A First Look at the South Waterfront ‘Down River’ Master Plan

Community members piled into the Kerbela Temple (which is still on the market, for anyone keeping score) on Monday evening for an open house hosted by the South Knoxville Neighborhood & Business Coalition. There, the South Waterfront Down River Master Plan made its public debut, marking a major milestone in a two-year process that generated a steady stream of neighborhood-driven input.

Stations were set up around the room featuring the South Waterfront’s past, present and future. District 1 City Councilman Tommy Smith, who has shepherded the effort, grounded the plan in its long context of community involvement that began with the 2006 South Waterfront Vision Plan. “I hope you all got a sense of the history, not just of the area but of the input that went into this from the people in this room,” he told attendees.

Tommy credited the South Waterfront Advisory and Advocacy Group, which worked closely with the City of Knoxville and Knoxville’s Community Development Corp. to come up with the concept plan, and community members for showing up repeatedly and speaking into the process. 

The “Down River” district extending west of the Henley Bridge to the Scottish Pike neighborhood is envisioned as a mix of new development and adaptive reuse, anchored by the future pedestrian bridge that will connect South Knoxville to the UT campus. The concept imagines ground-floor retail, neighborhood amenities, gathering space along Blount Avenue and a riverwalk tracing the shoreline, all intended to create walkable blocks and an active, human-scale streetscape. Think of it as if Suttree Landing and Sevier Avenue were sandwiched closer together. 

Existing industrial structures, including two former Jefferson Mills buildings east of the bridge and the lower-profile warehouses to the west, once home to Specialty Metals & Supply, are shown as candidates for reuse. Three recurring themes – green space & river access, safety & connectivity, and community & neighborhood character – emerged as core community priorities.

Tommy emphasized that while development pressure is fast-accelerating, this particular stretch requires a deliberate approach. “From time to time, the city needs to step in and say ‘this place needs to be really special’ and set the parameters for exactly what we want” i.e. before growth arrives on its own terms. 

Maintaining the guiding principles of the 2006 Vision Plan is non-negotiable, he said: “If you don’t look at anything else before you leave, go back and look at those, because they’re really important. They’re about preserving green space. They’re about mixed-income housing. They’re about access to the waterfront, and maintaining the intent of the form-based code.”

Meeting-goers asked a lot of thoughtful questions (traffic patterns, parking and connectivity were of particular concern), and no doubt there will be plenty of challenges, moving parts and fill-in-the-blanks ahead. Dreaming up a pretty puzzle piece is one thing but fitting it into the larger picture is another; however, there is good work arriving fast and furious on all fronts, from the Chapman Highway corridor and the Sevier Avenue streetscape project to the SoKno Rail Trail and Art Walk and Urban Wilderness Gateway Park which looks near to completion. The Q&A session also heard requests ranging from native plants to greenway connectivity (yes please to both), and ideas for how to ensure the Down River district is not just amazing on paper but also accessible in real life. 

Incoming District 1 City Councilwoman Karyn Adams is a genuine listener and an engaged liaison, and she is well-equipped to inherit Tommy’s role. The concept plan will be finalized in the coming weeks and incorporated into a request for qualifications that KCDC will release early next year to attract development partners. A shortlist will be asked for detailed proposals, with a partner expected to be selected by fall 2026. 

It’s fun for me at these sorts of community meetings to roam around, eavesdrop on all the interesting conversations happening, and ask people I know and those I don’t, “Well, what do you think?” And South Knoxville residents (among which I proudly count myself), historically, have never shied away from telling you exactly what we think. We live in a special place, and we know it, and the south side has been fortunate over the decades to have residents who are so passionate about the safekeeping of its future. 

One of those residents is Martha Olson, who two decades ago sat on the original South Waterfront Vision Plan Oversight Committee as a representative of the former Southside Riverfront Residents & Business Association. In my 2006 Metro Pulse cover story about the Vision Plan, I described her as “perhaps the most vocal critic of the development.” She has remained engaged throughout the years, and for as much hand-wringing as she has probably caused the City, she and others have fulfilled a critical role in bulldogging on behalf of local residents and the preservation of local character and priorities. It’s important, I think, to continue valuing a diversity of perspectives to ensure that the South Waterfront evolves as a true community asset for all.

I asked Martha, at the end of the open house, “Well, what do you think?” She had her thoughts, of course, and a folder full of notes and print-outs of previous drafts. Overall though, she said with a smile, “I think it’s a pretty good plan.”