Purchase A Win-win For Crossgate And Kingsport

Santa Claus doesn’t arrive in Kingsport until Dec. 2 for the annual parade. But he’s already dropped off a gift. It was touch and go for years, but at long last the deal to clean up Kingsport’s so-called Supermarket Row has been finalized in what should be a significant economic shot in the arm that will purportedly offer a nearly $50 million impact and create 400 jobs for the city. A Georgia-based firm says it will construct Town Park Lofts, offering four stories of upscale rental units in what will be a significant catalyst for continuing downtown Kingsport revitalization that is perfectly timed, given the foundation already laid by reuse of the Press Building, the Food City mall, the carousel, the farmers market, Centennial Park and the Church Circle rebuilding, among other initiatives. Downtown has come a long way over the past decade and remains a major focus of the One Kingsport effort to develop a road map for the city to achieve the vision of being the premier destination community in Northeast Tennessee. A major boost in those efforts will come from Town Park Lofts.