New ideas for 700 block of Market Street include sky farm, 24/7 grocer

The 700 block of Market Street downtown is bound by Cherry Street, 7th Street and 8th Streets. Buildings were removed in preparation for a development that never moved forward. Since 2000, the site has been scheduled for development, old buildings demolished, and several projects abandoned, leaving an open wound in the heart of downtown. Now the center of what was once downtown's densest block is completely empty void of any structures. "It is pretty much a blank canvas where something really needs to go back," River Street Architecture architect and project leader Craig Peavy, said. Contributed file.

A design team presented their development idea for the gaping hole in the 700 block of downtown Chattanooga during the first installment of River City Company's Urban Design Challenge.

Dynamic Density—the name of the architecture and design team—aptly describes their site-specific concept for the troubled now vacant location situated on what has historically been "one of the center city's densest blocks."

During a public presentation Thursday evening, the team put forth their idea that was conceived over the past six weeks as part of a new year-long design competition for various downtown sites.

The plans are mostly theoretical and will "serve as a knowledge base for future discussions about developments and improvements to downtown," according to River City Company CEO Kim White.

To recreate a dynamic and dense block in the center of the business district, the team presented a proposal that is anchored on the street level by a 24-hour grocery store, and identifiable in scope by a towering 11-story living steel column system, or green screen, that leads to a "sky farm" on the roof.

Office and residential space would be the primary occupants of the new building, which would also boast a rooftop bar and restaurant.

A storm water system and compost area, also on the roof, would be for the entire building and serve to nourish the sky farm's raised beds while offering residents and tenants a place for their own compostable waste.

In an effort to create open public space and access between Market and Cherry streets, which anchors the site on the east and west, the team's proposal also included the demolition of one of three old buildings owned by the Cooper family.

"All of these elements would help to create an urban canyon of interlocking horizontal and vertical overlapping spaces," team architect David Barlew said.

Ideas as inspiration for ongoing conversations

Christian Rushing is a project manager and consultant for the design challenge. He said the purpose of the challenge isn't to create a list of projects and ideas that will definitely be developed, but rather to create a more conversational atmosphere about good urban planning and design among the residents of the city.

"What we are doing is sewing the seeds for what theoretically could happen. 25 years ago visions and ideas developed seeds that became actual projects, like Miller Plaza," Rushing said.

To keep the conversation going between each of challenge's six public presentations, an informal gathering of interested citizens are invited to continue the discussion during a series of forums scheduled the week after each presentation.

"The basic idea is that firm principals of design, particularly in regards to downtown, are meaningful for everyone. So the more that we as citizens are informed the better equipped we will be at putting in to place plans to build as well as we can," River Street Architecture urban designer Blythe Bailey said.

Bailey will organize the first forum which will take place Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Green Spaces office on E. Main Street.

"We will use the topics in the design challenge to be the organizational structure of the forum," Bailey said.

The Urban Design Challenge will unveil a new project every other month through July 2012. In November another design team will unveil ideas for the undeveloped Civic Forum block, bounded by Market Street, 10th Street, Broad Street and 11th Street. The site is currently a parking lot opposite the Public Library.