Inside 440 - Berry Hill, Midtown, Vanderbilt, 12S, WeHo, Fairgrounds, etc.

[smeagolsfree]

6 hours ago, bnacincy said:

Sometimes, these small companies (example:Big Machine) outgrow the little bungalows-they need more office space which is why I want to see a few more office buildings on Music Row-I drove down both 16th and 17th avenues and there are a few properties on both streets where non music businesses are located. These are the kinds of places I'm talking about. By replacing them with larger structures we can keep companies on the Row (Isn't that what everybody wants?) .

Did anyone get upset when the big companies started leaving and a bunch of structures were torn down to make way for apartments? I certainly was-and yes I did see tour buses on both streets while I was there and I doubt the tourists were there to see a bunch of apartments.

What was tried downtown?

No residential Zone!

[bnacincy]

6 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

No residential Zone!

The disaster is if Music Row becomes Apartment Row-is that what you want?

[smeagolsfree]

Everything is in transition. There are new apartments and new office buildings being built along with new hotels. However as much as Metro has tried, they are not going to do an overlay in this area even though it is needed. Metro is gutless and spineless in a lot of areas.

Vanderbilt is also a major player in this area and they have tones of property too.

[bnacincy]

1 hour ago, bwithers1 said:

The Metro Historic Zoning Commission staff have already conducted studies to determine which buildings in the Music Row and Midtown areas are historic individually or as part of a district.  A couple of years ago the property owners of those buildings were surveyed about their interest in adding local historic zoning protections to those buildings to prevent them from being demolished (other work and even additions can still proceed).  My understanding is that all or most of those building owners declined or refused to add such local historic zoning protections to their properties.

If this is true then there isn't much that can be done if a property owner wants to sell unless the city can zone it a certain way-residential, commercial, mixed use, etc.

All I want is to keep music companies on Music Row-what's wrong with that?

[Mr_Bond]

16 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

All I want is to keep music companies on Music Row-what's wrong with that?

I'm wondering how communication technologies have affected the process from artist demo to publishing and touring.  If someone knows people in the business, maybe you can give us their opinion of preserving buildings on Music Row versus preserving the infrastructure to keep the music business in Nashville humming.

If the building owners don't want an overlay, a private group of preservationists may have to raise dollars and buy the most important properties.

[titanhog]

30 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

If this is true then there isn't much that can be done if a property owner wants to sell unless the city can zone it a certain way-residential, commercial, mixed use, etc.

All I want is to keep music companies on Music Row-what's wrong with that?

The biggest problem is something that can't be easily solved.  First of all...the issue isn't the big record labels and keeping them on the Row.  The issue is how to keep the songwriters and publishers on the Row.  That's the heartbeat of the industry...and it's the collaborative effect of having the majority of these players in the same locale that creates a certain synergy.  Plus...the fact that Belmont and Vandy students can walk over to publishing companies and get internships and learn how to write from seasoned writers is another part of that "synergy" that makes Nashville's music industry unique.  But...as I mentioned earlier...building office buildings and thinking publishers and songwriters will stay there rather than seeking out stand-alone structures for privacy and sound proofing is just probably not going to happen. Music Row became "music row" when a few producers opened up studios in funky old buildings...and then publishers and songwriters followed by renting out old houses and soundproofing them...and the numbers multiplied over the years.  Tearing down those structures and building office buildings is just going to create a whole new, homogenized neighborhood.  I think some music people will stick around...but a lot will scatter.

And I realize that if you haven't lived and breathed on Music Row and the music industry for 25 years like I have...I may sound like an insane person who is just trying to persevere a bunch of old bungalows instead of building shiny new buildings.  But...it's not really about the actual buildings as much as it's about the "campus" atmosphere.  Heck...you're surrounded by Vandy on one side and Belmont on the other.  Then...you have house after house after house...and in each house is usually a publisher with writing rooms where a group of 10 or so writers collaborate in each house...and there may even be a small studio in the basement where you can finish your song then go downstairs and record a quick demo.  You're not going to have all of that in an office building.  That's the main issue.  We're knocking down these little houses than each contain a thriving music business...and thinking they'll all just pick up and move into one big office building (next to lawyers, a bank, salon, etc).  It just doesn't easily work that way.

I'm not sure there's a way to save it...though.  There's just too much money involved...and the landowners can't pass up that kind of money.  I totally understand.  But...I will always lament the fact that it was a wonderful community.

Edited December 20, 2018 by titanhog

[markhollin]

Because of the digital age, many of the studios that used to be pervasive around Music Row have gone under (too many artists can record in their own residences and cut out the middle man). Lord knows that many overdubs and remixes are now "flown-in" digitally from remote locations, often not even in the same city or even country.

It even is effecting collaborative songwriting--I know of many that do sessions via Skype with each other from the comfort of their own home studio instead of having to drive around for in-person get-togethers. 

And, obviously, the same is happening with many meetings that used to happen face-to-face amongst labels, artists, managers, lawyers, publishers, etc. who could get together in that cozy neighborhood for just that reason.  No need to now in many cases.  

The same thing is happening in Hollywood--so many of the small businesses that fed off the vibe of being around each other to make movies and TV shows don't need that "convenience" any more.  'Tis a shame, but the times they are a-changin'.  

[bnacincy]

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have no desire to tear down bungalows in order to put up larger structures. What I want to see are buildings on properties that have non music related business being rebuilt for the larger companies that left.

 Big record labels leaving Music Row may not be an issue for anybody else but it is for me.

Besides, if there is no overlay protection for these buildings it's a moot point anyway as the property owners can do what they want and sell to whomever they want.

Money talks......just sayin.

 

[titanhog]

1 minute ago, bnacincy said:

As I mentioned in an earlier post I have no desire to tear down bungalows in order to put up larger structures. What I want to see are buildings on properties that have non music related business being rebuilt for the larger companies that left.

 Big record labels leaving Music Row may not be an issue for anybody else but it is for me.

Besides, if there is no overlay protection for these buildings it's a moot point anyway as the property owners can do what they want and sell to whomever they want.

Money talks......just sayin.

 

I mean...yes...would love to have all of the labels back on the Row, but really...there aren't that many labels left since some downsized and many consolidated.   Sad to see Sony (RCA, etc) leave.  Capitol (UMG) hasn't been on the Row in a while.  The question is whether or not a new office building would bring either of them back...or are they happy to be within the downtown loop?

And...who even knows what is going to happen with Big Machine?  Borchetta has them up for sale.  There's a chance they'll soon be folded into whichever huge conglomerate swallows them up.

[bnacincy]

4 minutes ago, titanhog said:

I mean...yes...would love to have all of the labels back on the Row, but really...there aren't that many labels left since some downsized and many consolidated.   Sad to see Sony (RCA, etc) leave.  Capitol (UMG) hasn't been on the Row in a while.  The question is whether or not a new office building would bring either of them back...or are they happy to be within the downtown loop?

And...who even knows what is going to happen with Big Machine?  Borchetta has them up for sale.  There's a chance they'll soon be folded into whichever huge conglomerate swallows them up.

True That!

[smeagolsfree]

I am with you on this. Dont take me the wrong way, but its gonna have to take Metro to do something. No other entity has the power to do anything other than them. The Historical Commision here is a joke as they are reactionary with a few successful actions like saving Studio A, but that took money and private action to do this.

The only other way to get things done is to do what they did but it takes huge amounts of private money going in and buying properties out from under developers but they have a lot more money.

[titanhog]

24 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

I am with you on this. Dont take me the wrong way, but its gonna have to take Metro to do something. No other entity has the power to do anything other than them. The Historical Commision here is a joke as they are reactionary with a few successful actions like saving Studio A, but that took money and private action to do this.

The only other way to get things done is to do what they did but it takes huge amounts of private money going in and buying properties out from under developers but they have a lot more money.

I'm just not sure that anyone has any experience saving an area full of mostly nondescript buildings full of odd businesses...quirky architecture...etc, based mostly on trying to provide work space for mom and pop businesses that make up the industry.  How to do you save a community like that?

[MLBrumby]

I think Music Row lovers got really lucky when the RCA studios were bought, expressly to be saved. That won't happen much, if ever again.  Another building (actually a complex) I hope will also be saved is Owen Bradley's Quonset Hut.

Of course, if Nashville had a Historical Commission worth a damn, the organization would already be working directly with Music Row property owners to encourage a joint marketing effort with access to more tourist groups and joint events with the two adjacent universities. To create the buzz it needs to keep it quirky. To make current and future owners there see that it's a great, irreplaceable community in town. 

[markhollin]

Vanderbilt Divinity School addition (3 stories, 13,641 sq. ft.) update.  Brickwork nearly complete.

 

Looking NW from near 21st Ave. South, at intersection with Scarritt Place:

[markhollin]

Vanderbilt University Nursing School Addition (4 stories, 29,950 sq. ft.) update.  Complete and about to open.

Looking west across 21st Ave. South, 1/2 block north of Edgehill Ave: 

[titanhog]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/01/03/new-midtown-residential-tower-approved-after-vacation-rentals-nixed-midtown-west-end-vanderbilt/2462779002/

AJ Capital is developing the 12-story Graduate Hotel next door. The company also bought the Taco Bell lot in 2017 where the tower will be built for $7.6 million.

But CA Ventures, which also owns the office tower at 1801 West End known as Palmer Plaza, is developing the building, a company official said. The Tennessean will move its downtown offices to Palmer Plaza in the spring. 

A wide, red-brick podium will make up the first five stories, according to design plans. That will be topped with a skinnier 20-story glassy tower. 

"The podium was designed to create a continuous safe and vibrant streetscape from a pedestrian standpoint," said Sean Witty, the project's architect with Solomon Cordwell Buenz. "The West End tower will seek to reinforce the quality of the neighborhood."

Street-facing shops and restaurants, and 430 parking stalls, are also included in plans for the building at 2004 and 2012 West End Avenue. 

[BnaBreaker]

I love that development so much.  This and The Graduate next door are going to change the face and feel of West End Avenue so drastically all by themselves.  I cannot express how happy I am to FINALLY see those drive thru fast food restaurants go.

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

I love that development so much.  This and The Graduate next door are going to change the face and feel of West End Avenue so drastically all by themselves.  I cannot express how happy I am to FINALLY see those drive thru fast food restaurants go.

And that's more like it, as far as parking garages go.  The front part facing the main road is retail / residences covered in brick with no sign of a parking garage until you get off of the main road.

[markhollin]

Chappy's building at 1721 Church St. coming down this morning.

 

[Buildtall]

Any idea what will replace the chappy building?

[MLBrumby]

8 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

I love that development so much.  This and The Graduate next door are going to change the face and feel of West End Avenue so drastically all by themselves.  I cannot express how happy I am to FINALLY see those drive thru fast food restaurants go.

Was not long ago some of us (including yours truly) lamented that West End Avenue, a street that should appear as one of the city's premier "grand" boulevards, looked shabby and tacky with its mix of fast food joints surrounded by asphalt and the hodgepodge of light standards, utility poles and traffic signals.  Well, I think these buildings and the Broadwest complex are a nice start to that transformation. 

[MidTenn1]

20 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Was not long ago some of us (including yours truly) lamented that West End Avenue, a street that should appear as one of the city's premier "grand" boulevards, looked shabby and tacky with its mix of fast food joints surrounded by asphalt and the hodgepodge of light standards, utility poles and traffic signals.  Well, I think these buildings and the Broadwest complex are a nice start to that transformation. 

The Vanderbilt 'College Gothic' buildings lining West End will also add much to the 'Grand Boulevard' look of West End.

 

[LA_TN]

3 hours ago, PHofKS said:

The Vanderbilt 'College Gothic' buildings lining West End will also add much to the 'Grand Boulevard' look of West End.

 

And the Brits will be visiting to see the Tower of Nashville

[smeagolsfree]

7 hours ago, Buildtall said:

Any idea what will replace the chappy building?

My guess is a parking lot.

[AUNash]

I love that development so much.  This and The Graduate next door are going to change the face and feel of West End Avenue so drastically all by themselves.  I cannot express how happy I am to FINALLY see those drive thru fast food restaurants go.

I feel exactly the same way. I love this design.