Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

2106 Washington Avenue

1300 sq. ft.
2 bdrm, 1 bath

$69,900

Contact: Julie Breshnahan

Coldwell Banker: 687-1111

Comment
on this story

by Matt Edens

Pity Knoxville's poor powers that be. Universe Knoxville is lost in space. They batted the baseball stadium clear out to Sevier County. The Justice Center tanked and last anyone saw Worsham and Watkins, it was to wish them a fond "and don' t let the door hit you on the way out." �

Let's face it, with this kind of batting average, our local civic leadership should have been sent down to the minors a couple seasons back. Downtown redevelopment just isn' t their game. If you' re building a beltway or torturing a Super Target out of the swamps of Turkey Creek, they're the designated hitters. But asking them to step up to the downtown plate is like handing Sammy Sosa a cricket bat.

Which isn' t to say plays aren't being made. It's just that the guys fielding the ball are, almost without exception, a younger generation, relative outsiders to the local power-structure, or both: Leigh Burch, Wayne Blasius, Kinsey and Probasco, Adam Cohen, and the one guy who's made himself damn near synonymous with downtown redevelopment—David Dewhirst. And they've stirred things up enough that our local business "leaders" have started to take notice—as this week's big announcements regarding Sam Furrow and the downtown Post Office attest (and, considering his track record with projects like Tyson Place, let me say, welcome aboard). If some of Furrow's compatriots don' t soon follow his lead, they may one day find themselves as obsolete as their ideas about development.

Nor should it come as a surprise that just as the VIPS have discovered downtown, the people who showed them where it was are already eyeing the next frontiers. Savvy enough to realize that it's going to take more than a few new lofts, a convention center, and some goofy-ass "destination attraction" to make downtown work, they're truly thinking outside the box, investing in the neighborhoods that ring the central business district. Dewhirst and Cohen are planning to turn 4th and Gill's Brownlow School into upscale apartments, urban über-architect Buzz Goss is quietly buying up whole chunks of Fort Sanders, and, while half our local development community is scrambling to get into Parkside Drive, David Dewhirst has done the absolute opposite and bought, of all things, this house in Parkridge.

It's proof that he understands the demographic. For a modest monthly payment that compares favorably to the rent for a two-bedroom apartment, a twenty-something couple could own this house, which is just a fifteen-minute bike or bus ride from downtown. And not only is it a hell of a lot bigger than their apartment, it has oak floors, solid wood doors, and lots of cool Arts and Crafts features like the casement windows flanking the fireplace or the built in bookcases and columns dividing the living and dining rooms. In a word, it's made for that leather sofa from Pottery Barn. Speaking of Pottery Barn—picture a brand-new kitchen and a real dining room; all you need is a few friends, a big bottle of wine, and some pasta with homemade pesto. Did I mention that the Food Co-Op is just minutes away? Then there's the back deck, perfect for grilling salmon steaks from the Fresh Market. Or the big front porch with a swing for that cup of coffee and the Sunday New York Times—the two maples out front are just coming into their fall color. Out back there's plenty of yard for the dogs. And then there's the huge, concrete-floored basement—great for the bikes, backpacks and kayaks that are currently cluttering up your spare bedroom. Hell, there's even a garage door. No more wrestling the boat around that turn on the stairs.

So the powers that be have finally discovered downtown. Who knows, maybe a few years from now they'll miss the ramp to I-40 and find themselves in 4th and Gill, Old North—maybe even Parkridge—and wonder where all the Volvos and VWs came from.