Ingles Markets officials are gearing up for
demolition of the vacant space beside the grocery
outlet in preparation for construction of a new
store on the property.
“We have begun asbestos abatement and have a site
plan on file with Lenoir City for redevelopment that
will include a new Ingles with a Gas Express,” Ron
Freeman, chief financial officer for Ingles Markets,
said in an email correspondence. “We are not sure
about the timing of future steps due to various
issues, including possible plan changes, regulatory
compliance and the weather.
“We’ll have more to say once the next stages get
started,” he said.
Beth Collins, Lenoir City assistant codes
enforcement officer, said she has been in
“constant contact” with Ingles recently as the
property goes through asbestos abatement
required by the state.
“They have to notify the state when you
demolition for a commercial project, and you
just file paperwork with them,” Collins said.
“So as soon as they get that back to us, then
we’re going to issue the demolition permit, and
they can move forward to demolition the empty
vacant part to the left of Ingles, demo all of
that and then build a new Ingles store.”
Demolition of the vacant property should get a
green light within two weeks, Collins said,
adding a demolition permit will be delivered
once paperwork is received from the state.
“Typically, the state requires a 10-day
window when you file for demolition of a
commercial project,” Collins said. “... so
by the time they get that done and then get
stuff back to us, I was looking at about two
weeks. Sometimes they can go a little faster
depending on how much the state’s bogged
down, and, of course, it could always be a
little longer depending on how fast the
state moves.”
The building is expected to be a little more
than 72,000 square feet, which is slightly
smaller than what was originally anticipated
a couple years ago before Ingles paused
multiple projects to adjust its building
model, Collins said. In addition, a gas
station located near U.S. Highway 321 is
expected to be constructed.
Previously, the new building was anticipated
to be an 80,098-square-foot Ingles
Superstore.
“They had several projects of this nature in
the works, and they at some point had
decided to adjust their model and so they
put several projects, not just ours, but
several projects on hold and did a somewhat
smaller store than they had originally
planned to see if that ... worked better for
them, and it did, so that’s the model
they’re moving forward with now,” Collins
said.
The contractor’s name is Johnny Miller, but
Collins did not receive the name of his
company when Ingles was in contact with the
city last week, she said.
“I think that they’ve had some other stores
that they were building, and remodeling and
this one was in the queue and our number
popped up and here they are,” Jim Wilburn,
Lenoir City administrator, said.
Wilburn said any local businesses involved
in upgrades, “especially of this magnitude,”
is good for the city.
“I think they’re going to have a real nice
facility, and, of course, they’re going to
have the gas station, so those people that
have Ingles gas cards won’t have to go to
Farragut, they’ll stay here, and they can
use their points here,” Wilburn said. “...
It’s going to be the latest and the
greatest, so I welcome it. I think it’s
going to be great.”