The University of Tennessee has officially broken ground on 865 Neyland, a $288 million entertainment district on the Tennessee River in Knoxville, with a ceremony on September 19 ahead of the Kennesaw State game. A 24-story hotel and residential tower will rise at the southeast corner of Neyland Stadium, holding 186 hotel rooms, 51 residences and 30 condo-hotel units.
The $288 million is 100% privately funded, delivered through a public-private partnership between the university and developers RVX Ventures, alongside Magellan Development Group and Arctos Sports. Behind them sits a design and construction team split by task: Gensler is designing the hotel and residential tower, HCM is designing the entertainment district, and Layton Construction is the general contractor.
"The launch of the 865 Neyland brand reflects the momentum behind one of the most ambitious mixed-use developments in college athletics," Gray said.
The current site is the G10 parking garage along Phillip Fulmer Way, and the garage comes down before the 2027 football season. In its place, roughly 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor entertainment, dining, and retail space will spread across two outdoor plazas, an upper and a lower, threaded with green space. A permanent performance stage fronts a 50-foot LED display, and more than 3,000 square feet of LED screens run through the district, so the place can carry a crowd on the Saturdays when the stadium fills and still hold its own the rest of the calendar, when there is no kickoff to lean on.
Two dining anchors will set the tone for those plazas. One is a flagship restaurant inspired by East Tennessee traditions; the other is a multi-level sports bar, and the renderings show a venue labeled "The Tavern." Operators for the restaurants have not been named.
Above all of it, the 24-story tower will bring 186 hotel rooms, 51 luxury residences and 30 condo-hotel units, along with a private members club and a signature restaurant.
This project lands as Tennessee's stadiums turn into truly nationwide-recognized projects. In Nashville, the Titans are building a $2.1 billion stadium on the East Bank, and the riverfront around it is being remade into a district of its own. Knoxville's version takes a very similar approach, wrapping a hotel, homes, and a members club around a stadium.
Construction is officially underway after the September 19 groundbreaking, held ahead of the Kennesaw State game. The new parking garage is set to finish in 2027, the entertainment district is set to open in 2028, and the hotel and residential tower will follow in 2029.