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Davidson Southeast: Antioch, Century Farms, East of Brentwood


smeagolsfree

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BTW the opposition claimed 70% voted to keep the Fairgrounds as it is, but in reality that is NOT 70% of Davidson County Nashvillians, but 70% of those who voted in the last election, and that is a big difference. We all know voter turnout for local offices and issues is not always a large turn out.

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Of course, that was tongue in cheek.  After all, Lamar Alexander still has a residence in Nashville, and there are the Frists (at least several of them).  LOL  I would not disagree with your 35% estimate, as it's about 1/3 of the voting population in Davidson who call themselves conservative or moderates.  However, the number of self-proclaimed Republicans in Davidson is considerably lower than that. 

 

In my field, I work with both major parties, and we refer to Nashville as "the anomaly" because the Republican party has virtually no influence in the city/county.  Not sure what you mean by "fringes" (unless you mean the outlying areas), but that might be what we call the "donut", which is really seen in counties surrounding Davidson.  But Metro is solid Democrat with a legacy conservative faction that still wields a lot of influence (see Jim Cooper), and Metro has never had a GOP mayor. Beth Harwell is a good example of the "anomaly".  Her conservative politics finds pockets of support in Nashville (although Green Hills tends to be quite socially liberal).  I know her and her husband Sam personally, and her rise in state politics is not surprising if you know her (smart, tough and persistent).  And she wasn't hurt by her husband's family's influence in Nashville, but there are as many Democratic Harwells as Republicans.  Notice Beth isn't mayor, nor as she told me once, could she get elected as a Republican.  Despite Mr. Tenpenny's party, I doubt that the county or state GOP has anything to do with the status of the State Fair site.  Although, I'm suddenly interested to know if some of my GOP clients in Wilson County would be interested in defunding the State Fair as long as it is being held in Davidson County.

 

Sorry to get so far off topic. Can you tell I find Tennessee politics verrrrry interesting?

 

So keeping it topical, here's more from the NBJ  http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2013/01/fairgrounds-redevelopment-consultant.html

Edited by MLBrumby
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Of course, that was tongue in cheek.  After all, Lamar Alexander still has a residence in Nashville, and there are the Frists (at least several of them).  LOL  I would not disagree with your 35% estimate, as it's about 1/3 of the voting population in Davidson who call themselves conservative or moderates.  However, the number of self-proclaimed Republicans in Davidson is considerably lower than that. 

 

In my field, I work with both major parties, and we refer to Nashville as "the anomaly" because the Republican party has virtually no influence in the city/county.  Not sure what you mean by "fringes" (unless you mean the outlying areas), but that might be what we call the "donut", which is really seen in counties surrounding Davidson.  But Metro is solid Democrat with a legacy conservative faction that still wields a lot of influence (see Jim Cooper), and Metro has never had a GOP mayor. Beth Harwell is a good example of the "anomaly".  Her conservative politics finds pockets of support in Nashville (although Green Hills tends to be quite socially liberal).  I know her and her husband Sam personally, and her rise in state politics is not surprising if you know her (smart, tough and persistent).  And she wasn't hurt by her husband's family's influence in Nashville, but there are as many Democratic Harwells as Republicans.  Notice Beth isn't mayor, nor as she told me once, could she get elected as a Republican.  Despite Mr. Tenpenny's party, I doubt that the county or state GOP has anything to do with the status of the State Fair site.  Although, I'm suddenly interested to know if some of my GOP clients in Wilson County would be interested in defunding the State Fair as long as it is being held in Davidson County.

 

Sorry to get so far off topic. Can you tell I find Tennessee politics verrrrry interesting?

Ah, gotcha.

As for "fringes", yes, I generally mean the edges. Like the donut of the surrounding counties, the areas that surround Nashville's core are generally more conservative. They aren't generally as conservative as their peers across the border, but conservative nonetheless.

Green Hills may not be as socially conservative, but in terms of voting, it's damn near 50/50. All of the adjacent areas tend to vote Republican. But as they are wealthy areas, that's really not that surprising (and for wealthy areas, they are far, far more moderate than their out-of-county counterparts). The more heavily white areas within the core are not surprisingly more liberal leaning. The core itself is solidly blue, with the exception of one tiny district (where Trevecca is). Outside of the core/440/Briley, the blue areas are Madison/Neely's Bend and up Gallatin Pike (Goodlettsville seems to be the dividing line), Antioch/Woodbine and pretty much the entire 24 corridor (not surprising), parts of Bellevue and Hermitage (a little surprising). Donelson, Old Hickory, Belle Meade, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, and the remainder of Bellevue and Hermitage, as well as most of the bordering edges of the county (with the exception of I-24) tend to vote Republican.

Anyways...yes, that was a bit off topic. But I find the subject and study of politics and demographics to be fascinating, too.

And I agree about the GOP not really having so much to do with the Fair site. I don't think that's the line that the GOP would draw in Davidson County.

I think a lot of people either don't care, or don't know what to do about the Fair...and that's why nothing seems to be moving forward with it.

I think that if Metro pushes a mixed use plan that's a little less heavy on the office component, then it will ultimately gain support from the majority of the county's voters, both Republican and Democrat. Some people are probably a little concerned with the Fair completely going away...but if the city leaders really push the issue of cost, I think that most people would see that rehabbing the Fairgrounds is a lost cause.

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Yeah, I am over the fairgrounds.  I was for keeping the racetrack if the development was less residential.  Was thinking it could be a NASCAR type museum and attraction.  But I am over it.  I'm with Ron.  Just do something!  Except renovate :P.  I don't mind the office portion as much.  This mixed use would definitely propel the area.  It would help connect Berry Hill/S. 8th/Chesnut/Rutledge/Thompson Lane maybe even up to SoBro.

 

EDIT: well maybe not 1mil sqft of office.

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...

I also agree about the office component. I know Dean seems to think that Davidson County needs some sort of office park alternative so we can grab some of the low-mid rise development away from Cool Springs -- but we already have some sites that can do that. Not on a huge scale...(Seven Springs, Buchanan Point potentially -- places farther from the core. Or Green Hills and OneC1ty closer in and a little more urban in feel). I think we need to mainly stick to our guns and resist the office park mindset, though, and concentrate on urban office development around Downtown, Midtown, and the Gulch. In other words, there are plenty of options around town...we don't need to create a new low rise office environment.

.... I just don't really want to see any more 150-200,000 square foot 4-5 story vapid boxes of office built in close to town...

 

 

I don't agree with this.  Much as we may like the idea of lots of downtown, high rise office space, most businesses would never locate downtown and have no desire or need to be in tall buildings.  There is an enormous market of businesses who will otherwise locate in automobile dependent suburbs, who could be lured into transit-accessible, pedestrian friendly and greener locations.  There's no reason the design has to be vapid, although if they stay in the auto-dependent burbs it likely will be.  

 

Urbanism isn't just for the elite sector of the market, and you can't force businesses to locate downtown simply by refusing to build anywhere else.  I think having a secondary office market near downtown--well designed and accessible to pedestrians and transit--would be more likely to produce a synergy with downtown rather than weaken the market. 

Edited by Neigeville
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See if this link works.  http://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/Planning/docs/fairgrounds/FairgroundsJanPublicMeeting2.pdf

 

To Neigleville's point, the site plan actually shows the office park portion in the "back" or the south end of the property next to the Brown's Creek Park.  There is residential at the north and west end of the property, adjacent to the existing residential along Moore Ave (? I'm guessing) and Bransford.  Then there is mixed-use office/residential/retail as a buffer between these two separated uses.  If that is the case, then I would say that it ends up being surprisingly mixed overall, with the possible exception of the office park, which is about as far from the entrances as possible.  That placement is counter-intuitive, I would say, for attracting office park tenants based on proximity to I-65 and 440..

 

A few other interesting details are that this proposal would seek to recreate a street grid assuming that one existed prior to the creation of the Fairgrounds.  In particular, Rains Ave would continue south across the property from Wedgewood/Walsh Road and would meet the intersection of Craighead and Bransford in -- you guessed it -- a traffic circle.  I am not certain how well that traffic circle would work for the existing light industrial uses immediately adjacent to the property, but it is an interesting concept.

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See if this link works.  http://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/Planning/docs/fairgrounds/FairgroundsJanPublicMeeting2.pdf

 

To Neigleville's point, the site plan actually shows the office park portion in the "back" or the south end of the property next to the Brown's Creek Park.  There is residential at the north and west end of the property, adjacent to the existing residential along Moore Ave (? I'm guessing) and Bransford.  Then there is mixed-use office/residential/retail as a buffer between these two separated uses.  If that is the case, then I would say that it ends up being surprisingly mixed overall, with the possible exception of the office park, which is about as far from the entrances as possible.  That placement is counter-intuitive, I would say, for attracting office park tenants based on proximity to I-65 and 440..

 

A few other interesting details are that this proposal would seek to recreate a street grid assuming that one existed prior to the creation of the Fairgrounds.  In particular, Rains Ave would continue south across the property from Wedgewood/Walsh Road and would meet the intersection of Craighead and Bransford in -- you guessed it -- a traffic circle.  I am not certain how well that traffic circle would work for the existing light industrial uses immediately adjacent to the property, but it is an interesting concept.

Thanks for the link!  Was looking for something more concrete to grab pics from.

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  I am not certain how well that traffic circle would work for the existing light industrial uses immediately adjacent to the property, but it is an interesting concept.

 

I guess industries dependent on tractor-trailers probably don't like traffic circles.  I have to say I've been thru the Music Row one during pretty heavy traffic for the area, and it's remarkable--there's slightly alarming sense of scrambling and chaos as you approach the circle--but you get through it way faster than you would a traffic light.  Can't wait til KVB opens up and that circle comes into its own. 

 

Saw some idiot go left there the other day and end up face to face with two oncoming cars.  Maybe they need a bigger arrow or something.  People will get used to it.  Personally I think they are great for rationalizing some of the bizarre intersections with which our fair city is littered. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Craighead Office Park:  I'll bet this has been reported already, but I couldn't find it.  There has been demolition going on of a little crappy building on Craighead Street next to the vehicle testing center.  There is some construction going on now along with a sign.  From my car, it looked like it is being called something very unimaginative like "Craighead Office Park."  It looks like a one-story office park.  It's not great, but it's not bad, either.  Does anyone have any more information?

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  • 2 weeks later...

While this is by no means an announcement of future development, any large purchase in this are gives a pretty good chance that something of significance will happen there relatively soon.

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2013/03/01/melrose-retail-building-sells-for.html

2603-2605 Franklin Pike was purchased for $1.85 million. This is directly across the road from the Melrose Theater project. It currently operates as a Famly Dollar and a Cash America pawn shop. Again, nothing to really point to in terms of development, but it makes me want to keep an eye on it over the next several months or couple years.

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That's a good catch.  I think that I also heard that the luxury car dealership just north of the Melrose project on Franklin Road is moving to Willimson County (go figure!), so that large piece of land may also come into play in the near future.  Can anyone verify that?

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That's a good catch.  I think that I also heard that the luxury car dealership just north of the Melrose project on Franklin Road is moving to Willimson County (go figure!), so that large piece of land may also come into play in the near future.  Can anyone verify that?

 

Kind of funny that the dealership would move right as the area is becoming much more desirable. :dontknow:

 

But this wouldn't be a terrible thing, necessarily. I imagine the sales tax revenue on high end cars will be a little bit of a hit...but if this lot were to be developed like the one next door, ground floor retail could help ease that.

 

Not that I'm in the market for them, but it's kind of sad that most Davidson County residents will have to travel outside of the county to get their hands on high end cars. Off the top of my head, this leaves Lexus and BMW in town. And I guess Cadillac, if you want to count that. But to be fair, most of the market tends to be on the south side of town anyways.

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I think that I also heard that the luxury car dealership just north of the Melrose project on Franklin Road is moving to Willimson County (go figure!), so that large piece of land may also come into play in the near future. Can anyone verify that?

If you're talking about porsche/Audi/jaguar of Nashville (formerly Throughbred Motors), then yes, they do plan to move towards the end of the year. I just had this confirmed by a buddy there. But I'm not sure if its the whole lot, or just one or two of the divisions. Edited by nashvillwill
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Driving today I noticed a bunch of wood posts/flags up near the intersection of Gale Ln and Lealand Ln. South side of Gale (backing up to I-440). It covered an extensive area...maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the distance between Lealand and Granny White/12th. 

 

Anybody know what that is? 

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Perhaps you can map it for me. I probably know but I need to see where it is for sure. I drive it every now and then.

BTW, the new police precinct is about to start. There was an article on Channel 4 this evening.

 

It will be on the corner of 12th adn Wade.

 

Good news.  Any chance they reconnect Wade at that spot?  Nashville has so many streets that have been mangled up for one reason or another.  It kinda gets under my skin. haha

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Perhaps you can map it for me. I probably know but I need to see where it is for sure. I drive it every now and then.

BTW, the new police precinct is about to start. There was an article on Channel 4 this evening.

 

It will be on the corner of 12th adn Wade.

 

https://maps.google.com/?ll=36.116542,-86.787508&spn=0.003389,0.005284&t=h&z=18

 

I'm not sure if it's residential construction or not. With the way that area has been developing, I'm thinking it is. Hundreds of wooden stakes with orange "flags"

 

484268_10101328778648825_1471347877_n.jp

 

Most of it is to the right of the pic (I couldn't get my camera ready quick enough, and I was driving). 

 

The area would be suitable for some infill housing. I believe there was one piece of equipment (backhoe) on site, but obviously nothing has been dug yet.

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