One of Chattanooga's largest undeveloped tracts may soon have a new owner with big plans

ABOUT LUPTON CITYChattanooga businessman John T. Lupton in the 1920s bought 1,000 acres of farm land on the Tennessee River to develop a manufacturing community called Lupton City, according to NAI Charter Real Estate Corp. He had founded Dixie Mercerizing Co. As business grew, houses, a post office, church, gym, movie theater, swimming pool and golf course were built.

photo BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee owns property along the Tennessee River that soon could be sold.

An Augusta, Ga., company is eyeing the purchase of one of the biggest remaining undeveloped tracts along the Tennessee River in Chattanooga with plans to put up mixed-use housing on the 216-acre tract.

Blanchard & Calhoun Commercial has a contract on the Lupton City site, which is owned by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and nearly held the insurer's headquarters before it settled on a Cameron Hill campus downtown a decade ago.

Chattanooga-based Blue-Cross had the river site listed for $10.25 million.

BlueCross Vice President Roy Vaughn said that while the insurer has an agreement to sell the property, closing isn't seen as taking place until the first half of 2015.

"We wanted to wait until the time seemed right to sell the property. It does now," Vaughn said about the deal, though he declined to confirm the potential buyer's name.

David DeVaney, president of NAI Charter Real Estate Corp., whose company is listing the parcel and also wouldn't name the interested party, said the business is performing due diligence on the site.

DeVaney said the potential buyer is still solidifying future plans for the tract that sits along the Tennessee River.

"They're trying to figure out the highest and best use of the property," he said.

Blanchard & Calhoun didn't return calls for comment on Tuesday. But earlier this year, the company was pursuing a 17-acre mixed-use development on Riverside Drive near Erlanger with 387 proposed multi-family residential units.

That site formerly held the Cannon IMI manufacturing plant for many years.

The Lupton City location was bought by BlueCross from Dixie Group in 2001. The insurer was trying to consolidate its Chattanooga operations, then housed in about 10 separate buildings, into a single corporate campus.

However, then-Mayor Bob Corker and other downtown boosters urged BlueCross to consider staying downtown and worked to clear Cameron Hill for the site of what became the insurer's $299 million headquarters.

The Lupton City property has 154 acres of land on the river. It also holds a 9-hole golf course and 54 acres along Lupton Drive near a thread mill once owned by Dixie Yarns and later R.L. Stowe Mills Inc.

DeVaney said that the recession hit not long after BlueCross decided to stay downtown and the residential real estate market unraveled for several years.

"Now, it has picked up steam," he said, adding that there were multiple offers on the property. "BlueCross was patient and strategic."

DeVaney said access to the site is critical, noting that a two-lane Lupton Drive is the best way into the parcel other than going through neighborhoods. Improving access points to the tract may require some work, he said.

In addition to residential development, other uses for the site have included a marina, offices and a mixed business development.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

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