Bridgemont - press

A review of the Top 10 Local Business Stories of 2007 - This article includes
#9 - Sevier's Billion-Dollar Boulevard

A billion dollars worth of capital investment projects were completed or announced in '07 for an eight-mile stretch of Highway 66 in Sevierville leading to Gatlinburg and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Anchoring the south end of the "billion-dollar highway" is the 1,000-acre Bridgemont project, a blend of resort, convention, residential and retail development. One of the first Bridgemont projects is the $59 million Sevierville Events Center, which opened in September. The 247,000-square-foot center already is 50 percent booked through 2015. An upscale condo and hotel project adjacent to the center is under way. Anchoring the north end of the billion-dollar highway is a flurry of commercial development at the intersection of Interstate 40 and Highway 66. On the south side of I-40, site work has started on Dumplin Creek, a $150 million project being developed by the same people who built Turkey Creek in West Knox County. Dumplin Creek plans call for 800,000 square feet of retail space and 400,000 square feet of entertainment and hospitality offerings. The first phase is expected to be done by the fall of 2009 and involves about 100 acres of the site.

Knoxville, TN