On the last day of September, a groundbreaking ceremony took place on Morris Hill Road, beside 30 acres at its intersection with East Brainerd Road. The project is The Collective – Chattanooga, described by its developers as the city's "first true lifestyle destination."
Dining and retail are on the list, but the announced plans put something else at the center: a community greenspace with a covered stage. It is the piece of the project most likely to change an ordinary weekend on this side of town, and it is also the piece with no date attached.
A Lawn and a Stage at the Center of the Plan
The Chattanoogan reported the announcement on September 24, 2026. Kismet Holdings Group and BP Construction have formed a partnership called kismet | BP Collective, and this East Brainerd site is its first development. The categories on the list are familiar ones: destination dining, wellness-focused businesses, entertainment venues, professional services and boutique retail.
The developers describe the center of the site this way, as quoted in that same report:
"At the heart of The Collective – Chattanooga will be a signature community greenspace featuring a covered performance stage, event lawn, outdoor gathering areas, destination dining patios, wellness-focused amenities, and year-round programming."
A covered stage and an event lawn with year-round programming are what separate this project from another strip of storefronts facing a parking lot. They mean the space is designed for things to happen on it, not just for people to pass through on the way to a store. Chad Morgan, managing partner of Kismet Holdings Group, put it in that same announcement as "creating a destination where people gather, celebrate, connect." He opened with a line that will likely stick: "East Brainerd is getting its Glow Up."
Cambridge Square Shows What BP Construction Builds
You don't have to guess what this kind of place looks like once it's running. BP Construction is the developer behind Cambridge Square in Ooltewah, which the announcement calls one of Chattanooga's most successful mixed-use destinations.
Cambridge Square already works the way The Collective's plans describe. Its calendar includes events like the Oktoberfest that Local 3 News listed in its fall 2026 events guide for October 3, running from noon to 8 p.m. A builder with that kind of programmed calendar is now designing a site with its own stage and lawn on East Brainerd Road.
Tyson & Associates, the commercial general contractor, broke ground on The Collective North, which it describes as part of the larger Collective Chattanooga. MBI Companies is the project architect.
What the Plans Don't Say Yet
As of mid-October 2026, here is where the project stands:
- Tenants. The announcement describes types of businesses and names no specific restaurants or shops.
- Opening date. None has been given. Local 3 reported that the project has no exact timeline.
- Phasing. Tyson's groundbreaking post presents The Collective North as part of the larger Collective Chattanooga but includes no schedule for the rest.
This isn't the first time a "lifestyle center" has been proposed for this area. In May 2025, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on The Grove, a planned center near Hurricane Creek off East Brainerd Road meant to "bring the feel of downtown living to the fast-growing suburbs." Within about 18 months, two separate projects have aimed at the same idea along this corridor. The Collective is the one with a public groundbreaking and a stage in its plans.
East Brainerd Road Is Next in Line
The site's address on East Brainerd Road matters for timing. This stretch of road is Tennessee State Route 320, and TDOT has a widening project planned from east of Bel-Air Road through the State Route 321 intersection. According to TDOT's SR 320 project page, the result is meant to be a consistent five-lane road with bike lanes, sidewalks and intersection improvements.
The same page says right-of-way acquisition is underway, construction is scheduled for fiscal year 2027, and Spring 2027 is listed as a milestone. TDOT notes that these forecast dates can change and that it needs to coordinate with local developers to limit disruption. In January 2026, NewsChannel 9 reported that the build was expected to take about three years.
Put the two timelines together and The Collective will likely be built during a period when the road in front of it is also under construction. Sidewalks and bike lanes on East Brainerd Road would make it easier to reach a walkable lawn-and-patio destination without driving. For now, the more practical point is that neither the lawn nor the sidewalks exist yet.
Closer to the mall, the Chattanoogan's weekly road report for August 13, 2026 listed ongoing lane shifts at the I-75 and Hamilton Place interchange. It also listed a single-lane southbound ramp onto I-75 North, a Hamilton Loop Road closure near Markman's Jewelers and Texas Roadhouse, and overnight lane closures. That report gave no completion date, so plan for the lane patterns around the mall to keep changing.
Where the New Tables Are This Fall
Until The Collective has tenants, the newest places to eat on this side of town are near Hamilton Place.
Ford's Garage opened on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 2102 Hamilton Place Blvd., the brand's first restaurant in Tennessee. The building is 8,000 square feet with seating for about 250, and the design is a 1920s service station filled with Ford memorabilia. It took over the space that was once Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant, so a familiar building now has a new tenant. The Chattanoogan's opening report describes a burger-centered menu.
100 Ramen & Bar is also on the boulevard, at 2090 Hamilton Place Blvd., Suite 110, inside the Aloft hotel. It opened in late July 2025, according to the Chattanoogan's preview. If a 250-seat dining room isn't what you're after, it's another option nearby.
The city also has a slower green-space project in the works. In March 2026, Chattanooga moved forward with acquiring about 15 acres along Mackey Branch Creek, behind homes in East Brainerd, for a future passive park. The plan uses $1.35 million in federal and local funds and includes stream restoration, but the report on the plan said no development timeline had been set. So East Brainerd has two new outdoor spaces on the way, a programmed one at Morris Hill Road and a quiet one along a creek. Neither has an opening date.
For this fall, the new places you can actually visit are Ford's Garage and 100 Ramen & Bar on Hamilton Place Blvd. The stage on Morris Hill Road has no opening date yet.
If you own a home near Morris Hill Road or along the SR 320 corridor and want to know how a planned destination and a five-lane road might affect your home's value, South Luxe Homes would be glad to walk through it with you. Request your free home valuation, and Kim will prepare a thoughtful, data-informed look at where your home stands today.
