NASHVILLE | Development Showcase

[Henburg]

Office tower, entertainment planned at old Nashville Convention Center site
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...on-Center-site

[Atlanta3000]

Originally Posted by Henburg

Office tower, entertainment planned at old Nashville Convention Center site
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...on-Center-site

My apologies in advance, but this project looks like the workings of a schizophrenic.

[MidTenn1]

Still looks bad.



The saving grace is that it will likely be a home for the House of Blues. How ironic!

[arkitekte]

I don't necessarily mind the design other than the fact that it will look extremely stubby and a few other proportions are off.

[MIRYDI]

Tons of news pouring in this morning.

I would just like to say I told you so for all the people who said this would never happen...

Palmer lands financing for West End Summit
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville...html#undefined

Developer Alex Palmer has reportedly landed an equity partner for his stalled West End Summit twin office tower development.

The Tennessean reports that Palmer has partnered with Atlanta-based TPA Group to help finance construction of the towers and parking garage. An updated timeline for the project remains unclear, however, as HCA Holdings Inc. continues to consider other options, according to The Tennessean.

HCA -- whose Parallon Business Solutions and Sarah Cannon subsidiaries were to anchor the project --announced earlier this year it was considering other options as construction on West End Summit was delayed while Palmer sought to nail down financing.

[MIRYDI]

Looks like another luxury apartment tower planned. Nashville is white hot right now!!!

Crescent plans luxury Music Row apartments
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville...music-row.html

Yet another apartment project is slated for Nashville's urban core.

The Tennessean reports that Charlotte, N.C.-based Crescent Communities is planning a 280-unit luxury apartment development off Division Street. Crescent reportedly has contracts to buy the project's needed properties, including a building at 1205 Division St. that houses property management firm First Management Services.

According to The Tennessean, Crescent is seeking a variance for additional height along Division Street. The Metro Planning Commission is expected to hear the request in January. If approved, construction could start in late 2014.

Several other luxury apartment projects are either planned or already going up in the area. Ray Hensler's luxury apartment project is now under construction in the Gulch, and Tony Giarratana is planning a similar project for SoBro.

Here is the location of the project.



A street view of the properties;

[arkitekte]

Originally Posted by MIRYDI

I would just like to say I told you so for all the people who said this would never happen...

I honestly don't think this means anything. He still has the lien on the property by the excavation firm. I don't think its much of a coincidence that fairly soon after Tony G announces his new proposals for 505, Alex Palmer has a damage control article in the paper. I'd love to see WES built, but at this point supposedly with the IC not having a future hotel in Nashville listed on their site and HCA supposedly looking at other options I don't think this will happen.

[TimCity2000]

hmmm... apparently my firm is doing the convention center site project.

[MIRYDI]

Originally Posted by arkitekte

I honestly don't think this means anything. He still has the lien on the property by the excavation firm. I don't think its much of a coincidence that fairly soon after Tony G announces his new proposals for 505, Alex Palmer has a damage control article in the paper. I'd love to see WES built, but at this point supposedly with the IC not having a future hotel in Nashville listed on their site and HCA supposedly looking at other options I don't think this will happen.

I don't think a 1.8 million dollar lien on a 250 million dollar project is going to hold things up much. That's pretty much a drop in the bucket.

As for the announcement about him finally securing financing, and the timing, are you suggesting that this is just some made up story by AP that he now has an equity partner and now has the capitol to proceed with the project?

Also, do you think that TPA group is willing to partner up with Palmer, and to help finance a dead project that is never going to happen?

Maybe, the ICH was part of the problem, and was making it more difficult to finance. Maybe by Palmer taking that part out of the project helped him secure the financing...

HCA "looking" at other options doesn't really mean much IMO. I mean, what are they supposed to do in a situation like that. They didn't know if AP was going to pull it off or not, so of course they had to have a backup plan. They have repeatededly said that WES is where they want Parallon and SCRI to be, and now that he has to the funds to start construction, I don't see why all of the sudden they would just say screw it and move out to some office park they didn't even want to be originally. Why bail out just got things got delayed by a few months?

I understand everyone's hesitation with this project, I really do, but to me having secured the financing necessary to start construction means no more begging banks for money, no more trying to sell this project to anyone, no more delays, and only thing left to do is start working.

If you have the money to start the project, why would it not happen? What at this point would be holding it up?

Again, I do understand everyone's reservations about this project, and it will probably take tower cranes going up to satisfy the naysayers, but to me this sounds like a done deal pretty much.

Guess we will find out soon.

[arkitekte]

Originally Posted by MIRYDI

I don't think a 1.8 million dollar lien on a 250 million dollar project is going to hold things up much. That's pretty much a drop in the bucket.

It's proved to be a problem that still wasn't addressed in the Tennessean article.

As for the announcement about him finally securing financing, and the timing, are you suggesting that this is just some made up story by AP that he now has an equity partner and now has the capitol to proceed with the project?

I never said it was made up. Media relations are obviously important, especially when he's had a hole in the ground on West End for years. He probably agreed to partner with TPA a while ago and has decided to carefully chose when to go to the media. Have you noticed that every bit of news about possible new commercial space has been followed by news from AP? Damage control.

Also, do you think that TPA group is willing to partner up with Palmer, and to help finance a dead project that is never going to happen?

Because if the project ever is completed they're probably going to make a sizable amount of money. Groups agree to invest in projects all of the time that are never built.

Maybe, the ICH was part of the problem, and was making it more difficult to finance. Maybe by Palmer taking that part out of the project helped him secure the financing...

Since AP said that a hotel was a key part of WES, I wouldn't think that is the case.

HCA "looking" at other options doesn't really mean much IMO. I mean, what are they supposed to do in a situation like that. They didn't know if AP was going to pull it off or not, so of course they had to have a backup plan. They have repeatededly said that WES is where they want Parallon and SCRI to be, and now that he has to the funds to start construction, I don't see why all of the sudden they would just say screw it and move out to some office park they didn't even want to be originally. Why bail out just got things got delayed by a few months?

Only a few months...

I understand everyone's hesitation with this project, I really do, but to me having secured the financing necessary to start construction means no more begging banks for money, no more trying to sell this project to anyone, no more delays, and only thing left to do is start working.

If you have the money to start the project, why would it not happen? What at this point would be holding it up?

Again, I do understand everyone's reservations about this project, and it will probably take tower cranes going up to satisfy the naysayers, but to me this sounds like a done deal pretty much.

Guess we will find out soon.

Its honestly going to take WES being completed for me. There's nothing saying that construction won't be stopped with two half completed towers.

Hopefully Palmer will get it together though. These towers will drastically change the skyline.

[MIRYDI]

High-profile Atanta firm would design Division Street building
http://nashvillepost.com/blogs/postb...treet_building

The Metro Planning Department Development Tracker is listing a 280-unit luxury apartment and retail building — to be located on Division Street between The Gulch and the Music Row Roundabout — as proposed by Charlotte, N.C.-based developer Crescent Communities (via its Crescent Acquisitions LLC).

Of note, Crescent, if it can acquire the properties needed for the project, seemingly would use Lord, Aeck, Sargent, Inc., as the architect. The Atlanta-based design firm ranks 101st on Architectural Records' Top 300 U.S. architecture companies based on 2012 revenues. It's another example of the type high-profile entity that is being drawn to Nashville for development work.

Some more about the project, and it's location. No word on height yet.

Crescent plans luxury Music Row apartments
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville...music-row.html

[MIRYDI]

The proposed AAA "Nashville Sounds" ball park has been approved and is a go. It is expected to be completed in 2015 with a cost of around $150 million dollars.

Metro Council approves deal for Sounds ballpark
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville...-ballpark.html

For anyone who hasn't seen the renders yet.

[MIRYDI]

Here is all the proposals for the old convention center site. The last one was the one that was chosen. (Emery)

Chartwell


Rubicon


Trammell Crow


REI


Emery

[MIRYDI]

Nashville leads peer cities in 'markets to watch'
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville...cities-in.html

Nashville is leading its peer cities in a national survey of markets to watch, according to a national real estate industry organization.

Music City ranked 12th in the survey from the Urban Land Institute — up from 18th last year — based on about 1,000 interviews and survey responses from its members, said Dean Schwanke, senior vice president of the national group. It was “certainly one of the highest rated smaller cities,” he said.

Schwanke spoke at the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2014 program Wednesday morning at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

Nashville’s ranking puts it above Charlotte (No. 16) and Raleigh-Durham (No. 17) in North Carolina. Atlanta came in at No. 26 in the survey.

The top cities ranking above Nashville were:

1. San Francisco

2. Houston

3. San Jose

4. New York

5. Dallas-Fort Worth

6. Seattle

7. Austin

8. Miami

9. Boston

10. Orange County

11. Denver

[EarthRocker]

Originally Posted by MIRYDI

Emery

I won't go so far as calling it "putrid," but I'm really not a fan of this design. Every time I see it, all I can think is it's trying waaaaay too hard. Certainly we want something that looks nice and contemporary, but I wish they'd dial it back a little. It strikes me as garish.

The Trammel-Crow design is what I'd have chosen -- attractive and modern, more balanced and easy to look at. (On the other hand, it also looks somewhat similar to some other things being built / proposed, and we don't want everything looking the same.)

The Rubicon three-tower design would have been awesome for us tall building enthusiasts wanting to see Nashville's skyline grow, but I'm guessing (?) it wasn't seen as viable economically.

In any case, the important thing is that the site is being redeveloped. The new structure, whatever it actually looks like, will be an important element for enhancing downtown and the street-level experience. Good news for everyone.

[Dr Nevergold]

Out of those designs, I like Rubicon and Emery the best.

Apparently a lot of people on here aren't modernist enthusiasts. I happen to love modern architecture and think the design is refreshing. I like it. However, since it is an early rendering it is hard to see what it actually will look like. Those two renderings of the same building look considerably different.

[BnaBreaker]

Originally Posted by Dr Nevergold

Out of those designs, I like Rubicon and Emery the best.

Apparently a lot of people on here aren't modernist enthusiasts. I happen to love modern architecture and think the design is refreshing. I like it. However, since it is an early rendering it is hard to see what it actually will look like. Those two renderings of the same building look considerably different.

I actually like the tower portion as well. The base leaves a bit to be desired in my opinion, at least in terms of street activation.

That being said, as Earthrocker pointed out, what seems to be lost in most discussion of the project is the fact that any one of these proposals, including the much maligned winner, is a MASSIVE improvement over the empty shell that currently sits there.

[Dr Nevergold]

The Emery rendering is the most museum-like look of them all, it certainly is connected to the ground in an inviting way that says come visit.

[MidTenn1]

WEST END SUMMIT/HCA PROJECT CANCELLED!



According to the Tennessean and local news reports.

HCA will locate its proposed offices in buildings just west of the State Capitol on Charlotte Avenue.

[BnaBreaker]

To be fair, it isn't technically cancelled. Alex Palmer claims to have a back-up plan, but I think we can all see through his bullshit.