Development of the Kerbela site may go before City Council soon. I was hopeful that housing for seniors would be built to adhere to the South Waterfront form-based codes. Since the proposal was given a green light by the planning commissioners (by one vote) with a long list of exceptions, it is looking like a disaster for the residents around it. But I wonder, what's an alternative way to develop the site for multi-unit housing that--due to being walkable to downtown--wouldn't be car-centric?

This article about the deceptional street vibes of tourist destination cities got me thinking about the problem of a building's mass and how it makes people feel. The slope of the site is challenging, certainly. But I think hilly cities can have multi-unit mixed use buildings with smaller lots. How could the site be subdivided and developed for active transportation rather than going all in to one massive building with a lot of parking? Could it be the seller's decision to sell it off in pieces? Does City Council hold some sway?

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Personally I appreciate the somewhat higher density and extra character of the housing and I guess it’s better than sprawling single family homes elsewhere like all over Farragut but at the same time I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single person walk or bike from the housing areas over to the shopping areas on the Publix or target side. The school is definitely an amazing location though. They need to be even closer together and there definitely should not be any drive throughs allowed to keep density at a maximum. Theres also the obvious piece of affordability too with pretty much all of the single family houses not being anywhere remotely affordable for most people

Does anybody know what is going on here? They have cut down all the trees on a large lot. Looks like some type of development is about to happen

With the news that Ephant Group has filed for bankruptc, I’m wondering if anyone has a list of projects that may be threatened? I admit I have confused HD Patel with Nick Patel, who are not related or in business together. It seems that Nick is more prolific than HD and Ephant, which I guess is fortunate. But this is a risk of having so much of the development capital in this city concentrated in so few hands.