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NEW MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT

COMING SOON TO

KNOXVILLE'S OLD CITY

ABOUT EXCELSIOR

Excelsior is a new mixed-use project planned for 115 E Jackson Avenue.
The building will be home to a mix of uses including residential apartments, a boutique hotel, a restaurant, a bar, and a few other exciting amenities. The development will also include on-site valet parking for visitors.

The project began as an adaptive re-use project with the new owners trying to preserve the existing building, but as more information was discovered, it became apparent that preservation is not a viable option.

As a result, the existing structure will be demolished. Below, you will find more about why this building cannot be preserved in its current form, but we hope to preserve and allow as many elements as possible to have new uses through careful preservation demolition.

PROJECT PROGRESSION

SPRING 2021

115 E Jackson is purchased by new owners

SUMMER 2021

Financial studies show more SF will be needed for viability

FALL 2021

An assessment of existing conditions shows extreme alterations needed on existing structure.

SPRING / SUMMER 2022

Environmental survey reveals high amounts of asbestos that must be abated.

SPRING 2021

New owners begin process of planning new use.

SUMMER 2021

Architecture teams begin designing adaptive re-use and addition.

WINTER 2021

An assessment from contractors and structural engineering recommends complete demo.

SUMMER / FALL 2022

Plans to preserve what can be preserved and remove the building are made.

EXISTING STRUCTURE

Structural Issues
The building has extreme structural issues throughout, from trusses on the verge of failure, to beams and a section of the floor that have already failed. Many of the problems that currently exist from the roof to the basement are a result of previous uses years ago. The building had at one time been used as a meat processing facility. During that use, much of the building was converted to refrigeration. The elements used to house this refrigeration led to moisture, which led to rot.

Historic Significance
This building is within the overlay of a historic district, however, the original façade of the building was replaced later in the 20th century, what was originally two buildings is now one.

Preservation
Although the building as a whole cannot be preserved, as many elements as possible will be. The structure is built out of steel and timber with heavy lumber throughout. Masonry elements, wood members, doors, windows, and steel will be re-used as much as possible, and where not possible on this site, we hope to see them put to good use elsewhere.

SEVERE CONDITIONS PREVENTING ADAPTIVE RE-USE

Although most of the conditions below could be remedied if they were the only issue, it is the combination of these conditions that make the building nearly impossible to restore.

In the section below, you can flip through photos of the different conditions.

1/17

Failing Brick

Throughout the existing structures, there are many instances where bricks are crumbling and mortar is failing. Some of the worst instances of this are in the walls between the two buildings and in the basement of the 3 story smokestacks.

PROBLEM
Many of the walls would need to be repointed and/or rebuilt. The smokestack would likely need to be removed, which would damage even more of the structure.

1/18

Accessibility

A major challenge the team found with the current structure is the lack of consistent floor heights. From the street to the front portion of the building is roughly 4' off difference. From there, the floors go up and down at different points throughout the building with no accessible means of traversal.

PROBLEM:
This was a major challenge in the effort to preserve the building for a number of reasons.
1. The building must be accessible for all visitors, and the current floor would require ramps and lifts to be scattered throughout the building.

2. Most of the floors are concrete, so in order to replace them, most of the interior of the structure would need to come down.

3. The basement is not much lower than the street, so altering the floor would lead to the basement being removed, leading to less usable SQ FT.

1/14

Roof Structure Issues

In one of the more exciting portions of the building, there are large wooden trusses. These trusses are one of the few elements of historic beauty remaining in this building. However, upon further investigation, the trusses are severely damaged and showing signs of failure.

PROBLEM:
These trusses would need to be rebuilt and would be extremely difficult to restore. The hope is that the lumber can be re-used in another historic building.

1/22

Failing Floor Systems

From decades of damage with little repair, much of the floor system in the building is in severe danger. In some areas, it has already failed; in other areas, columns and beams are beyond repair. Much of this damage and rot was kick-started when a majority of the structure was turned into refrigerators. Condensation leaked into the wood and caused extreme rot without anyone noticing.

PROBLEM:
Rebuilding the entire floor system would come at astronomical cost, it ties into many of the other problems in the building. For example, if it were to be rebuilt, it would need to meet ADA code, but to meet ADA code, the basement would be lost.

DSC_0053

1/26

Past Modifications

To no one's surprise, this building has been changed significantly over the years. Unfortunately, some of the remnants of those past modifications remain and would be very challenging to carefully remove. The majority of these elements are in the refrigeration rooms.

PROBLEM:
In order to remove the remnants of the refrigeration rooms, the existing structure would incur significant damage. Alone this is not detrimental, but when combined with other shortcomings throughout the existing building, it's clear that a lot of the building's value would be spent on remediation long before anything new could go in.

Conditions Tabs

Photos of Conditions

PHOTO GALLERY

STAY TUNED!

As our team continues to work out the design, we will update this site with more info.
Please reach out to the email below with questions.
Cheers!

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reach us here.

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