Knoxville City Council Clears First Vote to Split Schaad Road Golf Course for a Multisport Complex

Knoxville City Council approved the initial plan Tuesday, Aug. 18, to shrink Knoxville Municipal Golf Course at 3925 Schaad Road from 18 holes to nine and lease roughly half the land for a public-private rectangular-field complex. Knox News reported the vote the next morning. That is a first hurdle, not a finished campus.

The city-county Sports Authority still has to decide later this month whether to move forward and request proposals. WVLT has Knox County Commission on the calendar for Aug. 31. If you own or are shopping in Halls, Karns, Powell, or west Knox, treat Tuesday's vote as a neighborhood-amenity and traffic file on Schaad Road — not as a ribbon-cutting you can bake into a purchase price.

What did City Council approve on Aug. 18?

The approved action lets the city work with the Sports Authority on an RFP. A selected developer would cut the public 18-hole layout to nine holes and dedicate about half the property to sports fields for local leagues and large-scale tournaments.

The course is a 6,413-yard, par-72. The city has owned it since spring 1984 and says a nine-hole refresh would stay open to the public. Agenda goals (Knox News): expand recreation, support complementary commercial development, and generate occupancy and sales tax revenue.

Visit Knoxville President Kim Bumpas called the rectangular-field shortage “substantial.” Sports on the table: flag football, lacrosse, and soccer. Field count is unpublished — Knox News said proposals will decide how many fields make sense. Honeycutt: “I hope people see this as an exploratory exercise.”

WVLT: pro golfer Jean Tenhulzen would play Three Ridges if Schaad shrinks, and still backed it for kids.

Is a finished multisport complex a done deal?

No. Knox News: the redevelopment is not a done deal. Sports Authority meets later this month. If it moves, a public process and clearer timeline get written then. No target completion date. No construction start date in any source we opened. Do not write one into an offer.

Honeycutt: long-term lease, not a sale. City keeps the 1984 deed. WVLT called Tuesday’s action a memorandum to explore downsizing. Financing still needs the Sports Authority, City Council, and County Commission.

Who would pay?

No estimated cost. No financing plan until proposals exist. If Council and Commission later approve, the Sports Authority would retain a financing team to pay on debt, repaid from redevelopment revenue. Commercial portion could generate property tax. City and county would be responsible for any shortfalls.

Bumpas (WVLT): fields could open large outdoor events and a home base for AAU-scale weekends. Still a pitch until an RFP is issued, a developer answers, and three public bodies fund it.

How will the public have a say?

Honeycutt said the RFP should lock a public process and harder land-use definitions. Terms sheet (Knox News): Sports Authority hearing before a plan is finalized; private proposals made public; all eventual redevelopment proposals return to City Council. Watch Sports Authority later this month and County Commission Aug. 31.

What are Knox County homes doing right now?

A first vote on Schaad Road does not reprice every three-bedroom in Halls. East Tennessee REALTORS MLS July 2026 (from the live UDO post):

• Active inventory 10,700+ / +6% (highest July since 2016)
• Median sale price $385,000 / +3%
• ~5.5 months of supply
• 68 days on market
• Closings +9% July / +8% YTD
• 30-year fixed 6.67% — Freddie Mac PMMS Aug. 13 (down from 6.69%)

What this means

• Halls / Karns / Powell / west Knox: amenity + Schaad traffic story. Do not price a finished complex that still needs three more public yeses.
• Sellers: disclose 18-to-9 and lease-not-sale. Course stays public, city says.
• Buyers: write the contract to today’s city-owned 18-hole course. Do not underwrite unpublished field counts or hotel-tax projections.
• Taxpayers: city and county on the hook for any later debt shortfalls.
• Move-up: our proven system so the next offer is not a hope-and-pray contingency.

What’s happening in Knoxville this week

• Wed Aug 19, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. — Market Square Farmers Market
• Thu Aug 20, 7–9 p.m. — Concerts on the Square, Pink Houses (free)
• Sat Aug 22, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. — Saturday market
• Sat Aug 22, 7:30 p.m. — Cody Johnson, Food City Center

Call 865-365-2280 · 121 Suburban Rd Suite 101

Sources

• Knoxville multisport complex on public golf course land clears first hurdle
• Knoxville golf course could be reimagined as a new multisport complex
• Knoxville considers shrinking municipal golf course for sports fields
• Knox County Pauses UDO Zoning Overhaul (ETR MLS July)
• Freddie Mac PMMS Aug. 13, 2026

*Tracy and seller must agree upon price and possession date. Kings of Real Estate, LLC DBA "Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty"