MLK Avenue Development

Working with the East Tennessee Community Design Center and community representatives from Five Points, Barber McMurry designed a proposed mixed-use development for a parcel along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue — taking care to respect the existing history and scale of the Five Points neighborhood and to reinforce a vibrant, walkable streetscape.

The design pays homage to famed local modernist painter, Beauford Delaney, and artistic touches inspired by his works appear as murals and other activations both in the streetscapes and in the apartment developments. While the development’s overall expression is modern, its response to the neighborhood scale and site conditions remains firmly rooted in Five Points. 

The ground floor of the mixed-use development contains ample opportunities for locally-owned restaurants, a co-op grocery store, artisan markets, and other community-based retail spaces. Above are the apartments, which weave across the entire site, creating and defining internal courtyards, parks, and other neighborhood amenities within the design.

Sustainable features such as Net Zero energy conservation, on-site energy production, renewable building materials, green roof community gardens, and walking trails are integrated throughout the design.