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

[MidTenn1]

Another week, another mid-rise!!!

[smeagolsfree]

http://nashvillepost.com/blogs/postbusiness/2013/9/10/renasant_bank_to_be_razed_work_on_new_structure_looms

An update on Renasant bank

[captainwjm]

Looks as if work has started on the trailer location for the temporary offices of the Renasant Bank project. This project will start right after Labor day.

construction fencing in place as of yesterday; 9/9

[dmillsphoto]

This is a project we started discussing the possibility of on Saturday. A shame that the old building is coming down (next to Jersey Mikes retail strip) but will be interested to see what is put in it's place...

 

http://www.bizjourna...ts-to-make.html

[nashvillwill]

This is a project we started discussing the possibility of on Saturday. A shame that the old building is coming down (next to Jersey Mikes retail strip) but will be interested to see what is put in it's place...

http://www.bizjourna...ts-to-make.html

Are we talking about the apartments on the corner of 23rd or 24th? If its the one on 24th, then im ok with it. If its the apartments on 23rd, then thats a real shame. When i lived in the Lee, my wife and I would always walk past those apartments on 23rd and talk about how beautiful they are. Not really kept up all that well, but the structure is beautiful. That's a project worth fighting for IMO.

Edit; searched the address and realized that its not either one, but the U shaped building. That's a real shame. That's a fantastic mid-century building. That's a crying shame. Honestly, I'm outraged! All the parking lots in town, and still we are destroying more historical structures. Pathetic!

Edited September 11, 2013 by nashvillwill

[smeagolsfree]

The Jersey Mikes building and the Office max building on West End may be included in the project. This could be a sizable project

Also Post is reporting a mid October ground breaking for OneC1ty.

[dmillsphoto]

Are we talking about the apartments on the corner of 23rd or 24th? If its the one on 24th, then im ok with it. If its the apartments on 23rd, then thats a real shame. When i lived in the Lee, my wife and I would always walk past those apartments on 23rd and talk about how beautiful they are. Not really kept up all that well, but the structure is beautiful. That's a project worth fighting for IMO.

Edit; searched the address and realized that its not either one, but the U shaped building. That's a real shame. That's a fantastic mid-century building. That's a crying shame. Honestly, I'm outraged! All the parking lots in town, and still we are destroying more historical structures. Pathetic!

 

By the sound of it, it's going to incorporate street frontage on West End and Elliston. I love that building, and the incorporation of trees even more, but this could be a huge project. Elliston 23 size. 

[MLBrumby]

Certainly, it would be easier to swallow the demolition of the brick apartment building at that corner if the hideous strip centers around it go down too!  Just curious if anyone on this board has heard any rumors before now. 

[CenterHill]

The Jersey Mikes building and the Office max building on West End may be included in the project. This could be a sizable project

 

 

Agree it's an outrage to lose the apartments on Elliston Pl.    Article says Grace owns the two strip centers on Elliston and West End, easily the two worst developments in that part of town.   As I recall, the one on West End took out one or more historic builidings when it went up.    Was Grace the developer of those or did they acquire them?    I'm not seeing much on their website that gives me hope.     http://gracedevelopment.com/     

[MidTenn1]

I took a snapshot of the building a couple of weeks ago thinking it was being rehabbed. Instead, it's going to be demolished.  Too bad!

The West End area has a lot of these dignified buildings. You would think a high end restoration would generate rents high enough to justify saving it.

 

[MLBrumby]

Hell, just the trees are worth every effort to save.  It's literally a park, which takes one's attention away from the hideous power lines overhead.  Makes me nervous to read that no permit has been issued yet... so what might replace this building; a parking lot?  

Edited September 11, 2013 by MLBrumby

[smeagolsfree]

The Grace website is a collection of suburban crap from what I can see. No urban development. Hope they don't screw up. There is an opportunity to have a great project. Metro needs to hold their feet to the fire for sure.

[MidTenn1]

Early speculation (on our part) as to the site...

 

 

 

From their website (which made me throw up in my mouth a little bit) they may own the two smaller single unit buildings on West End also.

 

Edit: Revised image.

Edited September 11, 2013 by PHofKS

[UTgrad09]

Early speculation (on our part) as to the site...

 

 

From their website (which made me throw up in my mouth a little bit) they may own the two smaller single unit buildings on West End also.

From what I'm reading, it will not include the apartment building on the corner of 24th and Elliston. I'm also sure that the Pinnacle Bank on the corner of 24th and West End, and the parking lot behind it are not included.

What I do wonder is if the two houses on West End (Jimmy John's, Papa John's), which Grace also owns, are going to be part of this.

As for their website...I don't think they built much of the stuff on there. They just own and/or manage it. Ugly tasteless stuff, for sure...but my guess would be they're going to let someone else come up with the plan itself.

[TMcKay9]

Nice website, especially the cluttered bedroom photos.  Try and not bust the budget now!

 

This is the portion of the property that Grace currently owns. 

[CenterHill]

I've hated those two strip malls since the day they went up and have been praying for their demise.   They're an eyesore and a waste of prime real estate.   I'll stay tuned for more detals, but this developer will have to do something way outside of their stucco box to deliver an improvement.   More on Grace. Found this in a 2010 Nashville Post clip.

 

quote:

"Developer Grabs West End Gas Station

Published April 6, 2010 by J.R. Lind

Nashville developer Charles Cooke bought an enticing piece of West End real estate Monday, according to a filing with the Davidson County Register of Deeds.

Cooke paid $2.05 million for 1817 West End Ave., currently the location of a Mapco gas station with an attached auto shop. The property is two doors down from Palmer Plaza, across the street from the swanky Hutton Hotel and is the only gas station on West End Avenue between the split at 16th and 28th Avenue.

Cooke is a principal in Cooke and Grace Properties, a residential development group, and Grace Development, which operates a number of small boutique-centric in-fill shopping centers such as Paddock Place on White Bridge Road and Ellison Place Shopping Center."

[BnaBreaker]

Although the fact that the strip malls are being leveled too helps to numb the sting a bit, I am still quite disgusted right along with you nashvillwill. For a city with as many empty lots and unused/under used space as Nashville does to be demolishing historic structures of value instead is just appalling. This had better be a capital M "MAJOR" development to justify knocking that dignified old boy down.

[timmay143]

Yeah, that is a terrible shame! Hopefully, something with the strip malls are done. I remember talking about these strip malls several years ago and how much of a missed opportunity they were for density. Could put at least one floor of residential or office (of course several floors would be ideal).

Don't worry, when I make my trillions, I am going to build replicas of all the significant buildings lost on surface lots!

[BnaBreaker]

A little bit of good news (in my opinion) on the preservation front.  The iconic Sub Stop and it's neighbors are, for now, safe once again as the site goes back on the market. 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2013/09/prime-midtown-site-goes-back-on-the.html

[bhibbs]

Although the fact that the strip malls are being leveled too helps to numb the sting a bit, I am still quite disgusted right along with you nashvillwill. For a city with as many empty lots and unused/under used space as Nashville does to be demolishing historic structures of value instead is just appalling. This had better be a capital M "MAJOR" development to justify knocking that dignified old boy down.

Drove by this location last night and they have already started the demo process.

It is a shame we are losing this location, but, replacing the two strip malls is a huge plus for this area in my eyes.

[MLBrumby]

Not to throw a we blanket on things.... but demolishing the two other strip centers is merely speculative at this point.  With no announcements made (yet), for all we know now Grace may want to simply expand the strip center where Jersey Mikes is located.  Of course, I hope I'm wrong, but I don't recall any public statement to the effect of replacing the strip centers.  All I said above is, "If...". 

[UTgrad09]

 

Not to throw a we blanket on things.... but demolishing the two other strip centers is merely speculative at this point.  With no announcements made (yet), for all we know now Grace may want to simply expand the strip center where Jersey Mikes is located.  Of course, I hope I'm wrong, but I don't recall any public statement to the effect of replacing the strip centers.  All I said above is, "If...". 

 

 

Conventional Wisdom would say expanding a strip center in one of the hottest neighborhoods in Nashville for vertical construction would be a terrible return on investment.

 

I doubt that is the case. Now, it wouldn't surprise me if there is a significant retail component that incorporates a lot of the former tenants...but if you have a block of land between Elliston and West End, you don't simply turn it into a large strip center...not when a much larger and more lucrative development is possible.

 

I think some people here are a little afraid of what will happen because of the properties represented on Grace's portfolio. Those are properties they own...not necessarily properties they developed. 

 

Now they might be a very foolish and short-sighted company...who knows? But let's give them the benefit of the doubt before we start with our doom and gloom grumbling.

 

 

 

I'll add that I am also disappointed with the loss of the apartment building. I think it's a very cool building, and I wish that they could save it and incorporate it into a new development (though its placement makes that difficult). We all know that there are a limited number of buildings like this left in the city, and especially that neighborhood. But it does bring up the question...are you willing to sacrifice one building you like (that is at least semi-historic) for two buildings that really need to go? Of course it depends on what will be going on that site...but hypothetically, let's say an Elliston 23 type project with retail on two fronts. Would that be worth the sacrifice?

[MLBrumby]

No doom and gloom grumbling here... just pointing out that there has not been any public statement of the company's plans.  Posts above reflect certainty that the shopping centers will go (I hope so), but who's to say that the company won't phase-in components of this project, and the strips continue standing for years.  We just don't know yet.  William!!! Oh William!!!! What's going on with this project? LOL Regardless, the "vintage" building is now history (pun intended)... so what makes a building "vintage" and another building "historic"?   http://nashvillepost.com/blogs/postbusiness/2013/9/12/vintage_elliston_building_felled_by_wrecking_ball

Edited September 12, 2013 by MLBrumby

[bwithers1]

You're right that there is no word on the company's plans.  Let's hope that they don't dig another hole without having feasible plans.  But UTGrad is also right that many of the properties on Grace's website were not built by them.  Look at the Westboro Apartments at 31st and West End.  They didn't build that!

 

I think that land prices are finally getting high enough in Nashville that strip centers on West End are a thing of the past. Plus, when Planning was working on the Urban Design Overlay for Elliston/West End a little while ago, the Metro Historic Zoning Commission asked for a delay in order to inquire with the owners of properties that could be deemed as contributing to an historic district about their interest in preserving those buildings, presumably including this very apartment building on Elliston. With no or almost no exceptions, the owners of the presumably historic structures voted not to seek historic protection for their properties. The value of their properties with increased verticality and density was too high. That's unfortunate for the historic properties, but it does make it seem as though these property owners know that Elliston 23-type developments are the way to maximize their value in this area now that Codes will allow it there.

 

"Historic" and "Vintage" in casual conversation are pretty interchangeable. But Historic has ties to National Register of Historic Places designations, which can be either for a single property or for a district (as in the case of Lower Broad). Whereas "vintage" can mean "vintage" to almost any era. A 1960s ranch home is very, very vintage, but not historic.

[captainwjm]

Demolition today at Renasant Bank project

Edited September 16, 2013 by captainwjm