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

[smeagolsfree]

I normally don't post, Post articles but since I was here I would go ahead. Crosland Southeast out of Charlotte is the buyer. This is the company that developed One Bellevue Place.

 

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21022959/east-side-building-home-to-marche-sells-for-431m

[Edgefield D]

I saw an article in the Post (which I don’t have access to) saying the Family Dollar building at Five Points has sold or is about to. Has anyone heard what might be going on there?

[smeagolsfree]

4 minutes ago, Edgefield D said:

I saw an article in the Post (which I don’t have access to) saying the Family Dollar building at Five Points has sold or is about to. Has anyone heard what might be going on there?

Not yet. I don't think we will know anything until the buyers have been identified along with their plans.

[markhollin]

Douglas Market Lofts (formerly 1300 Lischey, three 3 story buildings, 16 units, 4 retail spaces) update.  Half is topped out.

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

 

Looking SW along Lischey Ave., 1/2 block north of Douglas Ave:

 

 

[Gracie]

On 9/17/2018 at 10:53 AM, bwithers1 said:

 

These are some random thoughts in response to some of the above posts.

What you get with a grocery store building placed against the sidewalk and the parking in the rear is that pedestrians will have to walk all the way around the building to the back to get to the entrance to the building.  See the Turnip Truck's new location on Woodland Street.  While it is true that the building fronts the sidewalk, I am not convinced that it is necessarily designed with pedestrians in mind, because pedestrians have to go to the back of the store where the parking lot entrance is to access the store.  

The prior plan for this parcel (from a decade ago) that would have had a Publix fronting a portion of the street had a giant blank wall facing the street with the entrance on the "side" facing a parking lot.  Since that time, the Gallatin Road SP was thrown out by the court and the Gallatin Road Urban Design Overlay that replaced it several years ago makes no requirements about building placement or signage.

This site plan does add pedestrian-friendly features such as brand new sidewalks, a new bus shelter, and a new signalized crosswalk across Gallatin that is badly needed, and other features.

Parking requirements are partly set by Metro Government but are largely set by the grocery store management companies.  Therefore, even if Metro removed all parking requirements (as we have done downtown) the tenants would demand a certain number of parking spaces in order to sign a lease.  I was able to work with Kroger to lower their parking spaces some. 

The new site plan is for a larger store and it reverses some of the design decisions that were made earlier so that now the loading dock will be from the side and not front-facing toward Gallatin.  These design decisions arise from the larger store footprint.  As for having a large wall facing the residential, yes, this can be true, but that is the purpose of trees and screening.  If a large mixed-use building were constructed here, there would be multiple-story parking decks facing the neighbor's yards with dwelling units with windows overlooking their yards.  At least this is a one-story building and maintains some degree of privacy for the neighbors.

The business with the drive-through window is not an adaptive reuse of the former Mapco gas station (and who knows what before that) that used to be the home of Cizar's.  Having been in that building, I find the idea of reusing that structure to be romanticized and not realistic.  But that is just me.  Urban Planning folks may decry the drive-through or the business itself but I predict that the business will be quite successful.

Obviously, transit on Gallatin has been a non-starter twice now and so for the foreseeable future Nashvillians will drive to grocery stores even for short trips.  If the decision on transit changes in the future, and if Nashvillian's willingness to use transit to go grocery shopping for the family changes, this plan could always potentially be revisited with more outbuildings fronting Gallatin subject to the lease terms with the anchor grocery store tenant.  I often walk to Kroger, but then I am single and rarely home enough to eat at home and so there is very little in my refrigerator at any one time.  So I may be an anomaly.  Actually, I am one of the few non-STR-guests walking on Gallatin, so even the fact that I walk on Gallatin is considered an anomaly in East Nashville and is frequently remarked upon.

My personal belief based upon constituent communications is that East Nashvillians want another grocery store option in the area, and so at some point the question becomes whether you want the grocery store that will sign a lease in the space or not.  Given that choice, I am guessing that most people will be happy having another grocery store.  Even the often-requested Trader Joe's stores that I have been to have parking lots out front.  I am in no way suggesting that this store will be a Trader Joe's.  I am simply saying that if the property owner felt that a potential grocery store tenant would sign a lease with a building built up to the street with parking in the rear, that the site plan would be designed that way.

 

Disappointed with this design.

1.  A drive thru -- ugh -- I'm sure it will be "successful" but that doesn't mean it's a good addition to the neighborhood.

2.  You can have the grocery on the street and not make peds walk around. Turnip Truck isn't the only possible design. Safeway did a great job with the redevelopment of their old suburban-style store in Upper Georgetown (DC). The new store (2nd pic) has parking behind the store.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Gracie

[WebberThomas4]

1.) I’m not thrilled about the idea of a drive thru, and I’m sure the new restaurant and coffee shop across Gallatin aren’t either. That said, Cizar’s had a drive-thru in the proposed location and it was beloved by the community. 

2.) The dimensions of the Safeway site appear to be a lot different than that of this site. I think it is important to realize this is not a particularly deep site (only 355 ft in some spots) and the store front will be a lot closer to Gallatin than most realize.

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by WebberThomas4

[Rockatansky]

3 hours ago, markhollin said:

 

So many blocked sidewalks.

[Gracie]

58 minutes ago, WebberThomas4 said:

1.) I’m not thrilled about the idea of a drive thru, and I’m sure the new restaurant and coffee shop across Gallatin aren’t either. That said, Cizar’s had a drive-thru in the proposed location and it was beloved by the community. 

2.) The dimensions of the Safeway site appear to be a lot different than that of this site. I think it is important to realize this is not a particularly deep site (only 355 ft in some spots) and the store front will be a lot closer to Gallatin than most realize.

 

I'm assuming a Chick-fil-a or Starbucks with a nice big sign. I hope I am wrong.  

Regardless of the depth, having the parking to the rear seems like a better answer. 

 

[WebberThomas4]

On 9/18/2018 at 10:42 AM, Pdt2f said:

If the locals would let them get a good return on investment. Personally if I had the money for a substantial project I’d look elsewhere, considering the amount of crap that you have to go through to get anything done in EN. I know many of the nimbys have noble purposes but sometimes just daaaaamn. 

This pretty much sums up my feelings right now. 

[WebberThomas4]

2 hours ago, Gracie said:

I'm assuming a Chick-fil-a or Starbucks with a nice big sign. I hope I am wrong.  

Regardless of the depth, having the parking to the rear seems like a better answer. 

 

That may seem like the answer to you but neighbors to the site have expressed opposite points of view.

[Nashville Cliff]

On 9/17/2018 at 10:53 AM, bwithers1 said:

Actually, I am one of the few non-STR-guests walking on Gallatin, so even the fact that I walk on Gallatin is considered an anomaly in East Nashville and is frequently remarked upon.

 

Gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most of the buildings are fronted with parking lots, drive-thru lanes, and pull-in curb cuts? 

[markhollin]

A 300 townhome project by HND Realty and Bill Hawkins is being planned for 915 Robinson Rd. in Old Hickory.  Tentative name is Rayon City Homes.  Groundbreaking will be spring of 2019.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21023112/massive-townhome-project-slated-for-old-hickory

 

This screenshot from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map shows the project in teal at the center of the frame:

[Nash_12South]

It looks like a large parking lot -  with some housing included.

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Nash_12South

[smeagolsfree]

11 minutes ago, Nash_12South said:

It looks like a large parking lot -  with some housing included.

 

Well it is out in the middle of Bull Frog Egypt. Remember this is almost out of the county.

[grilled_cheese]

Old Hickory has some really cool housing stock.  Take a drive out there one day.

[WebberThomas4]

The Paragon Group appears to be building twenty-one 238 sqft tiny homes at the corner of Riverside and Rosebank across from Riverside Grillshack (999 Riverside Drive). Does anyone have any more information on this? They have started applying for permits.  

[bhibbs]

1 hour ago, grilled_cheese said:

Old Hickory has some really cool housing stock.  Take a drive out there one day.

especially in the Lakewood area, the further you get towards the river off of OHB the cooler the houses get.

[AronG]

2 hours ago, WebberThomas4 said:

The Paragon Group appears to be building twenty-one 238 sqft tiny homes at the corner of Riverside and Rosebank across from Riverside Grillshack (999 Riverside Drive). Does anyone have any more information on this? They have started applying for permits.  

Wow. 238 sqft? That's amazing. I guess they're gonna airbnb them?

Ridiculously tiny size aside, this is the kind of density that could help jumpstart that intersection into another little neighborhood center. It's for sure going to make some people's heads explode on NextDoor.

[NashvilleObserver]

Can someone explain to me what kind of development is going on in the Madison area right now? This lot, in a rather deteriorating area, just sold for $1.12 Million. Are the 4-per-lot "tall skinnies" beginning to infiltrate this far to the east of Madison?

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/09/20/nashvilles-most-expensive-homes-sept-15-2018.html#g/441896/4

[smeagolsfree]

Someone overpaid. And someone made out like a bandit.

[SoundScan]

Maybe there’s a secret grow operation in a cave underneath. Wouldn’t be the first time in Tennessee:

https://youtu.be/3x77pz9RyvY

 

[Pdt2f]

45 minutes ago, NashvilleObserver said:

Can someone explain to me what kind of development is going on in the Madison area right now? This lot, in a rather deteriorating area, just sold for $1.12 Million. Are the 4-per-lot "tall skinnies" beginning to infiltrate this far to the east of Madison?

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/09/20/nashvilles-most-expensive-homes-sept-15-2018.html#g/441896/4

That can’t be right. It’s gotta be a typo or they’re going off error-ridden paperwork. No dilapidated house in Madison not 100 feet from multiple trailer parks is going for over 1,000,000 unless there’s like a gold mine directly under it. That’s maybe a $240,000 house. 

That being said, if that’s how much housing values have gone up in Madison the past year, I’m going to make a killing!  

[DJIII]

Here is the CEO of HG Hill realty company talking about WALKABILITY and how expensive parking is.  Gives me hope that we can get the parking lot of the HG Hill Center Greenwood grocery store moved to the rear of the property for a more walk/bike/transit-friendly design  I am going to try and contact him to talk about the development (anyone have his email?).  I talked to an architect today and her only thought on why grocery stores wouldn't want to be up front is that drivers would be intimidated because they can't immediately see the parking from the street, and thus lose customers who 'give up' and go to a different store.  Seems like a pretty flimsy reason to not embrace a walkable design. We will see if there's any other location considerations when I talk to Jimmy.   I assume there will be much deeper insights as he is a professional who regularly deals with property development.

 

[WebberThomas4]

@DJIII, all he is going to tell you is that they are still working on the plans/development and nothing more (trust me). Your best bet is to email CM Withers ([email protected]). He should be able to connect you to HG Hill and may have additional insight considering he has probably been in a lot of the meetings. 

I think it’s pretty obvious that I really support this project. When this was first announced, I shared (and still do to an extent) many of the concerns that have been brought up about site layout, possible tenants,etc.  However, I believe the benefits this project (yes, even in its current form) will bring to the community far outweigh the negatives. This development has been rumored or off/on for over a decade now and to finally see some light at the end of the tunnel is exciting. I know my view is much different than others on here and it will likely be criticized, but I hope this passes the 3rd reading sooner than later.

[DJIII]

@WebberThomas4 I agree it’s a good development. I am trying to do my part to make it better.  My goal is not to stop it, although if it had to be delayed a few months to get it redesigned I wouldn’t consider that a tragedy, considering how long it’s already been laying dormant and how many years we will have to live with the configuration after it is built.  I appreciate the suggestions, I will email Brett in an effort to get in contact with HG Hill. I appreciate your comments and different viewpoints. We get better when our assertions are challenged and not just accepted, so please keep pushing back on my stuff where you see fit!