Tullahoma's marquee project is Summerlin, a planned mixed-use development on roughly 175 acres off North Jackson Street, proposed by Chris Rudd of Beacon Acquisitions, LLC. With about 996 homes plus commercial space, local officials have called it likely the largest project ever to come through Coffee County. A separate stream of federal investment at nearby Arnold AFB (AEDC hypersonic test upgrades) is significant but is military test-facility work, not a community development.
MARQUEE DEVELOPMENT — SUMMERLIN (Beacon Acquisitions): A planned mixed-use/mixed-zone community on approximately 175 acres north of Tullahoma, with access off North Jackson Street. The developer is Chris Rudd of Beacon Acquisitions, LLC. Per Beacon, Rudd previously built Thrive Residential, a Southeast home-building firm.
SIZE & UNITS: ~996 residential units total — 350 single-family lots, 326 townhomes, and 320 multifamily units — plus commercial space (reported as roughly 50,000 sq ft). Amenities described in filings include clubhouses, pools, and walking trails. Officials described it as likely the largest project to ever come through Coffee County.
FINANCING (TIF): The project's financing centerpiece is a Tax Increment Financing plan. As presented, the TIF proposal was about $18.4 million; under the plan Coffee County would retain roughly 40% of new property tax revenue generated over a 20-year period, with the remaining ~60% reimbursing the developer for upfront infrastructure costs.
TIMELINE & STATUS: The development passed two readings before the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen in October 2023. As a condition, the developer agreed to provide (or buy) land for a new Tullahoma fire station before preliminary plats advance. The county weighed the TIF plan into late 2024, and a Coffee County Commission meeting in 2025 reviewed Summerlin's economic-impact study, indicating the project remained active in approvals/financing as of mid-2025. A construction start/groundbreaking date was not confirmed, so treat the build timeline as not-yet-verified.
CONTEXT — OTHER COFFEE COUNTY INVESTMENT (not a 'development' in the real-estate sense): Tullahoma's economy is anchored by Arnold Air Force Base / Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), the largest aerospace ground-test complex in the world. Recent federal investment includes hypersonic test-capability improvements at AEDC. Aerospace/manufacturing expansions were also announced in the area, including CG Model Tek and TE Connectivity.
Among current projects, Summerlin is the largest community-reshaping real-estate development — adding roughly 1,000 housing units to a city of ~21,000. The AEDC hypersonic work is larger in some dollar figures but is federal test-facility infrastructure on a military base, not a residential/commercial development that adds housing or retail to the community.
- Project name
- Summerlin (planned mixed-use development)
- Developer
- Chris Rudd, Beacon Acquisitions, LLC
- Size
- ~175 acres off North Jackson Street, north Tullahoma
- Units
- ~996 homes: 350 single-family, 326 townhomes, 320 multifamily, plus commercial space
- Financing
- ~$18.4M TIF; 20-year term, county retains ~40% of new tax revenue, ~60% reimburses developer
- Status
- Two BoMA readings passed Oct 2023; TIF weighed into late 2024; economic-impact study reviewed by Coffee County in 2025; groundbreaking unconfirmed
- Scale
- Called likely the largest project ever in Coffee County (city pop. ~21,000)