Historic 1927 Bank Building — Rooftop Deck, Event Center & Speakeasy Cellar | For Sale or Lease $2,499,000

FOR SALE / LEASE | 255 Broad St., Kingsport, TN 37660 | Sale: $2,499,000

Prime Downtown Kingsport Redevelopment Opportunity

Originally constructed in 1927 as the First National Bank of Kingsport, this iconic 26,100± SF historic landmark offers three stories plus a historic cellar and an expansive rooftop deck, creating one of the most distinctive redevelopment opportunities in Downtown Kingsport.

Featuring an elegant marble and limestone façade, exposed brick interiors, soaring ceilings, original architectural details, an intact bank vault, passenger elevator, and prime Opportunity Zone location, the property presents exceptional potential for adaptive reuse as mixed-use, hospitality, residential, office, entertainment, or retail.

What truly sets this offering apart is the opportunity to combine the property with neighboring downtown buildings under common ownership, allowing developers to create an entire walkable hospitality district. Rather than redeveloping a single building, investors have the rare opportunity to assemble multiple historic structures into a cohesive destination featuring boutique lodging, urban lofts, restaurants, entertainment venues, rooftop experiences, retail, and other complementary hospitality uses in the heart of Downtown Kingsport.

Address

255 Broad St., Kingsport, TN 37660

Size

26,100± SF — three stories plus historic cellar and rooftop deck

Year Built

1927 — the First National Bank of Kingsport

Price

$2,499,000 — for sale, or lease (contact listing agent for rates)

Zoning

B-2 Central Business District (CBD)

Incentives

Qualified Opportunity Zone, KEDB façade & redevelopment grants, Downtown Loan programs

Signature Spaces & Historic Features

Turnkey Event Center

The second-floor event venue features a commercial kitchen, beautiful arched windows, abundant natural light, and impressive downtown views. The space is immediately suitable for weddings, corporate events, private functions, conferences, or hospitality expansion.

Historic Cellar

Rather than a traditional basement, the property features a character-rich historic cellar complete with elevator access and the original bank vault. The space is perfectly suited for a signature hospitality concept including a speakeasy, craft cocktail lounge, whiskey bar, wine cellar, tasting room, cigar lounge, private club, or exclusive event venue.

Rooftop Deck

One of Downtown Kingsport’s premier rooftop opportunities, the expansive rooftop offers panoramic city views and tremendous potential for a rooftop restaurant, cocktail bar, lounge, event venue, or private hospitality space.

Upper Floors

Large open floor plates, abundant natural light, exposed brick, and high ceilings create an ideal environment for luxury loft apartments, boutique hotel rooms, executive offices, creative workspaces, or mixed-use redevelopment. One residential loft is included.

Street-Level Commercial Space

The ground floor offers outstanding visibility for restaurants, retail, cafés, galleries, financial services, professional offices, or destination hospitality concepts. Existing tenants provide immediate income while allowing flexibility for future redevelopment.

Zoning & Location Advantages

Located within Kingsport’s B-2 Central Business District, the property supports an extensive variety of permitted and conditional uses designed to encourage downtown redevelopment and investment. Potential uses include: boutique hotel, lifestyle or extended-stay hotel, urban loft apartments, mixed-use development, restaurants and cafés, rooftop dining and entertainment, bars, lounges, breweries or distilleries, retail storefronts, professional offices, medical and wellness uses, event venues, co-working and creative office space, educational or training facilities, galleries and studios, private clubs, and entertainment concepts.

Situated along Broad Street, the property enjoys exceptional visibility and walkability just steps from City Hall, restaurants, retail, entertainment, downtown employers, public parking, and ongoing public and private investment throughout Downtown Kingsport. A 364-space public parking garage is approximately a 3-minute walk (~100 yards), with 1,800+ public parking spaces throughout Downtown Kingsport.

Development Opportunities

Boutique Hotel & Hospitality Destination

The property’s historic architecture naturally lends itself to a boutique hotel or lifestyle hospitality concept featuring luxury guest rooms, rooftop dining, a cellar cocktail lounge, event facilities, and vibrant street-level food and beverage offerings. Combined with neighboring buildings under common ownership, the properties provide the scale necessary to develop a true walkable hospitality district — creating a destination unlike anything else in the Tri-Cities region.

Urban Loft Redevelopment

Upper floors can be transformed into approximately 15–17+ luxury urban loft residences, capitalizing on growing demand for downtown living. Historic architectural details, exposed brick, oversized windows, and high ceilings create the authentic character today’s residents seek.

Mixed-Use Development

Developers can combine street-level retail or restaurants with residential, office, hotel, or entertainment uses above, creating multiple revenue streams while contributing to Downtown Kingsport’s continued revitalization.

Office & Creative Workspace

The flexible floor plans support executive offices, law firms, financial institutions, technology companies, creative agencies, medical professionals, or collaborative co-working environments. The event center and rooftop provide premium amenities rarely found in downtown office properties.

Hospitality & Entertainment

The building naturally supports a destination restaurant, brewery or distillery, rooftop restaurant, cocktail lounge, speakeasy, private club, entertainment venue, wine bar, tasting room, or event venue. The combination of a historic cellar, rooftop deck, and original bank vault creates multiple one-of-a-kind guest experiences within a single property.

Assemblage & District-Scale Redevelopment

One of the property’s greatest strengths is its ability to be assembled with adjacent buildings, creating an entire redevelopment district instead of an isolated project. For experienced developers and institutional investors, this provides an increasingly rare opportunity to control multiple historic downtown buildings and deliver a coordinated vision. Few downtown redevelopment opportunities offer the ability to create an entire destination rather than simply renovating a single building.

Why Kingsport — Steady Growth Without the Boom-Bust Risk

Kingsport’s steady, measured growth is its quiet advantage. Fast-growing markets like Nashville often overbuild during boom cycles and pay for it in vacancy spikes. Kingsport doesn’t carry that risk. Commercial fundamentals here are unusually tight across every sector — Office at 4.0% vacancy, Retail at 1.5%, and Multifamily at 5.6%, all outperforming national averages.

Kingsport buying power per dollar of retail rent is 10% to 24% higher than Knoxville, Nashville, and Asheville, NC. Rent is ultimately funded by tenant revenue, which is directly tied to the purchasing power of the surrounding population. In Kingsport, that relationship is more favorable.

What makes this property a rare opportunity is the location: the historic core of downtown, where the inventory is finite and effectively irreplaceable. You can’t build more historic buildings, and the city isn’t adding new ones to the downtown center anytime soon.

Construction Cost & Grant (DIG) Program

Kingsport hard costs run meaningfully below peer markets — approximately $175 per square foot for multifamily hard costs versus $200 in Chattanooga, $210 in Knoxville, $245 in Nashville, and $235 in Asheville, NC. Paired with incentives — Opportunity Zone tax advantages, façade improvement grants, and the City’s Redevelopment Grant and Downtown Loan programs through the Kingsport Economic Development Board (KEDB) — projects achieve a superior basis and stronger risk-adjusted returns. Learn more at kingsporttn.gov/ecd/incentives.

$294M Capital Improvement Plan (2025–2029)

Kingsport is in the middle of significant infrastructure and beautification efforts aimed at revitalizing downtown: the Main Street Rebuild Project (new water, sewer, and stormwater lines, utilities moved underground, stamped brick crosswalks, landscaping, and bulb-outs from Market Street to Sullivan Street), the Riverwalk Park expansion backed by a $7.8 million BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation grant along the 11-mile Greenbelt, Bays Mountain Park renovations, street resurfacing, and a comprehensive Downtown Master Plan. Residential momentum is strong: over 1,200 residential permits issued in the last five years, resulting in approximately 2,500 new residential units.

Investment Highlights

• Historic 1927 First National Bank building — approximately 26,100 SF
• Three stories plus historic cellar; one residential loft included
• Expansive rooftop deck, original bank vault, passenger elevator
• Marble and limestone façade with exposed brick interiors
• Existing income-producing tenants
• Opportunity Zone designation and B-2 Central Business District zoning
• Rare assemblage opportunity with neighboring buildings under common ownership

Whether envisioned as a landmark mixed-use redevelopment, boutique hotel, luxury urban loft conversion, or the centerpiece of a larger assembled hospitality district, 255 Broad Street offers the architectural character, development flexibility, zoning, and location to become one of Northeast Tennessee’s most significant adaptive reuse projects.

This is more than a historic building — it is an opportunity to shape the future of Downtown Kingsport.

Demographics Snapshot

Contact

Carson Lee Jones
615-212-5524
carson.jones@expcommercial.com
Passive Investments | eXp Commercial

Serious inquiries only — tours available upon request. Please contact the listing agent for lease rates and showing appointments.

Keywords: historic bank building for sale Kingsport TN, boutique hotel development Tennessee, rooftop deck commercial property, event venue for sale, speakeasy cellar bank vault, urban loft redevelopment Kingsport, downtown Kingsport commercial real estate, Opportunity Zone investment Tri-Cities, adaptive reuse historic landmark, mixed-use building for sale or lease

Disclaimer: All information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable; however, no representation or warranty is made as to its accuracy. Buyer to verify all zoning, square footage, Opportunity Zone benefits, incentives, permitted uses, measurements, and redevelopment approvals with the City of Kingsport. Opportunity Zone provisions carry specific deadlines and conditions and are subject to change by legislation or regulation; prospective investors should consult their own qualified tax advisor, attorney, and CPA before making any investment decision.