Kingsport board approves $3.6M loan for Pavilion, IMAX

KINGSPORT — The Kingsport Economic Development Board approved a loan up to $3.6 million on Tuesday, primarily to cover the IMAX development incentive. KEBD initially approved the IMAX development agreement in November 2023, when the board agreed to fund the incentive at $2.275 million. Kingsport Chamber Chief Financial Officer Elaine Bodenweiser said the board recently put out a request for proposals to several financial institutions for the loan. In doing so, the board realized this might be an opportunity to look at refinancing the Kingsport Pavilion loan. "Those funds would pay off the existing Pavilion loan of $1.25 million plus any accrued interest, pay the development incentive on the IMAX of $2.275 million and any loan closing costs," she said. "And in conjunction with this loan, we would need authorization for a corresponding checking account that would be open with board officers and signers." According to Bodenweiser, five requests were received, with the recommended loan offer coming from Eastman Credit Union for a seven-year, interest only, not-to-exceed amount of $3.6 million — with a fixed interest rate of 4.15%. Board member Dennis Phillips asked how much the board would be saving through refinancing. Bodenweiser said they would be saving $50,000 through the consolidated effort. The action item was approved unanimously with one abstention from board member Thomas Kennedy. A Kingsport IMAX theater was announced in October 2023, experiencing several cost and construction setbacks before opening on July 17 this year. Committee updates Kingsport Economic Development Specialist Mason Bryant provided an update for the Facade and Redevelopment Incentive Committee. He said at the group's last meeting, they reviewed the 2026 fiscal year allocations with approved grant funding. According to Bryant, those allocations resulted in more than $2.5 million dollars in private investment. The committee's total fund balance is $126,678.45, with a pending deposit of $100,000 from the Kingsport Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Of that total, $70,000 is allocated to the Hicks Block Building rebuild project and townhome development project along Netherland Inn Road. The allocated funds will be paid out to developers once the projects are complete, Bryant said at the meeting. Board member Pat Breeding said the Properties' Committee has two proposals for signage at Brookside Park, an industrial park off of Stone Drive. In a meeting next month, Breeding said the committee will review the potential sale of property next to the Kingsport Grocery Building. At KEDB's May meeting, the board approved a reverted for the 435 and 447 E. Main Street properties due to the owner failing to start construction within the timeline required by the deed. This gave KEDB the right of reversion, also leaving them responsible to pay all closing costs and a payment of $137,020 to the current property owners. Breeding also mentioned the committee continues to evaluate maintenance for the State and Gem Theaters in downtown Kingsport. KEDB purchased the theater for $175,000 earlier this year, Times News previously reported. The board approved up to $50,000 in expenses for work on the State Theater at its April meeting, with work estimated to cost around $30,000. City comments Kingsport City Manager Chris McCartt provided the latest information regarding the Kingsport Dental Clinic of the Appalachian Highlands. He said partial demolition for the clinic is nearly complete, setting the stage for the second phase of the project. "We have a very important meeting coming up here in a couple weeks, where we'll have folks from all over the state of Tennessee in attendance to take a look at what we've done, and really to spend the bulk of our time focusing on the plan for executing the second phase," he said. "We continue to get a lot of interest, a lot of different opportunities for funding presented themselves over the summer, which has been very promising." Steven Bower, Kingsport economic development director, said construction at the Dobyns-Taylor Warehouse is expected to ramp up "over the next month or two" — with several trailers of equipment coming this week. He said plans have been approved, with the civil side of construction to start likely in September. "It is four stories, the brick looks completely new," he said. "All the old paint, everything is off the walls. There's about three inches of sand on the floors that they're cleaning up right now, but it looks great." The Dobyns-Taylor Warehouse was announced in November 2025 to be converted into a 60-room boutique hotel. The developer's target completion date for the hotel is Spring 2027. NETWORKS NETWORKS CEO Clay Walker chimed in with reports on Project Rocks and Project Inlet. He commented that Project Rocks at Phipps Bend Industrial Park is "still active." If all goes accordingly, Walker said the project would hopefully break ground by the start of next year. Walker said Project Inlet would bring a total of around 200 jobs and "a very nice investment." He hopes that if things continue moving forward NETWORKS can reveal who is behind the project and what they want to do. The project involves 41.41 acres of land along Airport Parkway NETWORKS purchased from KEDB in 2024 for $697,000.