Oak Ridge Today

For members: Chinns part of apartment project on former AMSE site

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AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020
The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 p.m.

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

 
AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020

The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

Rick Chinn, a developer, said this month that the project will bring much-needed apartments to the city, allowing more people who work in Oak Ridge to live here. The apartments are being built as RealtyLink, a South Carolina developer, plans to build more new stores across South Tulane Avenue at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Now called Main Street Lofts, the apartment project has included an agreement to reduce property taxes and the transfer of what had been federal property from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city and then to a developer. It will include the demolition of the former AMSE building. It is expected to include seven three-story buildings with 226 apartment units on 10 acres.

Rick Chinn and his father, Richard Chinn, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, have been abstaining from votes related to the apartment project for at least a year.

They have not been required to explain their abstentions, but Oak Ridge Today has asked Rick and Richard Chinn why they have been abstaining.

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UPF Project Office moves into former Answer Financial building

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UPF Project Office

Employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex have consolidated in office space at 90 Union Valley Road across from Y-12, moving there from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park.

An office building once used by Answer Financial on Union Valley Road is now home to employees working on the multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The UPF employees now located at 90 Union Valley Road, which is across Scarboro Road from Y-12, were previously split between offices at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information and 1099 Commerce Park, said Bridget Correll Waller, Y-12 community and government relations manager. The new consolidated offices include space for UPF federal staff, project managers, and workers in procurement, security, quality assurance, project services and project controls, and Environment, Safety and Health, or ES&H. [Read more…]

Answer Financial move has significant impact, new tenant possible

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Answer Financial Oak Ridge

Answer Financial Inc. is relocating from this building on Union Valley Road to Bridgewater Road in West Knoxville.

Answer Financial’s decision to relocate its local sales center to Knoxville, taking several hundred jobs, will have a significant impact on Oak Ridge, but another tenant could be interested in moving into the office building on Union Valley Road, business leaders said.

One of the largest auto and home insurance agencies in the United States, Answer Financial broke ground on its new 32,775-square-foot facility on Bridgewater Road in Knoxville last week. It could be open by early fall and serve as the company’s primary sales center. It will be able to house more than 400 employees, including more than 100 new employees the company plans to hire in the next two years.

Estimates of the jobs lost in Oak Ridge ranged from about 200 to 300, and officials said Answer Financial workers earned $40,000 to $50,000 or more.

[Read more…]

Readers ask: What’s happening at the former Chevrolet dealership?

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R&R Enterprises and Chevrolet Dealership Site

Readers have inquired about the work at this 13-acre site at Oak Ridge Turnpike and California Avenue, and a property owner said the land is being used to store materials for city sewer work required under a federal mandate.

Several readers have noticed what appears to be construction work at a former Chevrolet dealership on Oak Ridge Turnpike and asked what  is happening there.

On Friday, Rick Chinn, partner in R&R Enterprises, which owns the 13-acre lot, said it is being used to store materials for city sewer work required under a federal mandate.

The land, which is east of Oak Ridge Veterinary Hospital and across from California Avenue, will also be used for operations during the sewer system project.

[Read more…]