Alcoa, Maryville and Blount County are quietly working on a very big move: a joint purchase of roughly 160 acres wrapped around the former Alcoa South Plant, a long-idled smelting complex on the city’s southern edge. The deal, if it comes together through the Blount County Industrial Development Board, would give local leaders rare control over one of the region’s largest vacant industrial sites and, they say, help steer it toward a planned redevelopment instead of data center uses.
According to WATE, the proposal on the table is pegged at about $20 million. The tentative cost split has the city of Alcoa covering roughly 30 percent, Blount County about 40 percent and the city of Maryville the remaining 30 percent. The outlet reports that the Industrial Development Board could ultimately acquire around 160 acres that include the former smelting footprint.
Site Features And Long-Running Talks
Greg McClain, who spent 15 years working at the plant, told WATE the site is “graded flat, has two rail services, four-lane roads and an airport less than a quarter mile away,” a lineup that makes it a unicorn of industrial real estate. He added that conversations about a public acquisition have dragged on for roughly 15 to 20 years, with this latest push representing the most concrete effort yet.
Alcoa City Manager Bruce Applegate told the station that if the property changes hands, the three governments could move to rezone the land in order to block a data center use and instead draft a shared master plan that lays out how the South Plant site should grow over time.
Where This Fits In Local Plans
Regional officials say the county is trying to strike a balance between chasing major employers and investing in projects that feel more like part of the community fabric. The potential South Plant purchase is being framed as part of that balancing act.
Jeff Muir of the Blount Partnership told WVLT that the area has recently landed some big-name employers while also pushing mixed-use efforts such as the Springbrook Farm project near Alcoa, a sign that local leaders are trying not to put all their economic development eggs in one industrial basket.
Parcel Records And Next Steps
Public property listings on LoopNet show the former South Plant parcel at about 172 acres, with an address of 300 N Hall Rd, Alcoa, TN. The record’s legal description reads simply “SOUTH PLANT,” and the current zoning notes are expected to be central in any redevelopment talks, as well as in estimating what it would cost to clean up or demolish what is already on the ground.
Officials emphasize that this is all still in the discussion phase. The Industrial Development Board and the three local governments would have to nail down a purchase agreement, lock in financing and adopt new zoning and a joint master plan before any construction crews show up. If the deal does go through, it would hand local leaders an unusually strong say in the fate of a major industrial property instead of leaving the next chapter to whichever outside developer shows up with a checkbook.
