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1407 Market Street - Live and Work (REDUCED TO $410,000) - BACK TO LISTINGS
1407 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN
37402
WOW!! HUGE REDUCTION!!!This property offers both residential and commercial uses in the much desired Southside area of downtown Chattanooga. This downtown Chattanooga property was renovated in 2006 with two residential units on the second floor and an 1,800 SF commercial space with sidewalk access. One of the truly unique features is the enclosed and private courtyard area between the building and the rear alley providing seclusion, relaxation, and secured parking.
1407 MARKET ST. HISTORY
1407 Market St. was established as a restaurant around 1920 and named "The Victory" in honor of the victory over the Germans in WWI. The location of the restaurant across the street from the Chattanooga Choo Choo train terminal made it a bustling hub for hungry travelers at a time when passenger trains were still the prevalent means of long distance travel. The cook lived upstairs and the owners didn't even have a lock on the front door because the restaurant was open 24 hours a day.
During WWII, the restaurant became "Bush's Spaghetti House," owned by Victor Bush, and it was constantly flooded with soldiers and WACs (The Women's Army Corps) passing through Chattanooga on the way to their postings and to war. The rowdy crowds finally made it necessary for Victor to put a lock on the door to prevent "eat and runners" and to keep the customer occupation limits within the required legal code. Glen Miller's famous "Chattanooga Choo Choo" song played constantly on the record player, and brawls between the different branches of the armed services were unfortunately fairly common. The newly found freedom of the WACs caused a few embarrassing situations in the "private" dining areas.
As passenger train travel waned, so did the fortunes of the Spaghetti House.
In 1964, when Jimmy Hoffa was on trial in Chattanooga, Victor closed the restaurant to the public for an evening and provided Mr. Hoffa, his lawyers, and entourage a private meal out of the glaring limelight of the press.
Bush's Spaghetti House was featured in 1985 in the film "A Winner Never Quits" starring David Carradine and Dennis Weaver.
When the Bush family retired, The Spaghetti House closed its doors and rented the building out to another restaurant. The cook's quarters upstairs fell into ruin and was blocked off and unoccupied by no one but pigeons for years. The upstairs floors began to sag.
In 2006, The Executive Producer of the CBS hit series "Survivor" and Chattanooga native, Douglas McCallie, based in Los Angeles, was looking for an excuse to get back to Chattanooga more often. McCallie bought the building, refurbished it, and created a private garden in the back.
Renovating an old building and creating a pleasant outdoor space in the middle of the city took a couple of years and was "a blast" for McCallie. There is not another building in the city with a private outdoor space like this with a fruiting pear tree to boot, and making sure that an historic building was not simply demolished and turned into a parking lot gave McCallie "a great sense of satisfaction."
The building was completely structurally re-vamped and the original brick exposed. A teak deck was constructed overlooking the garden and previously bricked in windows were re-opened. The original wood flooring was sanded down and kept intact with all the character of its time, flaws and all.
McCallie regrets that "I'm stuck in Los Angeles because of my work, but if I could live in Chattanooga and do the same type of TV work, I'd turn this building into my primary residence and live in and work out of it. I'd frost the outside windows facing Market St. for privacy, turn the downstairs into an expansive kitchen, living room and workplace, and rearrange some of the upstairs walls to reconfigure the living space for more bedrooms and I'd include a cozy office upstairs on the deck side of the building."
"I'd use the roof space to build a deck and a "green roof" garden on top with a view and I'd plant ivy against the walls in the downstairs garden to fully "green" it up. When I've stayed there, I've enjoyed being able to walk to the Terminal Brewery, the Sushi Restaurant, and several of Chattanooga's best restaurants. Reminds me of living in New York City."
"Unfortunately all of this is just not practical for somebody living 2,000 miles away. Can only live one life at a time. Now it's time to sell."
The second floor residences are approximately 850 SF, studios with upgraded appliances, fixtures, and mechanical systems and stack washer/dryer. Both of the units are currently leased; generating investor income of over $21,000 annually.
The street level commercial/retail/office space can be leased or used by the purchaser for his/her own business. One may also consider converting a portion of the ground floor commercial space to residential and combining with the upper floor for a fabulous, two story residence with private outdoor area.
Contact us for viewing appointments.
Area Description:
Rapidly growing downtown Southside area surrounded by retail shops, art galleries, antique shops, fine restaurants, office space and just minutes from the interstate.
Directions:
From the Tennessee Aquarium take Market Street south (13 blocks) to 1407 Market Street)across from the Chattanooga Choo Choo. The property will be directly across from the CARTA parking deck.
View additional information at: http://www.tennesseevalleycls.com/listing/1666788
