Davidson East: East Nashville, Inglewood, Madison, Donelson, Hermitage, Old Hickory

[Nashville Cliff]

18 hours ago, NashvilleObserver said:

 

Asked: "Why do people like the Nashville Scene and David Plazas seem to be waging a war against Nashville's growth and development?"

And answered: "I know people are being priced out of neighborhoods, and there should be more affordable housing, . . ."

[NashvilleObserver]

3 hours ago, Nashville Cliff said:

Asked: "Why do people like the Nashville Scene and David Plazas seem to be waging a war against Nashville's growth and development?"

And answered: "I know people are being priced out of neighborhoods, and there should be more affordable housing, . . ."

Problem: People are being priced out of neighborhoods, and there should be more affordable housing.

Solution: Be 100% angrily opposed to any and all development, growth, new company relocations, influx of more people, building of tall skinnies, and ANYTHING related to the growth of Nashville, and blame every little thing on "New Nashville" and tug at people's heartstrings over things that have nothing to do with our cities growth.

 

...seems logical right?

 

[markhollin]

Douglas Market Lofts (3 stories,16 units, 4 retail slots) update. Brick work and siding underway.

Looking NW from intersection of Douglas Ave. and Lischey Ave:

Looking NE from Douglas Ave., just east of intersection with Stainback Ave:

[WebberThomas4]

That stretch of Douglas is going to look a lot different in the next 3-4 years. 

[grilled_cheese]

23 hours ago, NashvilleObserver said:

Problem: People are being priced out of neighborhoods, and there should be more affordable housing.

Solution: Be 100% angrily opposed to any and all development, growth, new company relocations, influx of more people, building of tall skinnies, and ANYTHING related to the growth of Nashville, and blame every little thing on "New Nashville" and tug at people's heartstrings over things that have nothing to do with our cities growth.

 

...seems logical right?

 

I didn't see that article as 100% opposed to development.  Just showing another side to the story.  No need to have a meltdown, Clark.

[smeagolsfree]

Yea, there has to be a balance somewhere. Maybe we can be part of a solution on here by thinking outside the box, coming up with ideas and throwing them out to someone like B Withers or others that can help.

Has there really been a open forum among Nashville residents to address these concerns? Bring all the groups together, developers, citizen groups, comuunity activist and leaders to go about solving an issue much like the way a Charrette would do things. Small groups , then larger groups. 

You would also need States representatives on board because anytime something new is done in Nashville , some bonehead in Podunck TN wants to shoot it down.

[markhollin]

Some of the many new residential structures being built along Fern Ave. 

Looking SE from intersection of Whites Creek Pike and Fern Ave:

 

[BnaBreaker]

^Wow... those are NICE!

[nashvillwill]

They are also a stones throw from the I-24/I-65 split. You can see them prominently from the interstate. Great views. Terrible noise. 

Edited March 4, 2019 by nashvillwill

[OnePointEast]

4 hours ago, nashvillwill said:

They are also a stones throw from the I-24/I-65 split. You can see them prominently from the interstate. Great views. Terrible noise. 

Dem urban folk don't care. They were molded around unnecessary honks, sounds of sudden stops caused by tailgating, and the always intensifying flip of the bird. Vroom. Vroom.

[markhollin]

815 Main Street (4 stories, 17 units, retail) update.  Site cleared.

Looking south along Neill Ave., 1/2 block north of Main St:

 

[markhollin]

A few more details on the Highland Yards development at 747-757 Douglas in the Highland Heights district of East Nashville,  The 1920's era factory is being reimagined into primarily 39,000 sq. ft. of creative office space. 

- Original floors, brickwork and window frames will remain, with the space to be “meticulously restored to its original state,” according to Nathan Lyons of Vintage South, the developer. 

- They see the same type of tenant mix at Stocking 51 in The Nations, which Vintage South is also behind. They hope to announce fist tenant in next few weeks.

- A fall completion is planned. 

More at The Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21049404/spring-start-eyed-for-east-side-warehouse-project
 

This screen shote from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map shows the triangular site highlighted in teal at the center of the frame:

[bwithers1]

3 hours ago, markhollin said:

815 Main Street (4 stories, 17 units, retail) update.  Site cleared.

Looking south along Neill Ave., 1/2 block north of Main St:

 

I am glad to see work starting on this project.  This lot has numerous site constraints.  I have worked with the applicant and Planning on an alternative sidewalk design for the Neill Ave frontage that was approved at one of the February BZA meetings.  This portion of Neill Ave had historically functioned as an alley but at some point had been renamed to a street, similar to what happened with N 9th Street a block away.  So this portion of Neill Ave does not meet Public Works standards for a street.  But the applicant will meet Arterial Boulevard sidewalk standards for the Main Street frontage but requested an alternative design for the Neill Ave frontage which is a reduced planting strip width that enables five feet of sidewalks that also stay out of the way of utilities.  I was already quoted on this project in the Post a while back, but I am excited to see something being built on this stretch of what is shaping up to be a "downtown" section  of Main Street between 8th and 10th.  Construction on this site will provide sidewalks along Neill Ave at least to the alley, which will make things a little bit safer for pedestrians coming from the Maxwell Heights neighborhood who are trying to reach the in-bound BRT bus stop shelter that will be reinstalled in front of the Fieldhouse Jones hotel when it opens.  Now that the sidewalk issue has been resolved with Planning at the BZA, the applicant will still need to go back before the MDHA East Bank Design Review Committee for final approval of details of this proposed four-story building.  Early drawings showed a rooftop terrace on that fourth floor on the southwest corner facing downtown. 

Edited March 4, 2019 by bwithers1

[markhollin]

The one story retail strip at 943-947 Woodland St. now owned by Green & Little is undergoing a facelift that will be designed by STG.

More at Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21049587/modernist-east-side-building-eyed-for-facelift
 

[AronG]

23 hours ago, markhollin said:

The one story retail strip at 943-947 Woodland St. now owned by Green & Little is undergoing a facelift that will be designed by STG.

More at Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21049587/modernist-east-side-building-eyed-for-facelift

This article is full of quotes from CM Withers about encouraging building owners to update and keep the existing drab, 1-story strip buildings along Woodland instead of replacing them with 3-story mixed use buildings as allowed by the local code. Why @bwithers1, why?

In addition to being ugly, these buildings completely ruin the sidewalk for several blocks (because cars can whip into the parking spots at any point), destroying the pedestrian character of Woodland just next to 5 points. Why in the world would we want to preserve them in their current format? You're quoted as saying "Reusing existing buildings is a green building practice." But single story, car-oriented retail in the middle of an active, semi-dense, urban area is textbook bad for the environment. Unlike mixed use, multi-story buildings built to the sidewalk, which encourage people to get around some other way than by driving.

I'm usually nodding along with your thoughts (such as on 815 Main St above), but this is just baffling. These buildings are a blighted residue of the bad decades when East Nashville was built in suburban patterns. The neighborhood has outgrown them. There are plenty of options for the beloved tenants to find other retail space while these are rebuilt. Steering our neighborhood away from car-focused strip malls and towards pedestrian friendly walking districts should be a no-brainer wherever it's feasible.

[grilled_cheese]

Dang, puttin people on blast up in here!

[AronG]

3 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

Dang, puttin people on blast up in here!

Me? Totally not my intention, just literally confused by Brett describing his efforts to actively convince people to keep these old structures that are detrimental to the neighborhood. Maybe there's an explanation I don't know about. Appreciate your efforts in other areas @bwithers1, no intention to blast.

[Edgefield D]

I noticed that the Bill Martin grocery building is back on the market for $3.5 mil. Just curious if anyone has heard what happened to that deal? I think there was discussion here a while back that it was supposed to close by 3/1.

 

[bwithers1]

23 hours ago, AronG said:

Me? Totally not my intention, just literally confused by Brett describing his efforts to actively convince people to keep these old structures that are detrimental to the neighborhood. Maybe there's an explanation I don't know about. Appreciate your efforts in other areas @bwithers1, no intention to blast.

I am largely with you.

My support for these and similar renovation project is because (1) the numbers do not yet work to demolish these buildings and put up three-story buildings (there are buildings going on vacant lots, but remediation and demolition costs are higher than most people imagine) or else people would be doing that, and so finding a way to clean them up in the meantime rather than putting lots of materials in landfills is better for the neighborhood and the environment and (2) the overhead power lines on this portion of the north side of Woodland Street appear to preclude building buildings up to that height up to the street anyway, as evidenced by the 901 Woodland building.  Even the version of this site plan that Planning recommended had parking in front but parallel to Woodland. 

So if you have two options -- one being to keep drab buildings drab and the other being to recruit and cheerlead reinvestment in them, make the property owner replace the existing crumbling sidewalk at no cost to Metro, require the property owner to create parking at the rear of these structures along the alley to clean up the alley and meet the rest of the parking requirement -- then I know what the easy choice is. Doing renovations of these buildings also tends to help keep or attract local, smaller businesses than the chains or larger ventures that tend to be able to afford the rents in the ground-floor retail spaces in many multi-story buildings.  There are exceptions.  But restaurants, coffee shops, local small retail and office tends to need lower rents than what complete new construction can support.  I am particularly interested in attracting the retail (nonfood) sector to this portion of Woodland Street to make it somewhat of a shopping destination.  And if a shared parking plan allows a visitor to park at one spot and walk to the others, then I encourage that as well.  But we need the retail to attract the shoppers first and East Nashville retail has never been able to depend for survival solely on the spending from East Nashville residents who can walk to the corner store.

If you or someone you know wants to purchase these lots or others and build a three-story building, please do.  And let me know how I can help.  But in the world that I live in, I need to make appropriate decisions when working with Metro Departments and property owners to encourage gradual investment to keep raising the overall commercial temperature along Main and Woodland to get us to the point at which the larger buildings that the design guidelines envision are an economic possibility.  We have come a long way quite quickly but we are not quite there yet in terms of replacing existing structures with new ones.  And the new ones will be less easy to finance if there is disinvestment or vacancy in surrounding existing buildings.  And these renovations do not preclude that demolition and replacement happening in the future, but it simply may not take place until the next cycle.

Edited March 7, 2019 by bwithers1

[smeagolsfree]

I thought I saw that the numbers did not work when I saw what Bret sent to William, so the blame is not on him guys. A lot of companies just cant get the number to crunch to make some of these projects work due to zoning, height restrictions, etc.

[markhollin]

TriStar Summit Hospital expansion (2 floors on top of existing 7) update.  8th level complete.

Looking north from intersection of Central Pike and Frist Blvd:

[WebberThomas4]

Three demo permits were issued yesterday for buildings along Gallatin, W. Greenwood and Sharpe to make way for the Hill Center Greenwood. The two largest buildings are still going through the permitting process, but I doubt they will be far behind. 

[markhollin]

Two hotels being planned a few blocks from each other near the airport:

1)  Cambria Hotel (4 stories, 114 rooms) at 44 Rachel Drive on 2.9 acres.

2) Tru Hotel (4 stories, 115 rooms) at 540 Royal Parkway on 6.9 acres.

No renderings for either as of yet.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21050340/two-airportarea-sites-eyed-for-hotels

This screen shot from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map shows the two sites highlighted in teal at the center of the frame:

[WebberThomas4]

It looks like some interior renovation is taking place in the old Steak+Pizza building on Gallatin. Anyone have the scoop? 

[smeagolsfree]

If this is at 1102 Gallatin Ave., I cant find any active permits for that address. I am sure you probably looked too.