Virgin Hotel on Music Row, 15 stories, 262 rooms, music club

[timmay143]

As sad and sucky that we lost the home, the fact the Richard Branson is investing in Nashville is completely HUGE!!  Getting something like this could be priceless.  We could see Virgin invest in things like infrastructure.  I'm thinking not only Virgin Airlines, but also technology (ala similar to Google Fiber!!) and trains!  Maybe RB could take AMP to the next level.  The AMP'd AMP!  RB also is invested heavily in space technology.  Maybe we could get some high rises with some Virgin office space!

[bwithers1]

I am in agreement that this building is gone and that there is little left to discuss on this particular building. 

 

My point remains that I am disappointed in Virgin for selecting this particular location for their hotel when there are so many other more visible and appropriate spots nearby.  By appropriate, I mean more accessible/visible.  I still maintain that the named address of this property (1 Music Square West instead of 1700 Division, or XX 17th Ave South, either of which are the true street addresses) is cited by Virgin as the enticing aspect of this particular property.  My feeling is that the naming convention of the Music Row area has far outlived its usefulness and that the Virgin team may have gotten suckered into that marketing.  Mr. Branson may be surprised by how little music-related activity (other than artist rights groups, publishing houses, and salons) exist on Music Row these days.

 

The real estate ad for these parcels shows a blurry image of an area with a yellow line outlining the boundaries as if this were vacant land out by the interstate.  That is far from an accurate description of these properties.

 

I'm having trouble imagining Mr. Branson flying out and looking at this building and saying, "let's bulldoze it!"  Maybe he did.  Maybe he didn't.  But I would be surprised.

 

Also, to touch on a couple of other very valid points that have been brought up:

 

(1)  Historic Nashville, Inc is a 501©(3) nonprofit that works with property owners in Nashville to preserve their historic facades through preservation easements.  Basically, the property owners donate their facade easements to a nonprofit in exchange for a tax write-off.  This action is not compulsory but is voluntary and in my opinion is something that should be promoted more broadly as a win-win for property owners and the city of Nashville.  Quite a few commercial and several residential properties have facades that have been donated to Historic Nashville, Inc for preservation.  The facade preservation easements may make some of those buildings eligible for other grant moneys or tax advantages.

 

(2) Individual landmark designations for Metro zoning require the property owner's approval.  Conservation Zoning Overlays need the approval of the majority of property owners in the district.  Lord knows I spent countless hours canvassing property owners in my neighborhood to determine which areas would or would not support an expansion of our conservation zoning overlay.  So yes, a particular property owner or minority of property owners might not be happy about the historic zoning that got applied to their property, but they also had three public hearings in which to make their case to two Commissions and the Metro Council.  They just happened to be in the minority in that particular district and were not able to convince the Commissions our the Council to cut them out of the historic districting, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court and is on the books in the State of Tennessee. 

 

Back to the Music Row discussion, there is already a South Music Row historic district.  It could be expanded northward if there is property owner support.  That question seems to me to be worth asking. 

 

I do know that when the Midtown upzoning Urban Design Overlay was being implemented, that Historic staff asked that question of the relevant property owners in the Midtown UZO area, which starts just west of Music Row.  To my knowledge, none of the Midtown property owners were interested in historic protections for their properties.  That's a shame, but at least they were asked.

Edited April 22, 2014 by bwithers1

[Guest]

Thank you for sharing that information BW1.... I found all of it to be on topic and very informative....

[satalac]

If you own the property, that means you can do what you like with it (well to an extent of course). If someone really wants to keep something from being torn down, they'll find the money to stop it. This did no happen, Virgin bought the lots and plan to build a new hotel on this property. This is what happens in a free market. Do I like old houses being torn down? Not really, but I don't like a single home that the owner doesn't want anymore to stop the area from progressing. What's done is done. 

Edited April 22, 2014 by satalac

[BnaBreaker]

Like you said, it's in the past now, but I don't necessarily blame the Hamilton family for seeing an opportunity and selling to a major name like Virgin Inc.  I'm more disappointed with Virgin Inc. for not seeing the excellent redevelopment opportunity there.  They stated that they wanted to be a part of the Nashville fabric and culture.  What better way to do that than to literally incorporate a piece of Nashville fabric and culture in the form of a 19th Century Antebellum mansion into your development as the hotel restaurant?  Huge missed opportunity. 

Edited April 22, 2014 by BnaBreaker

[smeagolsfree]

I guess now is the time to hope for a really nice project. The things we know that will be with the project is as follows:

 

*240 guest rooms

*Parking (structured and or underground)

*9 high end penthouse condos

*A recording studio

*A rooftop restaurant and bar

 

The cost to be around 75 million.

 

I suspect there may be more than one restaurant for the facility.

[titanhog]

Would love to see a design.  Smeagol...do you think this will have some height?

[satalac]

I'm interested in the height too. I doubt we'd see anything over 15 floors (and that may be overestimating). 

[Neigeville2]

If you own the property, that means you can do what you like with it (well to an extent of course). If someone really wants to keep something from being torn down, they'll find the money to stop it. This did no happen, Virgin bought the lots and plan to build a new hotel on this property. This is what happens in a free market. Do I like old houses being torn down? Not really, but I don't like a single home that the owner doesn't want anymore to stop the area from progressing. What's done is done. 

 

It's not a free market if there's not a free flow of information.  Anyone interested in preserving this building had no warning this was going to happen, so they had no chance to stop it, in fact I feel certain that had the demolition not been done as close to full secrecy as possible, the building would have been preserved by one means or another.

[satalac]

It's not a free market if there's not a free flow of information.  Anyone interested in preserving this building had no warning this was going to happen, so they had no chance to stop it, in fact I feel certain that had the demolition not been done as close to full secrecy as possible, the building would have been preserved by one means or another.

That's not what makes a free market a free market. The seller wanted to sell the house, they did, then the new owners decided to demolish it for a project. This is free market. Besides, the MHC knew that owner was having issues with upkeep and was looking at selling it. They couldn't afford it (or find someone who could), so it was sold to those who could. Is it unfortunate that a house like that was lost? Sure, but I'm sure many of our current beloved buildings are on top of what used to be cool old buildings as well. Progress isn't a bad thing. It's not like they did it to build a parking lot. They are building one of the first hotels of a new brand from an internationally known company. Things change for a reason. 

[ruraljuror]

It's not a free market if there's not a free flow of information.  Anyone interested in preserving this building had no warning this was going to happen, so they had no chance to stop it, in fact I feel certain that had the demolition not been done as close to full secrecy as possible, the building would have been preserved by one means or another.

 

I think the free marketeers have it right in this case.  Both the owners of the mansion and the little Up-esque record studio on Division have the right to sell/demolish their properties and/or not sell/preserve them against their own economic interest as they see fit. 

 

Additionally, those property owners had no obligation to hold some kind of public auction for the property.  There was no restriction in the flow of information in that anyone was capable of figuring out who owns the properties in question and could have made offers to purchase those properties from the owners.  There is no restriction that kept Virgin from making an offer so good that the owners had no desire to shop their properties around, and many have already noted that this is not the most obvious piece of land for such a major brand in the first place.  Can't really blame the owners for taking the deal.

 

If we want to talk about new regulations requiring public notice of 30 or 60 days before the sale or demolition of structures of a certain age, I think that would be a very interesting conversation.  Even then, however, as this particular mansion apparently strayed from historical standards during a renovation in the 60's, any such requirement probably wouldn't have been applicable anyway. 

 

Historic Preservation committees can't afford to save all the homes that they would like to already, but that's not going to (and shouldn't) stop them from lamenting the loss all the same.  I'm glad some salvage preservation efforts were made, but I imagine it was a hurried job considering how fast it came down.  Again, however, this is the property owners prerogative.  It was probably a good idea not to drag it out and attract more negative attention from the community since Virgin will be asking for a height variance on the property in the very near future. 

[grilled_cheese]

"free market"

[nashvillwill]

Just a tidbit that may make a few of you feel a little better.

I stopped by the demolition of the old home today as they were stacking bricks on pallets. I asked the guys "hey, what are my chances of getting a few of these bricks?".

Their answer (understandably) was no. They said they were collecting all the old brick for one of two reasons. Either;

A- they would be incorporated into the new building.

B- they would be donated to the historical society.

They were tasked to gather 10k bricks.

I also noticed a few wood corbels and a door frame set aside as is they were being salvaged.

So, in short, there is some light salvaging going on.

[bhibbs]

They are being very strict with what they are being allowed to dump.
My company has been informed to only haul away certain/specific items.

[nashvillwill]

I did however snag a few bricks from 2118&2120 Hayes St. Used to live next door, so I wanted a few.

[titanhog]

I'm glad to hear they're salvaging some of the bricks.

[Nathan_in_DC]

I guess now is the time to hope for a really nice project. The things we know that will be with the project is as follows:

 

*240 guest rooms

*Parking (structured and or underground)

*9 high end penthouse condos

*A recording studio

*A rooftop restaurant and bar

 

The cost to be around 75 million.

 

I suspect there may be more than one restaurant for the facility.

 

Depending on how they do the rooftop restaurant and bar, and if this has any significant height at all, it could easily turn into the best place in the city to have a drink if you're interested in taking in the views.

[bwithers1]

Just a tidbit that may make a few of you feel a little better.

I stopped by the demolition of the old home today as they were stacking bricks on pallets. I asked the guys "hey, what are my chances of getting a few of these bricks?".

Their answer (understandably) was no. They said they were collecting all the old brick for one of two reasons. Either;

A- they would be incorporated into the new building.

B- they would be donated to the historical society.

They were tasked to gather 10k bricks.

I also noticed a few wood corbels and a door frame set aside as is they were being salvaged.

So, in short, there is some light salvaging going on.

That is good news.  There is a program through the Tennessee Historic Preservation Trust nonprofit organization (or something like that) in which salvaged materials from historic buildings can be sold through salvage companies such as Preservation Station with a portion of the proceeds going to the non-profit.  The property owner/developer gets a tax writeoff for the charitable donation.  This sounds like a similar arrangement.  It's the best that can be hoped for under the circumstances.

Edited April 24, 2014 by bwithers1

[nashvillwill]

But, man those bricks would swee-eeet in my front sidewalk. I've been salvaging from all over town.

[bwithers1]

I'm a little confused as to where comments on the Music Row hotel project are to be posted, but I think that this is it.

 

Anyway, the SP for the Music Square West properties passed last night's Council hearing on 2nd reading  http://www.nashville.gov/mc/ordinances/term_2011_2015/bl2014_773.htm.  That would have it pass 3rd reading on June 17th and be effective possibly as early as June 20th.

Edited June 4, 2014 by bwithers1

[smeagolsfree]

Thanks Brett. We were wondering about that. I know that had to be a loooooong Metro Council meeting last night.

[Will]

David Chase, VP at the contracting firm on this project, has been charged with beating a woman twice on the same day: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2014/06/11/nashville-contractor-charged-two-domestic-assaults-judge-waived-cooling-rule/10328783/

[bhibbs]

David Chase, VP at the contracting firm on this project, has been charged with beating a woman twice on the same day: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2014/06/11/nashville-contractor-charged-two-domestic-assaults-judge-waived-cooling-rule/10328783/

 

 

Someone that Ive talked to on many occassions....this is sad to hear.

[satalac]

Previous multiple DUI's and now this? I think the company needs to break ties with him and he needs some serious help.

[samsonh]

It's his dad's company so I doubt that happens, but I'd agree this guy is needs some serious help.