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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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Palmer has built a few office buildings, but nothing on the magnitude of WES, and nothing in recent years.  It is a small firm which predominantly leases office space at properties under his firm's management.  I am aware of a few buildings he either still manages or used to manage at Burton Hills.  His website lists a few. http://aspcompany.com/

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Palmer has built a few office buildings, but nothing on the magnitude of WES, and nothing in recent years. It is a small firm which predominantly leases office space at properties under his firm's management. I am aware of a few buildings he either still manages or used to manage at Burton Hills. His website lists a few. http://aspcompany.com/

So, I guess lease management is the bread and butter? That makes sense. I knew the company couldn't stay afloat on WES alone.

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Here's an old postcard of it when it was built as the Broadway Presbyterian Church. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a more contemporary photo from before its demolition.

http://nashville.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/nr/id/1035/rec/1

 

Thank you fmdj for digging that up...though I'm not really sure why I asked for that.  My day just got a little more gloomy.  For whatever reason, I did not realize that there were any architecturally significant structures destroyed for WES, much less an architectural gem like that.  What an absolute disgrace.  Given the choice, I think I'd honestly prefer that to a completed WES...

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It's funny. I must've passed that building countless times in the past, but I could scarcely remember it. It's more of a crime that it was demolished for nothing. I was more upset at Tony G's demolition of the Sudekum Building/Tennessee Theater on Church Street, though at least it was swiftly replaced with a high-rise, though I'd rather the Cumberland been put on an empty lot a few blocks away and kept one of our few art deco gems.

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It's funny. I must've passed that building countless times in the past, but I could scarcely remember it. It's more of a crime that it was demolished for nothing. I was more upset at Tony G's demolition of the Sudekum Building/Tennessee Theater on Church Street, though at least it was swiftly replaced with a high-rise, though I'd rather the Cumberland been put on an empty lot a few blocks away and kept one of our few art deco gems.

In Tony's case it was not actually his fault. The building was full of asbestos and no amount of abatement would have made the building safe. Not that it is the same building by any means, but Imperial House in Belle Meade was full of asbestos. Several people in that building developed lung cancer since it opened in 1962. By then asbestos was deemed unhealthy, but some builders still used it.

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In Tony's case it was not actually his fault. The building was full of asbestos and no amount of abatement would have made the building safe. Not that it is the same building by any means, but Imperial House in Belle Meade was full of asbestos. Several people in that building developed lung cancer since it opened in 1962. By then asbestos was deemed unhealthy, but some builders still used it.

Not to make fun of safety claims, but how many of those folks who developed lung cancer since 1962 were smokers or lived with smokers?  In the 1960s EVERYONE smoked EVERYWHERE.  Asbestos continued to be used into the 1970s.  The glues and formaldehyde that are used in a lot of modern kitchen cabinets are also toxic and they are in your home where you prepare food.  Paint emits VOCs.  Asbestos only poses a danger to you when it is in a friable state, which means when it is disturbed.  So the act of removing the asbestos is what makes it dangerous, not living with pipes or insulation that contains asbestos but is sealed off from your living space.  I have 1920s asbestos shingles on my house and they are no more dangerous to me than hardie board siding.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Given that the construction fencing around the site has now been impressively "tagged", I wonder how long the Turner banners will remain up?

 

Turner has taken down all that black fence covering with the graffiti and replaced it with new covering (which still prominently shows their name/logo). I take that to mean that Turner is still invested in the project, or at least still contractually obligated in some way. If they weren't, I'd assume they would've taken down the old fence covering and just left the bare fence standing

Edited by Jamie Hall
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Turner has taken down all that black fence covering with the graffiti and replaced it with new covering (which still prominently shows their name/logo). I take that to mean that Turner is still invested in the project, or at least still contractually obligated in some way. If they weren't, I'd assume they would've taken down the old fence covering and just left the bare fence standing

That's interesting. I just wonder what plan D or is plan E is going to be.

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Turner has taken down all that black fence covering with the graffiti and replaced it with new covering (which still prominently shows their name/logo). I take that to mean that Turner is still invested in the project, or at least still contractually obligated in some way. If they weren't, I'd assume they would've taken down the old fence covering and just left the bare fence standing

 

It is the same fence covering.  I went by there a couple days ago there was a guy out there painting over the graffiti with a roller. 

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I don't expect Palmer to spend much on this site. Given his premature elation over signing ICH... then waving around the promise to promise a lease by Parallon and SCRI... he doesn't have a nibble on this proposal.  If I were he, I would be sitting on as much cash as possible for the impending lawsuit for having that rock quarry open like it is on West End, which I'm sure is not an approved use for the property's zoning.

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He needs to sell the lot to someone like IKEA etc., who does not have a local presence here. What amazed me is how short sighted he was. Since he proposed the towers, three have been built in the Gulch. Had he done residential the entire time, he may have a project done. Instead, he insisted on office towers which in the end I think was his biggest mistake.

 

You have to build what the market dictate, not what you want.

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Supposedly he is still courting Intercontinental and proposing residential again. I give the guy credit for hanging in their after 16 years!

 

The website has been updated now to two 20 story towers, and 500,000 square feet of office, condo's, hotel, retail, restaurants, and 1800 parking spaces.

Edited by Urban Architecture
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  • 1 month later...

He needs to swallow his pride, backfill the property and sell it. Nashville has put up with this crap since first proposed in 1998. I cannot imagine the public dollars spent on this failed project. The Board Of Zoning Appeals, MDHA, Metro Council, and the Mayors Office have given time to this fiasco, and it appears Metro taxpayers are not done yet once Public Works has to spray the water with mosquito repellant again this year.

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