Planning Process Updates
August 2023 - Westside Re-zoning Information
WESTSIDE EVOLVES SUBMITS ZONING APPLICATION TO CREATE NEIGHBORHOOD (W-N) AND PARKS AND OPEN SPACE ZONE (W-PK):
New Zoning will Allow Diversity of Housing Types and Encourages Minimal Building Setbacks and Higher Building Frontage Requirements
Chattanooga, Tenn. (August 14, 2023) --- Westside Evolves, a collaborative neighborhood planning initiative led by the Chattanooga Housing Authority (CHA), Chattanooga Design Studio, City of Chattanooga, Westside residents, and other stakeholders, has been working since 2020 on plans to provide one-for-one housing replacements that will be critical to the future of the area. An application was recently filed on behalf of the project with the Regional Planning Agency to provide the creation of two new zones, Westside Neighborhood Zone (W-N), and Westside Parks and Open Space Zone (W-PK).
The proposed W-N zone will allow for diversity of residential housing types, as well as hybrid and public types. The zone will encourage minimal building setbacks and higher building frontage requirements to promote connectivity and street activation. The zone will not have minimum parking requirements, which is consistent with the adjacent context area, The Bend. The W-PK zone will allow for the protection and activation of park space throughout the Westside. The zone will not have minimum parking requirements. There are currently no requests for any rezonings to W-PK. Rezoning to W-PK will occur after the final site plan has been completed and permanent park sites are designated. The site plan provided with the application is the plan adopted by the City of Chattanooga as the Westside Transformation Plan last November. The project will occur in multiple phases with some in very preliminary stages.
Five neighborhood meetings will occur on August 24 to share information about the proposed zoning with residents living at Boynton, College Hill Courts, Dogwood Manor, Gateway Towers and River View Tower. CHA executive director Betsy McCright said, “Throughout the planning process, we’ve been open and transparent with the residents who call Westside home. We’re excited about the establishment of the new zones that will allow the next steps of the plan the residents have created to move forward.”
Spring 2023
The Westside’s developer has been chosen! The Chattanooga Housing Authority, along with a steering committee of community stakeholders, has chosen Columbia Residential to bring the Westside Evolves vision to life. Columbia has over 30 years of experience of providing quality affordable housing, enhancing the aesthetic standards of every community they have helped to create. Columbia is dedicated to continuing this mission in the Westside Community.
James S. Grauley, Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Residential
Jim Grauley is the CEO and Principal of Columbia Residential, overseeing the Columbia Residential family of companies and corporate business operations. Mr. Grauley brings over 30 years of experience in successful urban development and redevelopment through affordable, mixed-income and market rate housing. Through his work, he has developed over 16,000 housing units of a variety of types located primarily in the Southeast and has led a strong team to build award-winning projects and a robust development pipeline.
Prior to joining Columbia, Jim managed the development practice for Bank of America Community Development Corporation, after prior work in residential development, corporate strategy, and as a mechanical engineer and corporate business operations for the leading development and property management firm in Georgia and the southeast. Projects include mid-large scale affordable housing and mixed-income development, including master planned sites.
Jim is also a principal and founding partner of Columbia Ventures, LLC, which creates mixed-use campuses and market-rate housing.
Carmen Chubb, President, Columbia Residential
Carmen Chubb, President of Columbia Residential, LLC, brings over 30 years of housing finance, development, and leadership in affordable rental housing and homeownership. Carmen oversees development, construction, and asset management operations for the company. Prior to joining Columbia, she served as Deputy Commissioner for Housing at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and Deputy Executive Director for the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority.
Under her leadership, DCA/GHFA financed the development of over 48,000 units of affordable rental housing and issued over $5 billion in mortgage revenue bonds to finance over 20,000 below-market-rate mortgages for first-time homebuyers. Carmen served on the Board of the Atlanta Continuum of Care and Chaired the Board of the Balance of State Continuum of Care. Carmen also served as the Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Atlanta, where the Administration’s focus was equity and affordable housing.
Laurel Hart, Vice President of Asset Management & Preservation, Columbia Residential
Laurel Hart is the Vice President of Asset Management and Preservation at Columbia Residential. In this position, Laurel is responsible for leadership, strategy and implementation of Columbia’s policies for sustaining its portfolio, which includes affordable and mixed-income apartments located in Georgia, Texas, Florida and Louisiana. She previously served as the Division Director for Affordable Housing Finance Programs at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and was a practicing real estate attorney in Chicago for many years.
Aaron Swain, President of Property Management & Operations, Columbia Residential
Aaron Swain is the President of Property Management and Operations for Columbia Residential Properties. He is a property management executive with over 30 years of experience in market rate and affordable/subsidized multifamily management and operations. Aaron has a distinctive background of business expertise and an outstanding track record of results.
Before joining Columbia, Aaron was a Senior Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer responsible for overseeing a portfolio of 12,000 apartment homes in seven states. Most of the apartments in Aaron’s portfolio received government assistance, including HUD mortgage insurance, project-based Section 8, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, tax exempt bond financing, and public housing.
Ray Kuniansky, Chief Development Officer, Columbia Residential
Ray Kuniansky is the Chief Development Officer for Columbia Residential. He leads Columbia's development team that consistently produces 750 units of affordable housing each year in Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. Ray joined Columbia Residential in May 2008 after years of work in the affordable housing industry as a banker, not-for-profit officer and real estate developer. He oversees a $20 million loan fund, development activities, and public policy/advocacy work.
Christina Demaioribus, Director of Development, Columbia Residential
Christina has over 17 years of experience in the real estate industry and current serves as Director of Real Estate Development for Columbia Residential. She is responsible for the development of mixed income and mixed financed multifamily developments across the Southeast including site selection, financing, design, construction, and stabilization. She has developed senior housing, multi-phased master planned communities, and many new construction and rehab transactions with a variety of private and public partners including the Housing Authority of New Orleans, the Athens Housing Authority, and others. She sits on the Fannie Mae Healthy Housing Rewards committee and is an active member in the Urban Land Institute Atlanta Chapter.
Jennifer Owens, Vice President of Resident Services, Columbia Residential
Jennifer Owens joined Columbia Residential in 2012 as Vice President of Resident Services. Jennifer assumes all responsibilities for the effective planning and management of supportive services delivered to residents at all Columbia Residential housing communities and for the growth and development of the resident services team. This includes developing efficient service coordination processes to increase resident and community engagement opportunities and to enhance residents’ overall quality of life and stability.
Jennifer is also the founder of Dash and Dwell, a relocation service company focused on supporting residents' comprehensive needs while ensuring relocation compliance of housing developers and owners.
Robert Barfield, Vice President of Construction Services, Columbia Residential
Robert Barfield is the Vice President of Construction Services at Columbia Residential. He is responsible for construction oversight of all new and rehabilitation construction developments. He is responsible for all planning and design for every facet of construction and is the liaison between the General contractor and all affiliated trades, engineers, architects, attorneys, public officials, community representatives and owners.
Scott Manspeaker, Senior VP of Accounting & Finance, Columbia Residential
Scott Manspeaker is the Senior Vice President of Finance at Columbia Residential. He brings over 20 years of experience in Finance, Accounting, and Operations for real estate development and property management companies. Scott is responsible for enterprise-wide financial management and strategic financial planning, managing, and reporting on all fiscal and fiduciary affairs of the Columbia real estate development and property management companies, their affiliates, and the corporate entity.
Summer 2021
The final draft neighborhood plan was shared at the end of July 2021 with a community celebration and block party on Grove Street.
Spring 2021
The workshops in April 2021 marked the start of Stage 3: Design a Plan. The planning team gave a summary of community feedback to date and reviewed a draft neighborhood plan including proposed new housing locations and density, park and open space ideas and enhanced neighborhood and city wide connectivity. Participants gave feedback on public space improvements through a vignette exercise focused at the James A Henry on Grove Street, a central green with new housing at College Hill and a key intersection at Boynton Drive and Gateway Avenue. The planning team will incorporate all feedback and design suggestions into a final draft plan with an ‘Action Plan’ towards implementation in Summer 2021.
Spring 2021
The workshops in March marked the start of Stage 2: Create a Shared Vision. In addition to sharing highlights from all the information gathered in Stage 1, the planning team led participants in a series of exercises and conversations to begin to shape a shared vision for the future of the neighborhood. These workshops included discussions about priorities and preferences for the plan regarding new housing, neighborhood retail and amenities, transportation, public infrastructure, supportive service programs and more. The shared vision that emerged during Stage 2 will guide the design of a detailed draft plan to come in Stage 3 of the planning process. Each of the two workshops were repeated three times to provide a variety of days and times to maximize participation.
Workshop 1: Buildings, Places, and Connections | This workshop explored priorities and preferences regarding the built environment including but not limited to new housing, neighborhood retail and amenities, transportation, public infrastructure, parks and open space.
Workshop 2: People, Services, and Opportunities | This workshop explored priorities and preferences for services, programs and supports to help residents and their families improve outcomes related to health and wellness; income and employment; and education.
Fall 2020
A resident survey event kicked off October 1st at College Hill Courts and Gateway Towers. A survey team of residents and Housing Authority staff led the way to complete over 300 surveys with residents! The voices and opinions of residents were presented back to the community in spring 2021 and are being incorporated into the final vision plan. A wider neighborhood survey was conducted in November and December 2020. View the survey results here.