After the banking group that owns the Dumplin Creek property rejected overtures from the latest potential buyers, the group now is marketing it nationally through brokers at NAI Knoxville.
The 200-acre property on Interstate 40 near Exit 407 has been sitting idle for several years. It’s now owned by the set of local and regional banks that financed developer John Turley’s plans to turn it into a mixed-use retail development along the lines of his Turkey Creek project in west Knoxville.
The group, which includes several local banks and is led by Sevier County Bank, was in discussions with a Texas-based corporation last year. This week, though, Sevier County Bank President Matthew Converse said those talks have ended.
“The bank group did not like the terms associated with our prior interested party and have decided to list the property for sale,” he said.
It is being listed for sale at $15.3 million.
NAI broker Matt Fentress said the firm has listed the property on some sites, and is starting the process of contacting potential developers and putting together marketing materials.
“We just view this as a flagship property and are very excited by the opportunity to help the bank promote this property,” he said.
He indicated NAI Knoxville would look at other possible uses, in addition to retail. That could include entertainment or amusement attractions, like roller coaster or water themed rides, he said.
The property sits at one of the county’s most visible sites, in the southeast quadrant of the Exit 407 interchange where Highway 66 passes over the interstate.
Turley and his group, First Commercial Realty, had started grading and other development work on the property, clearing trees and removing much of the dirt on a hill that dominated the property. But they stopped work as financing fell through, leaving it denuded and partially leveled but idle.
Eventually, the banks took the property in a foreclosure sale and began talks with the Texas-based group, which they declined to identify.
While those talks have ended, Converse said they still believe in the site and the market.
It sits along a busy interstate, and at the primary exit leading to the county’s attractions, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Dollywood.
Local visitation numbers — including 10 million visitors to the national park last year — show the local tourist market has rebounded from the recession, Converse said.
“It’s a good piece of real estate,” he said. “We remain very confident we’ll find a competent developer.”