River City Company
On behalf of River City Company, HR&A led the development of a benefits case and implementation roadmap for a transformative Health & Wellness District along the 3rd & 4th Street Corridor in Chattanooga. HR&A aligned public, private, and institutional partners around a shared vision and positioned the District to drive innovation, job creation, and inclusive economic growth for Chattanooga and the region.
Stretching three miles along the 3rd and 4th Street Corridor, the proposed Health & Wellness District will connect downtown Chattanooga with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, three major medical centers, residential neighborhoods, and open spaces. The corridor has benefited from historic levels of investment by institutional and corporate anchors, publicsector infrastructure improvements, and growth in the city’s innovation ecosystem, but lacked a unified vision and coordinated strategy to maximize its potential.
HR&A partnered closely with River City Company and more than 15 private, public, and institutional stakeholders over the course of more than a year to develop a shared vision and actionable roadmap for the District. Our work articulated the critical role the health and wellness sectors already play in Chattanooga’s economy, quantified potential economic and fiscal benefits, identified unique opportunities for future investment, and benchmarked the District’s scale and governance against comparable districts nationwide.
The resulting roadmap establishes a clear framework for a worldclass Health & Wellness District that will serve as a new center of innovation, economic growth, and opportunity for the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and the State of Tennessee. By leveraging existing investment and the region’s growing innovation ecosystem, the District is positioned to attract talent, support research, create jobs, spur business formation, and deliver mixeduse amenities and public spaces that enhance quality of life.
