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Davidson West: Bellevue, Bordeaux, Green Hills, MetroCenter, Nations, N Nashville


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Re-align Richard Jones Rd and Abbott Martin Rd to intersect. Eliminates one red light. Re-align Glen Echo Rd and Crestmoor Rd. Eliminates one red light. Possibly try to move the mall entrance (with the light) right up next to the SunTrust, giving just a wee bit more space between that signal and the one and Glen Echo.

 

CVS, Walgreens, and Men's Warehouse have to find new locations. Parking has to be shifted. New land will be open.

 

It doesn't solve traffic problems, but it should have a pronounced effect on that stretch of Hillsboro Rd, where the mall & high school is definitely a choke point. The advantage of the cross streets will be that visitors from the east and west won't be forced to "jog" on Hillsboro Rd to get where they are going.

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Re-align Richard Jones Rd and Abbott Martin Rd to intersect. Eliminates one red light. Re-align Glen Echo Rd and Crestmoor Rd. Eliminates one red light. Possibly try to move the mall entrance (with the light) right up next to the SunTrust, giving just a wee bit more space between that signal and the one and Glen Echo.

 

CVS, Walgreens, and Men's Warehouse have to find new locations. Parking has to be shifted. New land will be open.

 

It doesn't solve traffic problems, but it should have a pronounced effect on that stretch of Hillsboro Rd, where the mall & high school is definitely a choke point. The advantage of the cross streets will be that visitors from the east and west won't be forced to "jog" on Hillsboro Rd to get where they are going.

I love this plan! It makes so much sense and would not only improve the traffic flow but the piece meal aesthetics currently in place. Underground utilities please!

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Reading about this plan, I understand the expansion will have to take place in at least four phases...

 

1. Building new garage on Cleghorn

2. Demolishing old garage at corner of Cleghorn and Abbott Martin

3. Building new Dillards (180k)

4. Fitting old Dillards building for new retail shops

 

So the four year timeline is a bit easier to understand. No construction costs have been publicly announced; so one would wonder if there is more to this as Taubman shops potential space for 1-2 new future anchors.  I recall prior to the Nordstrom addition, it was stated that the mall had enough land for three more anchors (apparently moving Dillards to the corner takes one of those "3 slots").  I don't think Taubman owns the long professional building next door, but maybe someone here can set me straight on that. I also recall discussion about a hotel at an earlier time (pre-recession), but of course, that was under the previous owner Davis Land. 

 

I don't pretend to know what's in store (yes, I know) for MAGH, but I find two concurrent things quite interesting: 1) The discussions about alleviating  traffic in Green Hills.  It seems a big "No duh!" would be to align 2-3 of those intersections on Hillsboro and improve signal timing; but what do I know? Wouldn't such a project also be a grand opportunity to bury several of the unsightly utility poles?    

 

Then 2) the recently announced planned expansions at Cool Springs. That mall's owner CBL is not known for its high-end properties (CS may be their nicest), but they do have a lot of properties and maintain them reasonably well (If you like malls, and I don't).  

 

Sort of a microcosm of what could be going on in other midsize markets and as malls in general fall in favor with shoppers, it seems that Cool Springs would love to grab more of the high end market. Just speculating. 

 

Maybe our retail "experts" here have much better insight. 

 

Added... 

 

William Williams has more on this project in the Post...  http://nashvillepost.com/news/2013/10/28/mall_at_green_hills_to_expand_with_new_dillards

 

I'm trying to envision where a couple of more anchors could potentially go with the new Dillards location in mind. To my eye, it appears that there would be enough room for another Nordstrom-sized anchor along Abbott Martin once Dillards moves and that small surface lot is wiped out. This would probably leave enough room for some additional, smaller stores as well. If the office buiding between the mall and the movie theater is in play, then that would be room for an additional large expansion and another anchor at some point. 

 

I recall also that "Insighter" on SSC seemed fairly confident about Neiman Marcus looking for a Green Hills location before he stopped posting. Perhaps we'll get another anchor with this expansion. I'm not sure. The articles simply call for the construction of 125,000 sf of new retail space on site of the current Dillards. It doesn't seem clear to me whether this will be 125,000 sf for the mall in addition to the space freed up by razing the current Dillards or simply rebuilding 125,000 sf of retail in total on the site of the current Dillards. If it's the latter, then I would guess there would be no new anchor with this expansion and only smaller stores.

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Believe it or not there is still a lot of space that is currently parking there that could be used for even more expansion sometime down the road.

 

I did a rough calculation (Google planimeter) and included the new Dillard's space, and the surface lot on Abbott Martin in front of Dillards...as well as the Exxon on the corner of Hillsboro and Abbott Martin and the surface lot in front of Macy's (but not the nearby bank)...excluded the current access points and freight entries...and I came up with a mall footprint of 705,000 sq ft. At two floors, that would be 1.4 million sq ft. Part of it is obviously at 1 floor...so probably a potential 1.25-1.3 million sq ft without expanding into the northern surface lot (which I think would be tricky).

 

If malls are still a thing by the time that potential expansion is fulfilled, I think the next logical step would be to redevelop the strip mall portion, and possibly some of the independent buildings north of the mall up to Crestmoor as a second unit of the mall (perhaps in a similar fashion to how Lennox Square and Phipps Plaza operate in Buckhead, but occupying the same "block" rather than across a busy highway).

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I don't quite understand the project boundaries (Woodmont, Hopkins, Graybar and Benham).   I'm guessing it will span both sides of Graybar Ln across the street from the GH library?    That's a large area.

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This was predictable... Southern Land has announced a reduction in height for their GH tower.  As I said a few months ago after the 22-story proposal, they dropped the height to 16.  It's a proven tactic among developers when they want to build something that is taller than everything around it and expect NIMBY pushback.  Now they drop the height as a "compromise".  So SL gets a tower that's actually 2 floors taller than their original plan, and it will sit closer to the street because of its shorter height.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/morning_call/2013/11/southern-land-scales-down-green-hills.html

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This was predictable... Southern Land has announced a reduction in height for their GH tower.  As I said a few months ago after the 22-story proposal, they dropped the height to 16.  It's a proven tactic among developers when they want to build something that is taller than everything around it and expect NIMBY pushback.  Now they drop the height as a "compromise".  So SL gets a tower that's actually 2 floors taller than their original plan, and it will sit closer to the street because of its shorter height.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/morning_call/2013/11/southern-land-scales-down-green-hills.html

Personally, I think that having the tower portion a little bit closer to Hillsboro will help to make a more integrated (as in less disjointed) project.  16 stories in Green Hills will still be a game changer from a height perspective, in a good way.  Does the reduced setback mean that the floor plate size for the 16 floors could increase?  If so, perhaps Southern Land could end up with the same amount of overall space but on a few fewer floors.

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Speaking of "The Nations"... I thought that was a topic on this thread... here are a couple news pieces regarding more new developments in the area. 

 

From the Tennessean... http://www.tennessean.com/article/20131111/BUSINESS02/311110024/2095/BUSINESS02

 

From NBJ...  http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/morning_call/2013/11/booming-west-nashville-neighborhood.html

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According to one source there were only about 30 people there. This person saw the numbers. I have an idea what I want to be next year for Halloween. I think I will be a skyscraper like one of the folks at the protest.

 

What these MORONS do not understand is that this development will not bring in nearly as much traffic as the new Dillard's and the new retail space at the MoGH. That is one of the main complaints but you do not see them protesting the mall.

 

I am waiting on them to march on the retired teachers building with torches and pitchforks and kick the old ladies out of the 14 story that has been there for years. The NIMBYS don't want tall buildings in the hood but I would bet this one was built in the 60's

 

 

Again I say MORONS. I think we need to take the Nordstrom's away from them.

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I don't know about you guys, but this is hilarious!

 

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/23926454/citizens-protest-proposed-green-hills-high-rise

 

23926454_BG1.jpg

 

Hey, I guess everyone needs to feel like they are a part of something important, and apparently the something that these ladies have selected is to protest luxury highrise development and economic prosperity in between their Jazzercise class and watching "The View" while their husbands are away at work, because they are terrified of the poor black people they subconsciously associate with all urban development...errr...I mean...they oppose the increased traffic...yes...yes that's it...the traffic.

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Hey, I guess everyone needs to feel like they are a part of something important, and apparently the something that these ladies have selected is to protest luxury highrise development and economic prosperity in between their Jazzercise class and watching "The View" while their husbands are away at work, because they are terrified of the poor black people they subconsciously associate with all urban development...errr...I mean...they oppose the increased traffic...yes...yes that's it...the traffic.

 

Granted the photo lends itself to stereotypes and we can have fun with it, but I think their issue really is the perceived congestion.    I haven't seen anything about fears of GH going "urban" or whatever.    Anyway, I do think their protests are misplaced.    Lopping 6 floors off the Southern Land project won't do anything to address the increasing density everywhere else in that part of town - Bedford Commons, Burton Hills, new infill residential, mall expansion, and on and on.   Face it, people want to be there.   Let's be glad it's not the opposite problem.   This is a quality development and is a next step in the progression to replace 1960's strip centers with better urban design.   The protestors' concerns would be better addressed through zoning, not individual developments that fit within the current UDO.   

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