Jamie Hall

Yeah, I realize it's only Taco Bell, but ... According to Food & Wine, the chain is about to build up to 350 of its new cantina-style restaurants in several urban areas. The story doesn't mention Nashville, but the accompanying video does say Nashville is one of the target markets. The cantinas serve a variety of liquor and have a decor to fit the local market, unlike the usual Taco Bell. It was mentioned on here a few weeks ago that the Taco Bell on West End will be torn down in the next few months and replaced by a hotel, so it stands to reason that one of these would go near Vanderbilt, potentially in the Gulch and/or maybe SoBro. I could see these things being incredibly popular with college students and tourists. Taco Bell Is Ditching Drive-Thrus And Adding Booze

In an attempt to steer back toward the topic at hand: Unlikely as it is, if Amazon somehow did overlook a city because of its HIV rates, then it's a safe bet that no Southern state would make the cut because we tend to lead the nation in obesity, child mortality, illiteracy and other significant health and education problems that could put strain on a company's health insurance program. But on a realistic note, I am curious to know if unemployment rates in individual cities or regions might factor into Amazon's decision. That's a number that seems more relevant.

As a guest it would seem odd to walk out of a beach-themed hotel room onto the streets of very non-beachy downtown Nashville ... but oh well. Just one opinion.

It's hard to imagine anything going onto that site that involves any significant in-and-out vehicle traffic -- simply because of the nature of that oddly shaped intersection and the ensuing traffic problems. Imagine a high-rise on that site and the lines of cars attempting to turn in and out of the parking garage onto either Broadway or West End. That's a potential disaster. One option would be to assign parking to a nearby lot and share it with another building, if there's enough parking available nearby.

I saw this last night around 10:30 as I was taking the loop around downtown. They definitely seemed brighter and hard to miss, and I would swear the lights were moving on the fins -- very similar to how the colors revolve at the Adventure Science Center. I'm curious to see if this is a permanent effect or just a one-night trial run.

Any estimates on how much money Palmer is losing on this property each year it sits undeveloped? I'd guess that property taxes on that lot aren't cheap, plus whatever liability insurance he pays on it.

Demo on the fire station began a few days ago, so it's already coming down. That area of Charlotte around 21st Ave North is definitely filling in. Starbucks just opened across the street, and Zaxby's is building a block or two away. A hotel seems like a good fit.

As best I can tell, it looks like all the property roughly between Endeavor and the Capitol View project is either on the market or being targeted for development -- minus the NES property, which unfortunately is a pretty sizeable chunk. Even with NES out of the picture, there are still some big parcels available in that neighborhood.

Tennessean.com has some renderings of what ground-level will look like, plus a layout of the proposed project. But no renders.

Bar Louie was announced as a new tenant for One Bellevue Place a few days ago. That one surprised me -- seems like a really impressive addition for that development.

I'm sure they have their reasons, but it seems like for just a little more investment they could put retail components on the ground level and stand to make more money in the long-term.

100% agreed. I love how downtown Nashville has been revitalized, and I'm a big fan of the new Fifth & Broad and Nashville Yards projects, but I don't see how downtown would greatly benefit from a soccer stadium. Downtown is very healthy without soccer. The fairgrounds area, on the other hand, could see huge impacts from a soccer stadium, and the area is just a quick hop over from Berry Hill and all the new 8th Avenue South developments, so there are plenty of food and pregame options. There's also easy access to the fairgrounds from every direction, usually with little congestion. It might not be the most exciting or glitzy location for a new soccer stadium, but it's a smart one.

I'm kinda fond of it -- it has a cheesy Opryland vibe to it. Maybe I'm just a sucker for nostalgia.

I sure hope the supports and brackets on those glass fins are stronger than they look in those photos. Otherwise our next wind storm will send those things scattered all over downtown.

Locals might not get excited about H&M being downtown, but this will be big with tourists who come from areas where H&M has always been something they've heard about but have never seen. It's similar to how Hard Rock Cafe and Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville hardly appeal to locals, but out-of-towners love 'em. It will be interesting to see if Fifth + Main goes for an overall high-end appeal with their food and retail or tries to keep it more blue-collar affordable.