renovation of the west side of Tucker Stadium.  Plans call for a completely new west side of the stadium featuring all premium seating, suites and club level seats, a club level hospitality room, a new home team dressing room and a new entryway event plaza. 

https://www.ucbjournal.com/tennessee-tech-announces-new-construction-upgrades-to-football-facilities/

[tragenvol]

On 10/3/2021 at 8:07 PM, LA_TN said:

They're coming for us! lol But it is a bit interesting to see they've made it to Cookeville

And Winchester.

On 10/3/2021 at 8:11 PM, jmtunafish said:

In other news, Raising Cane's announced they're going to build a restaurant in Cookeville on "restaurant row" by Olive Garden. 

 

This site is fenced off now for construction.

[jmtunafish]

The new Food City-anchored shopping center on 10th Street is coming along.  Food City is pushing for an April 2022 opening, and they have workers on site 7 days/week so they'll probably make it.  Some of the outparcels are now spoken for, and one of them looks suspiciously like it could be a Chick-fil-A with that famous Chick-fil-A double drive thru.  Another looks to be a small bank with a couple of drive thru lanes.  I'd never heard of Noire the Nail Bar, but apparently it's a pretty swank nail salon based out of Knoxville with a piano and wine bar.  They have several locations in the Nashville area.

 

A 147-unit housing development is proposed for the back side of "Shoney's Hill" between Neal St and Veterans Drive.  It's a pretty steep slope, but a great location for a multi-family development.  (Side note:  the 29 acres on the west side of Shoney's Hill--where Firing Range Road is on the map--was just sold to another developer,)

[tragenvol]

I heard last night the the Habitat Restore is moving from 15th Street to the old KMart building on S. Jefferson.  That would likely mean that the "Infinite Entertainment" complex (https://usdesignlab.com/portfolio-item/infinite-family-entertainment-center-cookeville-tn-concept/) is indefinitely on hold or dead altogether.  @jmtunafishheard anything more on IE?

Edited November 20, 2021 by tragenvol

[jmtunafish]

4 hours ago, tragenvol said:

I heard last night the the Habitat Restore is moving from 15th Street to the old KMart building on S. Jefferson.  That would likely mean that the "Infinite Entertainment" complex (https://usdesignlab.com/portfolio-item/infinite-family-entertainment-center-cookeville-tn-concept/) is indefinitely on hold or dead altogether.  @jmtunafishheard anything more on IE?

I'd heard that the Infinite Entertainment thing was at least on hiatus, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was dead.  Or maybe it's on hold until they sell the land they'd originally bought for it (SE corner of Walnut & Veterans).  As for the Habitat restore moving, that wouldn't surprise me, either although I can't imagine that they would need the entire Kmart building but maybe they would.  They certainly need more space than they have on 15th.  The old Kmart shopping center was bought for $4.4 million just before the pandemic (Feb 2020) and, other than the Kmart space itself, is pretty much back to being fully leased.  I hope something happens to the Kmart building soon.  It's such a blight on the local retail landscape.

I noticed a couple of other prominent commercial properties in town have sold:  the 9 acres on Jackson between Kohl's and Ollie's, and the 6 acres on Walnut/Neal where the old plantation house was torn down in the middle of the night a couple of years ago.  Property records haven't been updated yet.  Any idea who bought them and what the plans are?  Or what's being built on either side of the new police station on Neal?

[rancenc]

Jobs and investment coming to Putnam County.

https://www.areadevelopment.com/newsitems/12-8-2021/anatolia-granite-and-marble-baxter-tennessee.shtml

[jmtunafish]

The best thing to come out of Austin just announced it's expanding to Cookeville.  Chuy's is being built between Olive Garden and Raising Cane's and plans for a summer 2022 opening.

For those keeping track, this is now the 13th chain restaurant to either open or announce an opening in Cookeville in just the last few months:

1. Chuy's (announced)
2. Domino's (South Jefferson, just opened, Cookeville's 2nd Domino's)
3. Einstein Bros. Bagels (just opened)
4. Hardee's on Hwy 111 (under construction - will be Cookeville's 3rd Hardee's)
5. Moe's Southwest Grill (announced)
6. Penn Station (under construction)
7. Raising Cane's (under construction)
8. Sbarro (under construction)
9. Starbucks on Willow (just opened)
10. Starbucks on 10th (under construction - will be Cookeville's 4th Starbucks)
11. Taco Bell (Baxter, under construction, will be the area's 5th Taco Bell, not sure if that's something to be proud of)
12. Texas Roadhouse (just opened)
13. And a mystery fast food place in the new shopping center on 10th Street which appears in their site plan and looks like a Chick-fil-A with its signature double drive-thru

And there have been just as many locally-owned restaurants open during the last few months, including my new favorite which has Halal dishes such as lamb gyros and a variety of ways of serving falafel.

In other news, the city's economic development coordinator said her office has received more RFIs (Request for Information) from prospective manufacturers in the last 12 weeks than in all of 2019 and 2020.  So things are looking pretty good up here in the Cookeville area.

Edited December 17, 2021 by jmtunafish

[smeagolsfree]

I think I am going to turn into the resident restaurant critic on the board. Trust me when I say this and I have nothing against Cookeville, but I wish you were getting some locally owned restaurant options instead of lousy chains.

The number one on the list in about the worst TexMex I ever had. Tried it twice and had bad oversalted food both times. I do not call it Mexican because if I want Mexican, I will go to a locally owned place run by Mexicans.

The chains tend to treat their employees badly and on top of that they are putting the mom & pops out of business.

The problem right now is finding workers to open these new restaurants. Where I live, they are still trying to get away with paying $10 an hour, so it is drive thru only with limited hours.

Sorry for the rant!

But good news for Cookeville none the less!

[jmtunafish]

23 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I think I am going to turn into the resident restaurant critic on the board. Trust me when I say this and I have nothing against Cookeville, but I wish you were getting some locally owned restaurant options instead of lousy chains.

The number one on the list in about the worst TexMex I ever had. Tried it twice and had bad oversalted food both times. I do not call it Mexican because if I want Mexican, I will go to a locally owned place run by Mexicans.

The chains tend to treat their employees badly and on top of that they are putting the mom & pops out of business.

The problem right now is finding workers to open these new restaurants. Where I live, they are still trying to get away with paying $10 an hour, so it is drive thru only with limited hours.

Sorry for the rant!

But good news for Cookeville none the less!

I guess you missed the part where I said, "And there have been just as many locally-owned restaurants open during the last few months..."  In fact, it's almost twice as many locally-owned restaurants as chain restaurants.

Here they are (the ones I'm familiar with):

1. Toki Ramen and Poke Bowl
2. Hardwoods Smokehouse
3. Pho Kitchen
4. Lay Thai
5. Hometown Hot Chicken
6. Taco Spot
7. 11 Oak Nutrition
8. Baxter Nutrition
9. Spring Street Nutrition
10. The Food Spot and Grill
11. Juicy's Wellness Cafe
12. Green Life
13. Big D's Soul Food Lounge
14. Roots Coffee
15. Red House Coffee
16. El Jimador Taqueria and Grill
17. Lone Star Smoked Meats
18. Tacos El Rey
19. The Slice Pizza and Games
20. Panaderia Pan de Mi Tierra
21. Sparky's Sweet Shoppe
22. Heavenly Bites
23. Black Sheep Italian Sodas
24. La Marquensita
25. Taqueria Don Carbón Express

That makes just under 40 restaurants/eateries that have opened or are about to open in Cookeville in less than a year.  Not bad for a small town.

Edited December 17, 2021 by jmtunafish

[smeagolsfree]

I did miss that, thanks!

[jmtunafish]

FedEx is building a 255,000 square foot facility just south of the new Exit 283 on I-40, right behind the massive Academy Sports distribution center.  No word on how many will work there, but I assume it will be similar to the 75 who will be working at Clarksville's identical facility.

A 92-acre tract in the south side of town adjacent to White County is being rezoned to allow 351 homes.

Not too far from there, the regional airport is doing a study to see if it should try to lure commercial service to the airport.  Some of the property owners around the airport are getting hysterical about this, thinking Upper Cumberland Regional is going to start having noisy Allegiant flights to Destin or something else as wildly stupid.  The airport manager was quoted in NewsChannel5 saying it would most likely be 3-5 flights per week and on very small commuter planes.  Probably a Boutique Air type situation like they have in the Jackson TN airport, 8-seater turboprops to Atlanta.  It's still a big if. 

The city of Cookeville is going to build an aquatics park.  They've already contracted with Nashville's Lose Design which did a similar water park south of Atlanta and are seeking public input on what should be included.  The vice mayor was on the radio yesterday saying it will probably include facilities to host swimming and diving competitions, again, similar to the Lose Design park south of Atlanta.

 

The new Portobello ceramic tile factory in Baxter is progressing nicely.  It's in Baxter but is less than 2 miles from Cookeville.  The building will be 1/4 mile long.  Even though the building won't open for another year, they're starting to hire the first 100 workers, many of whom will be sent to Italy and Brazil to be trained.  The state has finished purchasing the right of way for a new road that will connect Portobello to I-40's Exit 280.

 

In other Baxter news, the mayor of Baxter was on a radio show the other day to give updates on some of the growth taking place in the little town.  He said a couple of different shopping center developers and supermarkets are looking at Baxter, several more restaurants are about to get started, a hotel is going to break ground soon, and close to 1,000 new homes are planned.  Several hundred are planned in single development south of I-40 not too far from the Portobello plant.  He wasn't at liberty to reveal names of these restaurants and supermarkets.  But for a town of only 1,600, this is all pretty significant.

And in other industrial development news, a 32-acre site near the I-40/Hwy 111 interchange is being pursued by a couple of different outfits, one is a food manufacturer, and the other is a manufacturer of solar panel components.  No names can be released until deals are in place.

But the more exciting news is that something big is on the horizon.

Highlands Economic Partnership Vice President Stephen Crook informed the [Cookeville Industrial Development] board that several projects are in the works that are bigger than what has ever been seen before.

“The utility demands and square footage — all bigger than we’ve ever seen before,” Crook said. “We’re working to leverage both public and privately owned properties to solidify that.”

He also made the board aware that the industrial recruitment efforts are being narrowed in an effort to not compete with existing businesses.

“We’re not looking for those projects that would compete with existing employers. With [workforce] participation rate being down and unemployment being down as well, we don’t have the people to fill those low-skilled positions,” Crook said. “The ones we are going after are high wage, and Tennessee Tech graduates are a key driver for some of those.”

[jmtunafish]

The new engineering building at Tech is going to be quite a showplace.  It's being named for Tech alum Ashraf Islam who donated $3 million towards its construction.  Mr. Islam arrived at Tech over 50 years ago from his native East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) with nothing more than $400 and a suitcase of personal belongings.  He now lives in Houston and has made a fortune in the world of engineering, which he credits to his education at Tech.  This is going to be a very impressive facility.

 

[timmay143]

Very nice!! Reminds me of something you would see at Purdue, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, GT, etc. 

[tragenvol]

Good read describing the cost of full tax coffers in the Upper Cumberland, UC, specifically Gainesboro and Cookeville, but affecting the region as a whole:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/business/economy/small-town-living-standard.html

The economics, and to some extent the demographics, of the area as affected by folks moving in for better lifestyle/cost of living.  I know housing costs in Nashville are R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S., but Cookeville has been seeing those massive increases in home value as well....above the national average in fact.

 

 

[jmtunafish]

Someone over at city-data posted updates on construction projects at Tech.  Some are to add facilities, others are to make the campus more attractive and pedestrian friendly.

A new sorority row.  Interestingly, Tech doesn't have a fraternity row.

 

New dorms

Surface parking replaced by parking garages

 

An art trail around campus (in blue).  The trail in red is the existing walking/biking path that connects downtown Cookeville to downtown Algood.

 

New art work around campus,  and a university tower

Campus gates and entrance signs

 

What the campus should look like once all this is completed.  Note the new roundabout on Willow.  I like roundabouts.

[memphian]

Always good to see TECH prosper. I did my undergrad there. The built environment seems to be coming along quite well. I especially like these planned additions. The tower reminds me a bit of the one at Furman, but with a different architecture style - very prominent.  Here's hoping TECH will find a new athletic conference soon as well. I'd like to donate to the football stadium but not while they're part of the OVC.

[MLBrumby]

Looks really nice. One of my kids considered going there but changed his mind at the last minute. Went to UGA instead (boo!). I was impressed when we visited the TTU campus. Everyone was very nice and the campus was beautiful in early spring. This was before all the construction was started. So I could envision all those parking lots west of the main quad as going away.  The green space will be uber nice. So what are the two (planned) U-shaped buildings to the west of the recently completed sciences building?  

[jmtunafish]

4 hours ago, memphian said:

Always good to see TECH prosper. I did my undergrad there. The built environment seems to be coming along quite well. I especially like these planned additions. The tower reminds me a bit of the one at Furman, but with a different architecture style - very prominent.  Here's hoping TECH will find a new athletic conference soon as well. I'd like to donate to the football stadium but not while they're part of the OVC.

I totally agree about the OVC.  I don't know what Tech can do at this point.  I doubt they can get into a better conference without updating their football facilities, but, like you, I'm sure there are plenty of potential donors who won't donate until Tech is in a better conference.  Kind of a Catch-22 type thing.

3 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Looks really nice. One of my kids considered going there but changed his mind at the last minute. Went to UGA instead (boo!). I was impressed when we visited the TTU campus. Everyone was very nice and the campus was beautiful in early spring. This was before all the construction was started. So I could envision all those parking lots west of the main quad as going away.  The green space will be uber nice. So what are the two (planned) U-shaped buildings to the west of the recently completed sciences building?  

I'm glad you had a good visit to campus!  I didn't go to Tech, but I used to work for UTK and now work for the state department of education, and I can assure you that Tech definitely punches above its weight when it comes to academics.  I am absolutely delighted that they're doing so much to spruce up the campus.  As far as those planned U-shaped buildings to the west of the new science building, it looks like it'll be more engineering buildings and would replace some physical services buildings which will be relocated to the old athletic fields from the old Cookeville Junior High (now Foundation Hall) on 10th Street across the RR tracks.

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by jmtunafish

[tragenvol]

Not to be a party pooper, but if this is built out in its entirety...it will likely be a couple of decades with compromises and reductions.  A public university's Master Plan (master plans are generally ten years in scope) includes a wish list, and just like my wish list back in the days of the Sears Christmas catalog...many compromises and exclusions were made.

Edited February 17, 2022 by tragenvol

[jmtunafish]

31 minutes ago, tragenvol said:

Not to be a party pooper, but if this is built out in its entirety...it will likely be a couple of decades with compromises and reductions.  A public university's Master Plan (master plans are generally ten years in scope) includes a wish list, and just like my wish list back in the days of the Sears Christmas catalog...many compromises and exclusions were made.

I don't think anyone assumes this will all take place next year.  But it's not unreasonable for many, if not most, of this to take place in the next 10-15 years.  In the last 8 years since the original Master Plan was unveiled, quite a bit has been accomplished:

• new student recreation center
• new science building (the largest academic building on campus)
• groundbreaking on the new engineering building
• renovation of Bartoo and Kittrell Halls
• renovation of four residence halls/dorms
• total gutting and renovation of the Jere Whitson building to create a campus welcome center
• expansion of the Roaden University Center
• expansion of the Volpe Library
• Centennial Plaza
• new parking lot west of Tech Village
• more green space outside the UC where a parking lot used to be
• large lawn/commons where a parking lot used to be west of Peachtree (where the new science building sits)
• several roads on campus have already been closed to vehicles in preparation of turning them in to pedestrian malls

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that most of the rest of the stuff in the Master Plan could be completed in the next 10-15 years.  Of course, much of this is dependent upon state funding and some very generous donors, and who knows how that will go.

[tragenvol]

2 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that most of the rest of the stuff in the Master Plan could be completed in the next 10-15 years.  Of course, much of this is dependent upon state funding and some very generous donors, and who knows how that will go.

I would advise hesitation when hoping that all will be built.  If 50% were built in ten to fifteen years...that would be a success.  Master Plans come and go...actual funding  brings those plans back down to earth.  I think the current Master Plan for Tech is from 2014...we're not talking about year to year...we're talking about decade to decade for schools like Tech with limited endowments who are dependent upon capital appropriations from the state.  A state that has many mouths to feed when it comes to capital outlay....so much so that the process is competitive requiring local matches at the university and community college levels even to be considered for recommendation 

Edited February 18, 2022 by tragenvol