The Pinnacle in Bristol, TN (Knoxville, Johnson City: mattress, tenants, cinema)

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Rangerred

Are you sure that wasn't Tri Cities Crossing? It has absolutely nothing built but there are high hopes for a Costco and/or Macy's. Kingsport and Eastman are working hard to put something there to improve quality of life in Kingsport and get Eastman employees to live there instead of Johnson City. Good luck.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my opinions of The Pinnacle. As was said earlier, you can't build a bunch of retail and then build demand around it. The demand should already be there and the demographics near this development don't show that.

I know the Washington County Economic Development Council is still working hard to attract retail to JC and build a high-end retail complex at the Boones Creek exit off I-26. TIF is being offered as an incentive which is a safer bet than what is being offered in Sullivan County. The median household income in the census tracts around the Boones Creek exit exceeds $100,000 and the traffic volume on 26 at this spot is the highest of any interstate in the Tri Cities. Kind of seems like a no-brainer to me.

It was the Crossing. All these placeless names kind of run together.

I think improving QOL in the urban core of Kingsport is futile. You can pour all the money you want down there, but it's still screwed by the smell and sight of the polluting factories. I go to Indian Barber Shop down at the intersection of Ft. Henry and Center and drove out to the urgent care on west stone Tuesday. So many of those inner city homes are rundown, and more than a few are busted up, boarded up, or dilapidated.

Kingsport is in bad shape and I don't think Eastman alone has the solution.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by MetropolitanTN

Carmax is a cool addition. Thanks for posting that!

You are very welcome. I didn't know about CarMax (or many of these other shops) until a friend a work sent me the WJHL link the other day and it had this pic attached. I was like, "what? A CarMax?" lol. That is definitely a first around here. I think the closest one to Tri-Cities is in Knoxville to the west and Hickory to the east.

I don't know if their prices vary from region to region and they try to stay competitive, but if they come to Tri-Cities, they are going to have to be more aggressive on their prices. I know they have nice used cars, but their prices seem very steep in other areas and I don't see people paying those prices around here. I mean they had an '04 Oldsmobile Alero priced at $8995. I don't recall where that was, but that is about a $3000 car here.

Originally Posted by Emigrations

It was the Crossing. All these placeless names kind of run together.

I think improving QOL in the urban core of Kingsport is futile. You can pour all the money you want down there, but it's still screwed by the smell and sight of the polluting factories. I go to Indian Barber Shop down at the intersection of Ft. Henry and Center and drove out to the urgent care on west stone Tuesday. So many of those inner city homes are rundown, and more than a few are busted up, boarded up, or dilapidated.

Kingsport is in bad shape and I don't think Eastman alone has the solution.

Yeah, I have to go to Kingsport at least once per month to pick up my nephews medicine at one of the little pharmacies down there, as it is the only place we can seem to get it. When I got out of my car about 3 weeks ago when I was down there, the smell about knocked me down. I guess the locals are nose-blind to it and are used to it. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't mind living in Kingsport just for the fact it is one of the warmest areas in the Tri-Cities, due to the lower elevation. It is one of the lowest areas in the region. I know it is only a few degrees difference in general, but every little bit helps. lol.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

Yeah, I have to go to Kingsport at least once per month to pick up my nephews medicine at one of the little pharmacies down there, as it is the only place we can seem to get it. When I got out of my car about 3 weeks ago when I was down there, the smell about knocked me down. I guess the locals are nose-blind to it and are used to it. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't mind living in Kingsport just for the fact it is one of the warmest areas in the Tri-Cities, due to the lower elevation. It is one of the lowest areas in the region. I know it is only a few degrees difference in general, but every little bit helps. lol.

Kingsport, largely because of the smell and pollution, operates at a handicap compared to the rest of the Tri-Cities. It's going to need something more than the others to play catch up because of this handicap.

On the retail front growing up, I remember Kingsport having both the Ft. Henry and Kingsport Mall. The Kingsport Mall wasn't in the best of shape, but it was viable for awhile. The Ft. Henry mall is barely hanging on today. Kingsport has gone from two malls to probably zero in the next five years. We also had more grocery stores in Kingsport than we do today. Johnson City probably has more variety today than it did then.

[Rangerred]

Kingsport led the Tri Cities in retail sales all the way up until the 1990's. Talking to my in-laws who grew up here, Kingsport was where all the shopping and money was then; all due to the large manufacturing base. JC began to really push their medical sector starting in the early 90's and that growth, coupled with ETSU's growth, and the decline of area manufacturing propelled Johnson City to the forefront of the Tri Cities' retail and cultural scene. The high incomes and diversity provided by the medical and university professions is what allowed for the initial retail growth. Then it just builds on itself as more people and businesses want to locate to the city because of what is already existing.

The key thing to take away is the demand existed before the retail came. Not the other way around as we are seeing with the Pinnacle. You wouldn't need to bribe stores with tax money if true demand existed.

Kingsport still seems to be in desperation mode. They annexed down to the 81/26 interchange banking on this land bringing in a large retailer (which was going to be Bass Pro but they lost that to Bristol) while at the same time watching their mall, in the center of town and in a walkable location, continue to bleed stores.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by Rangerred

Kingsport led the Tri Cities in retail sales all the way up until the 1990's. Talking to my in-laws who grew up here, Kingsport was where all the shopping and money was then; all due to the large manufacturing base. JC began to really push their medical sector starting in the early 90's and that growth, coupled with ETSU's growth, and the decline of area manufacturing propelled Johnson City to the forefront of the Tri Cities' retail and cultural scene. The high incomes and diversity provided by the medical and university professions is what allowed for the initial retail growth. Then it just builds on itself as more people and businesses want to locate to the city because of what is already existing.

The key thing to take away is the demand existed before the retail came. Not the other way around as we are seeing with the Pinnacle. You wouldn't need to bribe stores with tax money if true demand existed.

Kingsport still seems to be in desperation mode. They annexed down to the 81/26 interchange banking on this land bringing in a large retailer (which was going to be Bass Pro but they lost that to Bristol) while at the same time watching their mall, in the center of town and in a walkable location, continue to bleed stores.

If there was a demand for a bigger Belk, Belk would have expanded their own store in the Bristol Mall. The fact that they didn't expand meant the current one was probably sufficient.

There were updates to the Bristol Mall not too many years ago and it's in much better shape than the Ft. Henry Mall. The Penney's in there was much nicer than the rundown Kingsport store. The Bristol Mall had a small food court and Cafe Twist on the second level is a welcome addition. The Ft. Henry Mall has no food court and only Piccadilly, which has gone downhill in recent years. I think the Bristol Mall was a squandered opportunity, as it had a lot more potential than Ft. Henry.

The "higher income leading to better amenities" vs. "better amenities leading to higher incomes" argument is kind of a chicken and egg situation. Higher end retailers like Whole Foods, Macy's, etc, are probably not relocating to the Tri-Cities at least in part because it's likely there aren't enough people with enough disposable income who are interested in what they sell to keep the store afloat. However, if most of your retail and amenities are focused downmarket, it's going to be hard to attract employers who pay better because people who are successful and have options typically want to be in more affluent areas themselves.

[rccrain]

IMO Kingsport has its eye on the ball. There is no more pollution in Kingsport than anywhere else in the TriCities. No much you can do about the smell from the paper plant - they all smell.

Kingsport leading the way in downtown redevelopment | Kingsport Times-News

January 5th, 2015 8:04 am by Staff Report Kingsport Times-News
KINGSPORT — Continued public investment, active private sector champions and a purpose-built promotional association have come together to garner statewide recognition for Downtown Kingsport.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by rccrain

IMO Kingsport has its eye on the ball. There is no more pollution in Kingsport than anywhere else in the TriCities. No much you can do about the smell from the paper plant - they all smell.

Kingsport leading the way in downtown redevelopment | Kingsport Times-News

I'll concede some improvements have been made. I went to Sleepy Owl when I came home and was very impressed for such a small shop. Still, going down there and having to deal with the smell is unappealing. I'd still rather just go to downtown JC or Bristol and not deal with it.

[Tennesseestorm]

Maybe no more pollution, but it does smell worse. I don't smell that smell in JC or Bristol.

[queenladybug817]

Maybe Kingsport should invest in some really elaborate air-freshener system downtown. Have it pump in through a vent system or something.

[jabogitlu]

I've smelled a chemical smell a couple times in Kingsport, but honestly I've never dealt with what ya'll seem to be describing. Maybe it's gotten worse in the six years that I haven't lived in NETN?