‘Knoxville feels like a playground for adults’ | Urbano Group recaps one year of Knox Base
Urbano Group purchased the aging structure with the hope of giving it new life. Over the past year, it has done so by transforming it into a colorful, vibrant space that feels less like an office and more like a movement.
It’s been exactly one year since teknovation.biz first interviewed Juliana Terra about the grand opening of Knox Base Coworking on Broadway in Knoxville. At the time, her vision was clear: transform a long-dormant building into a thriving hub for collaboration, creativity, and community.
Today, that vision is not only alive—it’s flourishing.
Terra’s company, Urbano Group, purchased the aging structure with the hope of giving it new life. Over the past year, she’s done just that by turning it into a colorful, vibrant space that feels less like an office and more like a movement.
“When I started this project, my goal wasn’t just to develop another property. I wanted to build a community,” Terra said. “This one is very close to my heart because it allowed me to branch off a bit from Urbano Group and create something personal.”
That sense of personal investment is somewhat of a recurring theme in Terra’s story.
The daughter of a contractor and engineer, Terra grew up with blueprints, building sites, and a fascination with how things are made. That passion eventually led her to architecture school—and later to Knoxville.
But when the local economy slumped in 2009 and architecture jobs dried up, Terra pivoted.
“I had to reinvent myself. Maybe the agency life wasn’t for me,” she recalled. “So, I got involved with small renovations and fell in love with the construction side of things.”
That pivot proved foundational. It connected her with downtown developers and sparked a decade-long journey contributing to Knoxville’s urban revitalization. Projects like Hotel Cleo and Lilou became part of her portfolio.
“It was amazing to be part of where Knoxville is growing and how it’s growing,” she said. “The people involved fascinated me. After over 10 years of working with others, I launched Urbano Group in 2020 to start doing it my way.”
Over the last five years, her focus has narrowed in on one building and one bold idea.
Though she said she “doesn’t pick favorites,” Base, she implied, would be at the top of her list in terms of interesting and fulfilling projects.
What was once a grey, unremarkable façade is now covered in bright pinks, purples, blues, and oranges. Inside, the space offers more than just desks. There are apartments, two Airbnbs, a rapidly growing café (Partial Coffee + Wine), and a coworking environment that feels both energizing and intentional.
Designed specifically for freelancers, creatives, and remote workers, Knox Base is attracting the kind of people Terra hoped it would: entrepreneurs shaping their own paths.
And Terra believes the city cultivates an environment that makes this sort of collaboration and boldness possible.
“I think Knoxville has a very unique situation. It feels very easy and fun for someone to open a business here. You meet people. People are there to help you and to collaborate, which is probably unusual in a lot of similarly sized cities,” Terra said.
One year in, Knox Base Coworking is a Knoxville case study in community-driven development. And for Terra, it’s also a deeply personal milestone. For her, it symbolizes that spaces, just like people, can be reinvented.
“Knoxville almost feels like a playground for adults. You can just go and build whatever you want,” she said.
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