KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Plans for apartments where the Kerbela Shriners Temple has long stood in South Knoxville are stalled after Knoxville City Council reversed the Planning Commission and sided with neighbors who appealed the project.
Developer CR Endeavors had pitched age-restricted apartments, open to people 55 and up, for the roughly 5.7-acre tract overlooking the river. Council members found the design did not line up with the form-based code that governs the South Waterfront, a rule set that shapes how buildings look, where they sit on a lot and how people on foot can reach them.
Neighbors who filed the appeal said they welcome more housing in the area but felt the plan was too big for the property and walled itself off from the surrounding streets. Council member Karyn Adams said the vote upheld the South Waterfront plan and its goal of a walkable district tying the river to downtown, and that the appeal was about following the code rather than blocking development.
Knoxville runs on a strong-mayor system, with a nine-member city council that hears appeals of planning decisions like this one.
The ruling does not bar future construction. CR Endeavors can bring back a revised plan that meets the code, take the matter to court or drop the project. The Shriners still own the land and are looking to sell it, so another developer could also step in.
The decision keeps the South Waterfront code as the yardstick for what gets built on one of the most visible riverfront parcels in the city.
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