Prices Soaring On Chattanooga's Southside; Grant's Auto Trim Property On South Broad Sold For $2.4 Million

  • Thursday, August 1, 2019
photo by Abbie Bryant

Property values continue to soar on Chattanooga's once dormant Southside.

The latest high-dollar sale involves a longtime fixture on South Broad Street. Grant's Auto Trim, along with three parking lots, sold for $2.4 million. However, Grant's Auto Trim will remain open at the same location.

Calvin Grant, who long operated the business before turning it over to son Brad, said he has been amazed by the skyrocketing land values.

He said, "Not so many years ago I would have been glad to get $400,000 for it." Under these conditions, an extra two million bucks came with the deal.

Mr. Grant said property all around him has been exchanging hands - with $900,000 one of the smaller transactions. Others have been in the millions.

The property at 1600 and 1604 Broad includes two buildings. Mr. Grant said the one at 1600 dates to 1901 when Fred Wallace and the Stoner family built it for their auto sightseeing business.

Mr. Grant said his father, Arwin Grant, and uncle, Rex Grant, went into the auto glass business in 1950 when he was 13. He said they first rented a building at 2009 Broad from Charley Jones. They soon moved to the 1600 Broad building.

The brothers afterward decided to split up the business with Rex doing the auto glass and Arwin the auto trim. First they remained in the same building, then Abe Koblentz financed and built a building for Rex at 1705 S. Market St.

Calvin Grant said his father preferred to rent and did so for years, but he finally convinced him they needed to buy the building. He said initially they bought "half a building" from the Wallaces, then got the rest from American National Bank's trust department.

They afterward acquired the building next door at 1604 from the Brown family that operated Brown Fence Company.

Mr. Grant said he also acquired two sizable parking lots, including one that had been used by Allison GMC. 

He said the Main Street section was stagnant for decades, making the recent surge in growth that more startling.

He credits former Mayor Bob Corker with getting it going, saying he was "a visionary who did so many things to get the growth started."

Arwin Grant retired in 1977 and died three years later. Calvin Grant then continued the business until turning it over to Brad.

He said he got an appraisal of the four properties in 1998 and it came to $350,000.

Mr. Grant said a large part of the value of his property today was in the parking lots. He said, "Parking has really gotten to be at a premium on the Southside. And now they are putting in parking meters along Main Street and the side streets."

Grant's Auto Glass on South Market closed in 2014.

Calvin Grant said signing the deal was bittersweet. "I had poured 67 years of my life into 1600 Broad St. It was very emotional as I slid those papers back and forth across the table at Title Guaranty."

Mr. Grant said he is thankful that the business will keep going at the same site. "We just have a new landlord," he said.

 

photo by Abbie Bryant
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