Owners:: Dr. Donald & Helen Larkin
Johnson City, TN, 37604
USA
Currently Available:
2204 sq/ft 2nd floor space @ $6.00 sq/ft ($1102/month)
1862 sq/ft 3rd floor space @ $6.00 sq/ft ($931/month)
Prices are negotiable !!
Description:
The Otter Building: 400 Ashe Street, Downtown Johnson City
Fabulous views of downtown Johnson City in the 100 year old Love-Thomas Building. The building has a storied history dating back to the railroad boom days of the early 1900s. The building originally housed the Love-Thomas Company, a wholesale dry goods and "notion" business. This business was established in January 1907 and recorded an annual business exceeding $200,000, large for that day. The firm employed six traveling salesmen who covered territory in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and western North Carolina. Strategically located near the Summers Hardware Company and the Clinchfield Railroad Depot, these properties formed a hub of regional distribution activity that also included interchange with the Southern and ET&WNC railroads.
The building was so strategically located that around 1911, it became the headquarters for the Clinchfield Railroad headed by rail baron George L. Carter. Carter was the benefactor providing free land for the East Tennessee State Normal School (now ETSU) as well as the prime developer of the Southside (Tree Streets) residential area. Carter founded the Model Mill (later General Mills) and essentially owned at one time a huge geographic sector of south Johnson City. The Clinchfield Railroad provided a direct route from the coal fields of Kentucky to the textile mills of South Carolina and having Johnson City as headquarters was a major economic boost.
In more recent years the building hosted the Sophisticated Otter Restaurant and Brewery and Picasso's Fine Dining. The 1st two floors are currently home to Christ Community Church. Two thousand square feet of space is available on the second floor. The third floor includes 47 feet by 37 feet open space that was formerly used as a dance studio. Also included is 37 feet by 24 feet of storage that was used by Clinchfield Railroad as a vault. The "safe" doors serve as an entrance to the vault. This space is currently available. The other half of the third floor is leased to Young Life Christian Counseling. In addition there is a private locked restroom and a large reception foyer area.
The new Johnson City Bike/Walking Trail is scheduled to be completed in 2009. The trail will run from ETSU around the State of Franklin side of the Otter Building and end in a "trailhead" beside the building. The "trailhead" will consist of landscaping, benches, and tables. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce is renovating the General Mills Complex (just down the street) into the new Chamber headquarters.
For more information:
Contact Dr. Donald or Helen Larkin at 423-282-2319 or email at
info@bluemoonproperties.com
.
