Another week begins! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

Last week we had a short work week thanks to the Independence Day holiday. But, even with that, we still managed to record 1,400 documents. 267 property transfers took place that came to a grand total of over $100 million. Nine of these were properties that sold for more than a million dollars and three of those were commercial properties.

Nick McBride

Have you noticed the increase in real estate activity on Gay Street lately? That’s great news for downtown Knoxville. Now that we can finally feel safer in crowds, people are going back to shopping and dining out. Gay Street has always been a great place to do both, and we welcome all newcomers!

One of the old buildings on Gay Street, the Century Building located at 312 S. Gay, has been sold. The building, constructed in 1866, which has changed hands 14 times since it was built, boasts a restaurant (Chivo Taqueria), office condos and residential condos. Century Partnership LLC has transferred the property to Double Black Swan LLC for $4 million dollars.

Another big-ticket property transfer was that of the former Virginia College located at 5003 N. Broadway in Fountain City. You may recall that this property was also once a Kroger. It will be interesting to see what the new owner, D7 Fountain City LLC, will do with the building that they purchased from National Retail Properties Inc. for $4.15 million.

Virginia College building in Fountain City

Our third commercial property with a high price tag was in the Spring Farm Industrial property off Middlebrook Pike. This industrial building located at 5900 Middle View Way was purchased from Holmes-Perry Partnership by HMC II LLC for $2.4 million.

On the lending side of things, we recorded 426 Trust Deeds (loans) adding up to $142 million dollars. That’s a lot of lending in a short week! The largest loan was $17 million which was financed by OREC Structural Finance Company. The other banks funding the million-dollar plus loans were:

  • Mountain Commerce Bank – $1 million
  • Pinnacle Bank – $1.1 million
  • First Horizon Bank – $1.2 million
  • Home Federal Bank of Tennessee – $1.5 million
  • CBBC – $1.5 million
  • First Peoples Bank of TN – $2.05 million
  • Bank of America NA – $4.64 million
  • Mid Country Bank – $5.1 million
  • TRED II LLC – $6.62 million

Real estate sales are still going strong with new houses being built and sold quickly in all districts of the county. I see a lot of people rehabbing older houses as well, breathing new life into the houses and into the neighborhoods. And obtaining a loan is much easier on the borrower than in the past because so many documents can be transmitted online. If you are still on the fence, remember that interest rates may start inching upward; don’t wait too long.

I’ve updated the three-year comparison table to reflect the current totals. The growth is great for Knox County!

Now that clubs are meeting again, I want to remind you that I am available to speak at your group meetings and community gatherings. Please contact me at the office to schedule. 865-215-2330.

Look for us on Facebook here. Have a great week!

Nick McBride is register of deeds for Knox County.