Community Renewal Good Stories - Knoxville

Knoxville, Tennessee EZ

Empowerment Zone Bonds Create 200 Jobs and Open Downtown Cinema

Regal Riviera Cinema 8 Before Renovations

Regal Riviera Cinema 8 After Renovations

Since HUD awarded an Empowerment Zone to parts of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, residents have seen many exciting changes in the area, such as the opening of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the construction of the Knoxville Convention Center, renovations to the World’s Fair Park and Amphitheater and the expansion and creation of new businesses on Market Square. The downtown area is now considered a tourism attraction and a great place to live, shop, dine and enjoy recreational and civic activities.

Empowerment Zone tax incentives helped to renovate downtown Knoxville.The City issued an Enterprise Zone facility bond for approximately $4.5 million to help finance the construction and new equipment for an eight-screen cinema. On August 27, 2007, the 2,000-seat Regal Riviera Cinema 8 opened its doors to the public. The entire project cost $14.8 million and created more than 200 jobs. The new cinema helped to drive the development of other new businesses in downtown Knoxville, including Fresh Market Retail, which opened in October 2008, and Coolato Jelato Coffee Shop, which will open in the summer of 2009 and offer up to 25 additional jobs for EZ residents.

For more information on this story and the programs of the Knoxville EZ, please contact Madeline Rogero, Director of Community Development for the City of Knoxville, at (865) 215-2865.