From Cal Johnson’s Lone Tree Saloon to Today’s Lone Tree Pass

I recently had an opportunity to tour Lone Tree Pass with Megan Hatcher Rhodes, just as the fences came down and opened the sidewalk at the 200 block of Gay St. that have impeded pedestrian traffic for what feels like two years. Maybe it has? Lone Tree Pass is the newest downtown development by Hatcher-Hill Properties. Megan works in development and the brokerage side of the 25-year-old development firm started by Mike Hatcher and Tim Hill. This project broke ground in 2023 and is nearing completion on the residential side, as well as several commercial additions.

Lone Tree Pass is documented as the 100-year-old site of Cal Johnson’s Lone Tree Saloon. The name comes from the one singular tree on the saloon’s property that Johnson to great care to preserve at the time. While the tree is long gone—it reportedly died shortly after Johnson’s death in 1925—the stories remain.

From The History Project’s research on Cal Johnson: “The News-Sentinel described him as the ‘wealthy Negro philanthropist, who made a fortune in race horses and spent much of it to give parks and other facilities to his people.’ They remark that he was born a slave but died one of the wealthiest black men in Tennessee. ‘He was born at the present site of the Farragut Hotel and died within two blocks of that spot.’”

After emancipation, Cal, his brother and another freed man found the rather stomach-churning job of exhuming bodies of soldiers after the Civil War and moving them to the National Cemetery in Knoxville for reburial. They used these funds to buy up acreage in the downtown area and began to build their wealth.

Hatcher-Hill was inspired by the history of the site and is honoring Johnson with the name and works of art inside the lobby by local artist Jessica Ramsey.

Lone Tree Pass is not the only property in Knoxville to honor Johnson. There’s the Cal Johnson Community Center, the 167-unit Vintage Cal going up beside Marble Alley Lofts, and the historic Cal Johnson Building on State Street. Johnson and his wife lived in a home next door to that building, built in 1898, until his death in 1925.

Urban Guy has covered the development of Lone Tree Pass since the beginning, but with his retirement and world travels, the baton was passed on to me. I hope I make him proud! See the progress from the beginning on the Inside of Knoxville site. If you are like me and get a little annoyed if the search doesn’t produce instant results, here you go: This link will take you right to our Lone Tree Pass coverage.

The development has 57 units, all with either a walk-out or a Juliet Balcony. Fun fact: I got to stand on the original Juliet Balcony in Verona this summer! The units range from spacious one-bath studios to a handful of three-bedroom, three-bath units and are available for purchase and lease now. All residential space is now complete, and around 20 remain for purchase or lease. Hatcher-Hill worked with DIA Architects and Merit Construction for this mixed-use development. Units are available for short-term rentals and are restricted to certain floors rather than the entire building. Owners can choose to rent their unit or not.

The unit I walked through has a short-term rental option. The views out toward Gay Street were quite lovely, and the two-bedroom unit was cozy, spacious and well-appointed. I could see myself having a little staycation with my husband and taking advantage of a kid-free night away. Side note: we recently launched two of them out into the world of universities and adulthood. If you see me, don’t ask; just hand over the sweets. They tell you how hard it is, but I wasn’t expecting the intensity. I’m still a mess.

Now to the unique and open-air pass-through patio/pedestrian walkway. The addition of this interesting path has an almost completed, locally owned Tree Top Coffee . Flying Biscuit Café is set to open in September. This is the second Knoxville location for Flying Biscuit Café, which serves breakfast all day. They speak my love language.

Gemini Hospitality, who contributed to Earl’s on the Southside and is now planning a new concept in the former home of Babalu, has plans to open an Italian Steakhouse sometime in 2027 in Lone Tree Pass on the corner of Gay and Summit Hill and occupies nearly the entire street-facing commercial space. Over half the retail space is dedicated to these three businesses.

The question has been asked over the years: why does Knoxville keep building new developments five stories and under while the community longs for a few more high-rise structures? I found this response from Buzz Goss, who developed Marble Alley and is working on another apartment complex next door. This is from a previous article posted on in 2022, but I can imagine the argument against it remains the same.

“There are two critical provisions in our adopted building codes, which have an impact on the height of a structure and subsequently the construction costs. FYI, we have two adopted codes, which address this. The IBC, which is primarily concerned occupant safety. In other words, providing a safe means of exiting a building in the event of an emergency. The other adopted code is the Life Safety Code, which is primarily concerned with making it safe for First Responders, who race into a building as everyone else is racing out. Please forgive the simpleton explanation.

“First, while using wood as the primary structural material is the least expensive means of construction, the building code limits its use to buildings which are no taller than five stories tall. Subsequently, steel, concrete or heavy timber construction is required for buildings taller than five stories.

“Second, in addition to requiring steel, concrete or HT for the structural system, the building code classifies buildings, where the highest occupiable floor level is more than 75 feet above the Fire Department’s access from the surrounding street, as ‘highrise’ construction. Highrise buildings are required to have additional safety features such as; redundant safety systems, generators sized to power all of the building’s safety systems (emergency lighting, elevators, alarms, fire sprinkler pumps, etc.). All of which increases construction cost dramatically.

“I would love to build a highrise in downtown, but our rents and sales prices do not support the cost. So, it’s hard to provide housing at an affordable price in three-five stories, but dramatically harder in taller buildings.”

There you have it, folks.

Whether you are a resident or just passing through, Lone Tree Pass offers another piece of what Knoxville, and specifically that downtown corner, has been missing. The wide intersection has been a barrier to pedestrians, especially visitors to Knoxville, from accessing the many great eateries and shops on the 100 block. They and the other business owners have high hopes for bringing more pedestrian traffic to that side of Gay Street.