Metro Pulse/Urban Renewal

612/614
Luttrell Street
1,300 sq. ft. Commercial
1,300 sq. ft. Residential
(1 bdrm, 1 & 1/2 bath)
$225,000
(Lease possible)
Contact: Steve Hill
Elite Realty
947-5000

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by Matt Edens

As far as urban live/work spaces goes, this one’s typical. Tucked inside a carefully restored old commercial property, it mixes the old-fashioned charm of a pressed-tin ceiling and hardwood floors with a thoroughly modern living/dining space including huge windows on one end and a kitchen full of stainless steel appliances on the other.

If you guessed it was downtown you’d miss by a mile, give or take a few hundred yards. You see, this circa-1936 commercial building is one of dozens outside what we conventionally think of as “downtown.” Most are just over the line in Emory Place or along old thoroughfares like Central, Broadway or Magnolia. Others are a little farther flung in one of the half-dozen old “satellite downtowns” orbiting Market Square at a distance of a couple miles: places like Hotel Avenue in Fountain City or the “downtowns” of Burlington or Vestal—each one a small-town Main Street in its own right. Others, like this one on Luttrell in Fourth and Gill are scattered among Knoxville’s historic neighborhoods, remnants of a the day when “the corner store” didn’t involve pay-at-the-pump and a big illuminated sign.

A handful of these old neighborhood stores hang on, in places like Fort Sanders and Lincoln Park, but many of the old buildings are shuttered—victims, like downtown itself, of changing economics and changing lifestyles. But, just as downtown’s ongoing rejuvenation demonstrates, lifestyles change. And, as middle and upper-middle class residents return to the center city, they bring much needed disposable income and investment capital along with them.

Which means that, instead of falling into ruin, buildings like this one get fixed up. That’s what happened in this case. The owner’s an old hand in Fourth and Gill who has lived in the neighborhood for more than two decades, buying several properties over the years and fixing them up for sale or lease.

He’s done a fine job with this one. Built in the ’30s as an A&P Grocery, it was one of several stores in a small cluster at the corner of Fourth and Luttrell. Time got some, I-40 got others, but this one somehow soldiered on. Its last incarnation, a rather run-down grocery and Laundromat, shut down several years ago. Since then it’s been transformed into a live/work space that’d stack up to just about anything downtown. Except, ironically, stacking up rather than living over the store, as it’s a side-by-side arrangement. Both the commercial and residential sides feature oak hardwood floors, 12-foot ceilings covered with the original pressed tin, glass block side windows and period-style “school globe” light fixtures.

The one-bedroom, loft-style residential side has 1,300 sq. ft. of living space with its own separate entrance, one and a half baths, a large walk-in closet and a separate laundry. Divided from it by a steel fire door is another 1,300 sq. ft. of commercial space that has a handicapped-accessible bath and a large storage/workshop/kitchen space to the rear. Zoned C-3, the space could house anything from an office or art studio and gallery to a small bakery or restaurant. The vacant lot next-door goes with the property and could also be developed or used for parking. In fact, the lot will likely get larger. TDOT’s plans for reconfiguring I-40 not only means the interstate out back will be screened with sound walls, it’ll also move a few dozen yards to the east.