2026 Easement Proposal

Overview

In 1972, West Towne Christian Church moved from a house to a school and purchased an 8.23 acre piece of property on what was then a two-lane state highway for $10,000. Once the new building was complete, the congregation moved to the Middlebrook Pike location on February 24, 1974.

As the church continued to grow, the adjacent house on a 3.16 acre property were purchased for $125,000 to provide a parsonage for the youth minister and allow for additional parking.

The Goosie family owned the property behind the church which had been divided up in 1984 for their heirs.

The next property over belonged to the Crisp family, and the property beyond them was the Tate’s School of Discovery.

In 2005, the Goosie heirs who owned the Middlebrook road front property, sold their parcel to Dollar General.

In 2017, the owners of the western Goosie property approached the church in hopes of selling their land. The church considered purchasing both remaining tracts but the middle property was too expensive. Realizing that the western property came with a 25′ wide permanent easement along the church property line, the church purchased the western property for $100,080 in hopes of someday purchasing the middle property but knowing there would be a buffer if anyone else purchased the middle property.  

In 2021, a developer purchased the remaining Goosie property for $250,000 with plans to build an apartment complex. The developer explored many options with the church including an offer to purchase the church’s undeveloped property, but an agreement was never reached.

New interest in moving forward occurred in 2026 with an offer from the developer to purchase ~0.1 acres from the church in order to align the apartment entrance with the TDOT-approved left turn break in the median. In return, the developer offered to pave the apartment complex driveway all the way to the church’s undeveloped property, expand the 25′ easement to include the entire new driveway width, connect the new driveway to the church’s lower parking lot, and compensate the church $50,000. After discussions, the sale was replaced with easements allowing the church to retain ownership of the ~0.1 acres while all of the other concessions remained.

As the apartment design progressed, the developer offered to remove the berm along the church’s property to provide dirt for the apartment property. Since this was a win-win for both parties, the developer agreed to pay $100,000 for the dirt. If the developer had to haul in the dirt, or if the church had to haul off the dirt, with party would have paid an estimated $250,000. Moving the church’s berm saves the developer the need for a retaining wall along the church’s property and allows the church to have direct access to the undeveloped lot from the upper parking lot. 

MOTION BEFORE THE CONGREGATION

The West Towne Christian Church Elders seek approval from the congregation to provide the requested easement of approximately 0.1 acres and provide dirt for a total compensation of $150,000.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What will the church do with the $150,000?
   The elders have decided to hold the money until the apartment complex is complete in case the church has related expenses. During this time, the leaders will be praying for God’s leading and compiling a list of possibilities. The final decisions will be centered on our mission of Navigating Knoxville toward Wholeness in Jesus.
2. What professional input has the church received?
   The church has been blessed with many experts who have provided amazing input and assistance:
   – Evan Anderson, elder at Jefferson City Christian Church and real estate attorney
   – Justin Sterling, a commercial realtor who attends Farragut Christian Church
   – David Micheletta, a civil engineer and long-time member of West Towne Christian Church
3. What is the advantage of providing easements instead of selling the ~0.1 acre tract?
   – If the church builds in the future, the size of building is limited by many factors including the overall acreage the church owns. By retaining ownership of the land, the church doesn’t reduce the overall acreage. This also limits the usage of the easement tract to uses within the parameters of the easement without further discussions and agreements with the church.
4. How many apartments will it include?
   – There will be 42 1-bedroom, 72 2-bedroom, and 6 3-bedroom units for a total of 120 units.
5. What level of apartments are being built?
   – The apartments will be market-rate with monthly rates estimated between $1,500 – $2,000.
6. What are the plans for the undeveloped property?
   – Since purchasing the property in 2017, the WTCC leaders have been praying about and listening for God’s lead on how best to use the undeveloped property to best fulfill our mission of Navigating Knoxville toward Wholeness in Jesus. In the midst of this property proposal, God may have revealed one of the primary reasons He led us to purchase the property, but we will continue to listen for what else God has in store. Until then, the property will be easier to access, use, and maintain without having to go over the hill or through neighboring property.
7. What concerns are there with additional traffic through our parking lot?
   – Because the parking lot residents won’t have an easy left turn onto Middlebrook, there are concerns that our parking lot may become a thoroughfare for them to use our driveway which does have the ability to turn left onto Middlebrook. For this reason, the church may use a gate to limit this traffic during times when safety is an issue.
8. When is construction beginning and how long will it take??
   – We anticipate the developers beginning as soon as possible, but many factors play into the actual start date and end date. We have put terms in the agreement to require progress and updates.
9. How will construction impact activities on the church campus?
   – We don’t anticipate any impact on the church campus and activities. The earthwork will be limited to the very edges of our property along the back and east side.
10. Are there any costs associated with this project that the church will need to incur?
    – Our agreement with the developers has been written to put all costs on them including any closing costs and legal fees. With that said, we anticipate the church wanting/needing to make alterations to our property to address issues we discover as the project progresses. For instance, installing a gate between our main property and the apartments and another gate between our undeveloped property and the apartments will both be the church’s responsibility. Signs welcoming apartment residents will also be our responsibility.