Mayor Bill Haslam welcomed Gameday Center President Gary Spillers to town Friday as the Atlanta-based developer officially announced its plans to build a 212-suite luxury sports condominium here.
Volunteer Center will be built on what was a city-owned parking lot between downtown and the University of Tennessee, just below Church Street United Methodist Church."We know this is a great day for us here in Knoxville," Haslam told the crowd on the site of the new development. "It’s what we call a win, win, win.
The new condominium and hotel complex, a short walk from Neyland Stadium, will be a second home to Volunteer football fans as well as a source of rooms for groups and individuals interested in events at the Knoxville Convention Center across the street.Haslam said that the new development, which will open in 2008, would be a benefit to everyone involved ranging from UT fans and alumni to the university to the city and the developers.He noted that Volunteer Center will add to the city’s tax base and Knoxville will also keep the use of 200 parking spaces at the site, except on game days.
Gameday Center, which is developing the new complex along with Trammell Crow Residential, has built similar condominium developments near the Universities of Alabama, Georgia and Auburn and is close to completing one near Florida State University.Haslam joked that it was about time they arrived in Knoxville."We wondered why it took you so long to get here," he told Spillers. "Maybe you were just warming up (and wanted) to save the best for last."Spillers, who pointed out that he wore his orange on the day before the Tennessee-Florida game, said the company was excited to be in Knoxville and was particularly pleased at the site between downtown and UT."We look at this as, gosh, one of our best locations ever," Spillers said.
He and Haslam and other guests at the announcement, including UT Athletics Director Mike Hamilton and UT Women’s Athletics Director Joan Cronan, unveiled an artist’s rendering of the new center at the close of Friday’s event.