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BROADWEST (former West End Summit), 36 story Conrad Hilton Hotel/condo tower, 22 story/510,000 sq. ft. office tower, 4 story/125,000 sq. ft. retail/office, 1 acre plaza, 2,500 car garage, $490 million


it's just dave

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That's pretty funny. www.granthammond.com has a fake postcard called "Visit Lake Palmer Nashville..."

Its a shame this property has looked like this now for almost 4 years and its shameful the city has done nothing to make Mr. Palmer fill in the hole and make it look respectable. I thought they should turn this lot into satellite parking for Vanderbilt or Baptist Hospital and landscape it. A surface lot with landscaping would look so much better than this.

You could even arrange for the downtown circulator to pick people up from this lot for events downtown.

BR86

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That's pretty funny. www.granthammond.com has a fake postcard called "Visit Lake Palmer Nashville..."

Its a shame this property has looked like this now for almost 4 years and its shameful the city has done nothing to make Mr. Palmer fill in the hole and make it look respectable. I thought they should turn this lot into satellite parking for Vanderbilt or Baptist Hospital and landscape it. A surface lot with landscaping would look so much better than this.

You could even arrange for the downtown circulator to pick people up from this lot for events downtown.

BR86

Actually, I might disagree with the BR86 point that a surface lot with landscaping would look so much better than the big hole. I would say a surface lot would serve a function, but what would be essentially a used car lot would be as big an eyesore as a hole. In short, I detest visible surface parking lots -- with cars or without. I realize we need them, but ideally, they would all be concealed or discretely place.

WW/ESU

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've seen things like this happen in other cities. There is a hole in Charlotte that a Ritz Carlton (not the one downtown) with a Saks 5th Ave was going to be built. It has been a hole for quite some time. I wonder if a city could get a "security deposit" for lack of a better word for projects like this. Money returned after project completion. The money would be used to at least fill the hole up and plant grass. Is something like that even legal?

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  • 5 weeks later...

Funny John and I were discussing this project via phone just yesterday...

IMO this was a great article.

He was forthright in his opinions and stated the conditions under which construction would commence. He owns the land and has no reason to blow smoke unless it is to reassure the existing signers of a letter of intent.

Great news for this Christmas season...

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Funny John and I were discussing this project via phone just yesterday...

IMO this was a great article.

He was forthright in his opinions and stated the conditions under which construction would commence. He owns the land and has no reason to blow smoke unless it is to reassure the existing signers of a letter of intent.

Great news for this Christmas season...

I think I feel the same way. It's really a great article and shows that work indeed has not stopped simply because the market said no. It shows that he's been flexible with it, kicking the condos out and expanding the hotel. Given that people are going to want something higher quality than an Omni... this very well could be a 60-90 day bid to get something complete by 2013. If that's the case, then Nashville is is going to have a completely different face by 2012...

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I am not going to get my hopes up, but he may be right this time. I know he is right about the PERCEPTION of downtown parking and traffic. It can be a nightmare if you don't know how to negotiate downtown. I just don't want the CBD compromised with a twin tower development on West End that could take a lot of tenants away from the central core. Nothing is more "big city" than 4th and Church Street. I don't want that vibe taken away and I don't want our skyline to become too linear.

Getting rid of the condo portion is a good idea. Was the condo market in downtown overbuilt? Maybe so but I had one developer tell me once that Alex Palmer would never get this built and after 9 years since this was first announced in 2001, we still have a massive hole.

We shall see.

BR86

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Wow that's cool. I can't believe I am reading this. Good interview. I really liked the look of this project and its location. Even though it isn't in the technical downtown core, I think it will go a long ways in helping connect these two sides of town divided by the interstate. Plus, if the hotel gets built then more connection will ensue due to some staying there for the MCC.

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The times I've talked to Alex Palmer over the years, I've always taken note of his "calm tenacity." He simply does not quit — with any project. That's not to say WES will materialize but don't count Palmer out. If you don't know, his preferred name pronunciation (I'll do this phonetically) is AL-eck. I've heard some folks feel he is a bit too ego driven for their tastes but he's always been very gracious and fairly understated when I've talked to him. I wish the man well with this project (though I still don't like the fact Palmer & Co. razed the handsome masonic lodge building).

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am predicting he will start with one smaller tower for the hotel about 15 stories and then Colliers will move into a smaller office tower about the same height. Since the Lionstone project is dead, Colliers, and Wells Fargo Bank could be tenants he is looking at. Lockheed Martin is also looking at Nashville.

I would not look for anything too tall at this point, but anything to fill the hole and develop the eyesore is fine with me. I would not mind a Hill type of project with up to the street buildings full of shops and restaurants.

We shall see but I think the large twin tower developments are passe' and a thing of the past. WES was first conceived in 2000-2001, (old renderings of a Las Vegas style development appeared on the internet at that time and then a one tower version was seen at the ASP Company offices and then reported on this site by someone who had visited the offices ), and announced in 2002-2003 and by that time the twin tower style was already gone. In cities like Atlanta, many twin tower developments were made into just one tower. The only successful twin tower development here in Nashville (not counting suburban office parks with twin or even triple 3-6 story buildings) is the American Centers I and II on top of 31st and West End, and they were built almost 15 years apart.

I don't see any high rise condo's here as the market for those is not really for Nashville yet unless celebrities keep moving to town; but then again, we will have to have the services they want, can afford, and need. We don't need Nashville to lose its charm by becoming too high end.

BR86

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Good point about the twin tower concept now being outdated and I agree with your prediction on the tower targeting Colliers and/or Wells Fargo Bank.

I am predicting he will start with one smaller tower for the hotel about 15 stories and then Colliers will move into a smaller office tower about the same height. Since the Lionstone project is dead, Colliers, and Wells Fargo Bank could be tenants he is looking at. Lockheed Martin is also looking at Nashville.

I would not look for anything too tall at this point, but anything to fill the hole and develop the eyesore is fine with me. I would not mind a Hill type of project with up to the street buildings full of shops and restaurants.

We shall see but I think the large twin tower developments are passe' and a thing of the past. WES was first conceived in 2000-2001, (old renderings of a Las Vegas style development appeared on the internet at that time and then a one tower version was seen at the ASP Company offices and then reported on this site by someone who had visited the offices ), and announced in 2002-2003 and by that time the twin tower style was already gone. In cities like Atlanta, many twin tower developments were made into just one tower. The only successful twin tower development here in Nashville (not counting suburban office parks with twin or even triple 3-6 story buildings) is the American Centers I and II on top of 31st and West End, and they were built almost 15 years apart.

I don't see any high rise condo's here as the market for those is not really for Nashville yet unless celebrities keep moving to town; but then again, we will have to have the services they want, can afford, and need. We don't need Nashville to lose its charm by becoming too high end.

BR86

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  • 1 month later...

A Nashville law firm is looking for new office space. They want to stay in Davidson Academy. Could this be a potential deal for WES? Looking for 150,000 sq ft which is a downgrade from their 170,000 sq ft in the Nashville City Center. They also mention the Eakin project and Lionstone as possible tenants as well. They could also renew their lease in NCC. However, the lease doesn't expire until 2014.

http://www.tennessea...{sodEmoji.|}text{sodEmoji.|}FRONTPAGE

Nice shot of the NCC from the paper

5481287712_a9f7b014ed.jpg

NCC_first_tn_build by timmay143, on Flickr

Edited by timmay143
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  • 6 months later...

Could be an interesting competition like the old height wars in Nashville. I remember the the National Life and Accident Insurance Company had to have a taller building than the Life And Casualty Company so the the L&C is 409 feet and the NLALIC tower is 452 feet, however L&C claimed their tower was 500 with the radio antenna!

The other towers in downtown were always in between. No-one else wanted in the height wars, so it remains to be seen who jumps in this friendly battle with Alex Palmer and John Eakin on who builds the next tall office tower in Nashville. I think Eakin missed the boat when they only went 13 stories with the Suntrust Plaza.

The age of big thinking seems to be over. Since Signature Tower never came about, no-one thinks over 25-30 stories anymore. I don't know if we will ever break the 31 story mark in Nashville. Many cities smaller than Nashville have broken the 31 story and 500 foot mark. Mobile Alabama is a perfect example. They have a 35 story 750 foot tower and they are only at 200,000 people.

BR

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Just to note that last Saturday there were a couple of trucks @ the WES site. One being a dump truck and the driver said that the building was going to be built. They were dropping off gravel I think. There was also a work P/U truck in the site as well. With Waller not needing the space till 2014 they have a little time but not much. If this is a go then I would expect an announcement by the end of the year at the latest. I would say this is a 2 year project.

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