Former Parks-Belk building lot sold at Hamblen Courthouse

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Cattleman’s Corner is coming to Downtown Morristown.

Developer/owner Kenny Noah was successful in a bid Friday at the Hamblen County Courthouse to purchase the property that includes the site of the burned-down Parks-Belk building. Noah has big plans for the spot that will change the landscape of downtown Morristown.

“The Cattleman’s Corner is going to be a high-end steakhouse on the first floor, hotel on the second and third floor, and a day spa and rooftop bar,” he said. “I’m born and raised here. And when I was a kid, I went to Belk’s — my mom would take me there and shop.

“You know, it’s exciting to know that we’re going to put together something on that corner, the Cattleman’s Corner, that is going to make that whole downtown just pop.”

Noah is the entrepreneur who founded Southeast Industrial Construction, along with SEI Waste and SEI Pest Control. After completing the construction of SEI’s headquarters near the airport on W. Andrew Johnson Highway, he had been trying to purchase the downtown property for a while now.

It’s been a journey to get to this moment. Deb Miller, a prior owner of the building, said she was happy to see the building in the hands of someone who cares about the downtown and is excited to see what Noah has in store for the future.

“I think the people that have bought it are going to do great things with it and I hope that happens because it’s a shame what happened to the Parks-Belk — it’s a shame to lose that history and I have high hopes that it’ll be something to really see instead of an eyesore,” she said.

Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Downtown Development Natasha Morrison said she’s thrilled with the outcome and is looking forward to seeing the new project.

“This is a monumental day for downtown Morristown,” she said. “We couldn’t ask for a better partner. This project has been in the works for a while and he is the perfect example of just determination and perseverance. We have crossed this finish line and just I’m thrilled.

“Kenny Noah has proven over and over what a good partner he is to this community.”

Along with the Parks-Belk lot, the purchased property includes most of the property on the block, with the exception of a bail bonds building across from the Morristown City Center on W. 1st North Street.

Cattleman’s Corner is going to be the centerpiece, of course, of the redevelopment of the property.

The proposed building will take up the empty lot across from, which Noah said he hopes will be started within six months, will be luxury-western themed and was named with a nod to the history of cattle coming through that area where stockyards would have seen the bovines being shipped off on the Peavine railway which operated around the turn of the 19th century.

“You’ll have some swinging doors, but you’ll also have more of exotic-skin chairs and that type of stuff in the hotel’s rooms. Cowboy art (will be on display).”

Noah said he expects the steakhouse to open in the afternoon and stay “open until 9 or 9:30.”

He said other opportunities for food for downtown visitors will be available at other hours, including food at the rooftop bar and a proposed restaurant that will cover breakfast and lunch hours.

Noah said he plans on the restaurants being complimentary to the establishments that are already downtown.

“We’ve got one small breakfast place downtown now that I’ve been to,” he said. “It’s kind of different… …Good people, they got Between the Bricks. I love their sandwiches.”

Other plans for development include a rebuild of the Bradley Hardware building, which is a literal shell of a building it once was due to a roof leak that worked its destruction down to the basement.

Noah said he’s getting structural assessments together and plans to save as much as is possible.

He envisions an event/wedding facility that takes advantage of the space by providing tall ceilings with chandeliers and other unique architectural features.

The hope is that it will compliment and connect to Cattleman’s Corner and provide even more possibilities for what can happen in Morristown.

To top off all of the development and to provide better access, Noah said he plans on constructing a parking garage.

“I’m hoping to put a parking deck there… that will take you in to the backside to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“You’ve got the vacant lot that’s across from where the Bradley’s repair center was,” he said. “I’m hoping to put a parking deck there, and let that parking deck have a breezeway with a covered walk that will take you into the back entrances to anywhere you want to go, whether it’s the event center or to the hotel.”

With this development and several other projects underway — and downtown parking regularly filled with visitors — it has been a few years since Morristown’s historic downtown has seen this kind of energy, energy that was kicked off by developments like the across-the-street 1907 Brewing Company.

If all goes as planned, a corner that once sat empty could soon become a centerpiece of downtown Morristown once again and the intersection at Cumberland and Main will be something to behold.

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