The Knoxville City Council approved the rezoning of a property at their meeting Monday night that will be converted into a short-term lodging boutique.
The council approved the rezoning of 205 N Iowa St from its current designation of R-2 Low to Medium Density Residential to C-2 General Commercial. The owner, Bernard Real Estate LLC, purchased the property in September 2025 and plans to convert the existing structure into a boutique short-term lodging property serving visitors to Knoxville and the Knoxville Raceway. The building will be redeveloped into nine private suites for guests and one apartment for maintenance/operational staff. Renovations will modernize the building and improve safety and comfort.
The existing building on the property has had a long history as a residential care facility until about two years ago when it was vacated and listed for sale. Knoxville Mayor Brian Hatch says the City was thrilled when someone wanted to come in and redevelop the property.
“It’s a tough one to fill, it’s a tough one to find another use for, so when we had someone come forward saying they wanted to remodel and redo it and they were talking about having guest suites in there for people to stay, maybe race fans on the weekends, we were really excited. It’s tough to kind of fill that void at times with those one-off buildings.”
Hear more about the project from Hatch on today’s Let’s Talk Knoxville.
