In May 1988 Dr. John H. Fisher, retired English professor, announced that after initial conversations with Chancellor Reese and President Boling about the possibility of forming a nonprofit corporation to build and operate a UT Retirement Complex associated with the UT system, surveys were being mailed to 730 retirees to gather information about how many persons would be interested and willing to commit money to the project. The group, founded by Fisher and W. W. Armistead, retired professor of veterinary medicine and vice president emeritus, requested that UT donate land for the complex. Homer Fisher, executive vice chancellor for business, planning, and finance indicated in a Daily Beacon article that the complex could be placed on three acres of land on Cherokee Trail if it were built in a high-rise configuration.
In October 1988, Dr. John Fisher reported that the initial survey of already-retired employees indicated that 41 were interested enough to put up $10,000 and that preferred locations included a high-rise on the University Club (now Welcome Center) site, a high-rise near UT hospital, and a campus-type facility 15 to 20 miles from campus. Chancellor Jack Reese indicated that the board of trustees would have absolute control over any proposal, and no decision had been made about a donation of land to the project. In September 1989 the board of trustees was asked to lease acreage on Cherokee Trail across from the UT Medical Center to the Valhalla Retirement Community Inc. for $1 a year, with the group to pay for construction, utilities, and rent. (The property was appraised at $300,000 if it were connected to university utilities and $75,000 if it were not. In November 1989 Fisher, Valhalla secretary, indicated that the group needed 120 contracts before it could resume plans to build a retirement facility for UT faculty and administrators. The planned development was to provide 30 townhouses and a 100-condominium complex.
In 1993 the organization asked the board of trustees to approve a 50-year lease at $600 a month for land on Cherokee Farm near UT Medical Center. Controversy over the request had surfaced, since the land had been purchased for UT by Knox County for agricultural and educational use. The board delayed consideration of the request at its June meeting, and in July the board of the project decided to withdraw its proposal to build a private retirement village on leased UT land.