Peabody Union (27 story residential, 354 units, 251,000 sq. ft. office, 50,000 sq. ft. retail), Peabody Plaza (9-story, 280,000 sq. ft. office), & 4 smaller buildings, MDHA Trolley Barn sites

[CenterHill]

And, at the same meeting the MDHA design review committee approved Eakin's bland suburban crap, the committee approved this tasteful restoration/rehab directly across the street:

Conceptual plans for rehabilitation of 29 Hermitage Ave. into a 19,000 square foot, single-tenant office building pending review of the site and landscaping plan and addition of windows on the Lea Street side.  Nashville-based C.B. Ragland Co. is overseeing the project for the owner of the building that's located just south of downtown. It was once home to Nashville Hotel Liquidators.

Current view of 29 Hermitage Ave: 

 

So, Ragland goes to the effort to offer a rehab project that will contribute to the surrounding Rutledge neighborhood, the bus barns and Rolling Mill Hill.    Does anyone on MDHA see the irony???      Good lord.  

 

[BnaBreaker]

23 minutes ago, FluffyP13 said:

is Eakin involved in some sort of dare to single handedly ruin our riverfront w crummy architecture? i mean have a little pride in your work. put some effort into it. is that too much to ask ? 

Ya know? I mean I dont think anyone is demanding the freaking Taj Mahal here, but there is a lot of gray area between the top of the mark and this crap.  It is stunning to me that these are professionals designing this uninspired garbage.  Like you said, have some pride in your work for gods sake.  Hell, have some pride in your city!  Anybody could have come up with this design.  Anybody.

Edited September 5, 2017 by BnaBreaker

[markhollin]

Here is Nashville Post's story, including an additional layout schematic:

The Metro Development and Housing Agency voted Tuesday to approve elements of a mixed-use project eyed for Rolling Mill Hill and now to include a nine-story building.

The building, for which would-be developer Eakin Partners has released a new image, had been planned for five floors. It has a provisional address of 0 Peabody St.

Specifically, the MDHA Design Review Committee granted approval for massing, location of the building and materials. 

MDHA and Nashville-based Eakin are slated to close on the sale of the RMH property on Oct. 31. Prior to then, Eakin Partners will need to return to the committee for approval of the site plan, some pedestrian-level elevations and landscape elements.

Eakin has enlisted Nashville-based Hastings Architecture Associates for design work. Brasfield & Gorrie would serve as general contractor.

“We are working with MDHA on a number of fronts,” said John Eakin, the company’s managing director. “What drove the design change more than anything is that the leasing market is dictating a 30,000-square-foot floor plate and the chance to create more park space.”

Eakin said the new design will allow for all parking levels (five total) to be below grade and, as noted, a larger green space than originally planned. The property sits within MDHA’s Rutledge Hill Redevelopment District and, as such, the project requires committee approval.

Eakin Partners will pay $9.4 million for the property. The building would include retail, restaurant, office and parking spaces and be located where Asurion employees have long parked. While Eakin constructs its building, Asurion employees will park on the J surface parking lot soon to be finished.

Similarly, the agency will close on the sale of an adjacent parcel to Ray Hensler on Dec. 31, 2019, at which point the Eakin building is slated to have been completed.

Hensler and Florida-based Stiles Corp. will pay MDHA $13.5 million for the 4.57-acre parcel (Lot K) with an address of 30 Peabody St. and on which they plan a residential tower. An early 2020 construction start is eyed, according to the MDHA document.
 

[henburg]

Wow, that is a monstrosity. The last design was uninspired, but at least it wasn't as offensively ugly as this. As if the awful design wasn't enough, this thing seems to ignore some basics of good architecture with the sidewalk setbacks and total lack of consideration for how it interacts with the historic structures. It's seriously as if a 1980's suburban office building was dropped randomly on the land. 

 

They're clearly building this thing on the cheap and it's glaring at this point. I hope MDHA is happy with their decision. 

[nashwatcher]

Eakin tower in the Gulch is pretty attractive to me. Seems like this one will end up looking decent considering his most recent work in the Gulch??? Both are around 90 million. One would think his final product would only improve with experience...

[Flatrock]

People should lose their jobs over this decision. Spectacularly awful. C'mon City of Nashville, get your house in order!

[fieldmarshaldj]

^I can't see the rendering pictures, they're all showing as X's. If you guys think it's awful, I'll probably think it's 100 times worse.

[dmillsphoto]

27 minutes ago, fieldmarshaldj said:

^I can't see the rendering pictures, they're all showing as X's. If you guys think it's awful, I'll probably think it's 100 times worse.

If you can't see them, you're doing yourself a favor by not trying any further. You and I disagree on the architectural significance of mid-century pieces (I just rarely voice them), but trust me on this.

It's awful.

[e-dub]

UTTER GARBAGE.

[titanhog]

What this tells me is that the city needs to get out of the business of basically giving land to developers and just put the land up for sale to the highest bidder and let them build what fits their pocketbooks.  This crap shouldn't be happening.

[Pdt2f]

9 minutes ago, titanhog said:

What this tells me is that the city needs to get out of the business of basically giving land to developers and just put the land up for sale to the highest bidder and let them build what fits their pocketbooks.  This crap shouldn't be happening.

I don't mind them discounting the land as long as the savings are put back into the design/utility of the building(s), like I think 5th and Broadway is doing. This, however, is a hideous double-flusher that never should have been ok'd by metro in the first place. 

[VSRJ]

So does this mean it's a done deal? Is that POS what will rise?

[smeagolsfree]

Im getting a lot more aggravated with Hastings designs. It seems all the architect's  know how to do these days are square blue glass boxes.  At least it gained 4 floors.

[LA_TN]

** I can't believe I'm doing this **

In defense, 5 stories of underground parking for 1,000 spaces to serve 280,000 sq ft of office space. Now contrast that with 222 Demonbreun which has 1,100 parking spaces above ground to serve 390,000 sq ft of office space

No zebra stripes, parking is hidden, and green space. That's a win

The original competing designs were not chosen because they were not sensitive to the Trolley Barns. The scale of the Eakin building is not overpowering to them, but the irony here is that there is nothing about the design that is complementary to the Trolley Barns

[smeagolsfree]

The trolly  barns dont have feelings so nothing has to be sensative to them. Sorry Bob, could not resist. You guy's know how l feel about buildings fitting in with the trolly barns. I really dont care. Its just going to be two more boring glass structures. If MDHA really cared about them fitting in, they would be neo-trditional with appropriate material to compliment the  barns.

[PaulChinetti]

On 8/3/2017 at 0:44 PM, nashville_bound said:

So this new 8 story building is taking place of this 4 story thing on the left? It's a slight improvement I guess. Very slight.

[titanhog]

^^Will they still build that drive-in movie screen?  I was really hoping to catch "Gone With The Wind" before it goes to DVD.

[CenterHill]

9 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

The trolly  barns dont have feelings so nothing has to be sensative to them. Sorry Bob, could not resist. You guy's know how l feel about buildings fitting in with the trolly barns. I really dont care. Its just going to be two more boring glass structures. If MDHA really cared about them fitting in, they would be neo-trditional with appropriate material to compliment the  barns.

Which, IMO, is exactly what MDHA should have stipulated in the design criteria for these lots.      It's not just the bus barns, it's RMH , the old General Hospital and the historic houses on Rutledge Hill, and even the Hermitage Ave renovation MDHA approved at the same meeting.          Look at the effort the city went to several years ago in designing the gas thermal plant to fit within the red brick aesthetic of that part of downtown.       Why completely abandon all design principles now and allow something that not only doesn't mesh with the surrounding area, but doesn't even employ urban design principles of sidewalk orientation and street activation (note the set back from Hermitage Ave and the brick wall face fronting Peabody)?          Point is, MDHA should care about good design and this indicates to me they do not give a sh*t. 

 

[MidTenn1]

3 hours ago, titanhog said:

^^Will they still build that drive-in movie screen?  I was really hoping to catch "Gone With The Wind" before it goes to DVD.

Too late!!   

[LA_TN]

13 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

The trolly  barns dont have feelings so nothing has to be sensative to them. Sorry Bob, could not resist. You guy's know how l feel about buildings fitting in with the trolly barns. I really dont care. Its just going to be two more boring glass structures. If MDHA really cared about them fitting in, they would be neo-trditional with appropriate material to compliment the  barns.

Oh, we both agree, maybe I was not clear. MDHA rejected the other proposals because they were not "sensitive" to the Trolley Barns ... and then approve this Eakin building? No red brick?? No rooflines or style similar to the Trolley Barns??? This makes MDHA look like a bunch of hypocrites

Either build something to compliment the Trolley Barns or sell it to the highest bidder!

I will always believe this deal was made under the table. Let's just be glad it's slightly better than the original design

(barf)

[BnaBreaker]

5 hours ago, LA_TN said:

 

I will always believe this deal was made under the table. Let's just be glad it's slightly better than the original design

(barf)

That about sums it up.  There is no way this was objectively the best proposal, or even the fifth best.  It's clearly a matter of the local good ole boy getting preferential treatment.  

Edited September 7, 2017 by BnaBreaker

[Guest]

Seems to be a pattern...(see the redevelopment of Greer Stadium)

 

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

That's about sums it up.  There is no way this was objectively the best proposal, or even the fifth best.  It's clearly a matter of the local good ole boy getting preferential treatment.  

 

[markhollin]

From today's Nashville Post:

Nashville-based Eakin Partners announced Thursday it has its financing in place related to its mixed-used project planned for Rolling Mill Hill and could undertake the project initially with no tenants.

The announcement follows the Metro Development and Housing Agency’s having voted Tuesday to approve elements of the project, to be anchored by a nine-story building and feature retail, restaurant, office and green spaces.

“Eakin has all the financing in place to start construction without a tenant,” the company said in a release. “The building is scheduled to start construction April 2018 and be completed July 2020.”

Eakin Partners’ Fund III (comprising a group of local investors) and billionaire entrepreneur Gaylon Lawrence, with whom Eakin partnered to develop the recently opened 1201 Demonbreun, will own the building.

Eakin worked with Lawrence on the Gulch-based 1201, which is now about 90-percent leased.

The RMH building, the site for which has a provisional address of 0 Peabody St., will offer floors of about 31,750 square feet, which will “provide tenants with highly efficient, functional and flexible office space,” the release notes.

Eakin has enlisted Nashville-based Hastings Architecture Associates for design work. Brasfield & Gorrie would serve as general contractor.

“This building has been planned and designed by combining the best lessons learned as to what tenants want and demand in their office of the future,” the release states.

MDHA and Eakin Partners are slated to close on the sale of the property on Oct. 31. Prior to then, the company will need to return to the design review committee for approval of the site plan, some pedestrian-level elevations and landscape elements.

When finished, the RMH building will bring Eakin's Nashville-area office portfolio to a collective 1.8 million square feet.  

[markhollin]

This from today's Nashville Post in an interview with John Eakin:

"Rolling Mill Hill is one of the most exciting areas of Nashville — next to the Greenway and Cumberland River — with easy walking access to downtown, but slightly away from all the downtown traffic congestion. The area will be packed with restaurants and other retail uses. This area will be the next Gulch for our city — with all the mixed uses of residential, office and retail."

"We are focused on developments in walkable neighborhoods with all the amenities in the area. We are currently working to secure tenants to kick off the building in RMH."

[CenterHill]

6 minutes ago, markhollin said:

This from today's Nashville Post in an interview with John Eakin:

"Rolling Mill Hill is one of the most exciting areas of Nashville — next to the Greenway and Cumberland River — with easy walking access to downtown, but slightly away from all the downtown traffic congestion. The area will be packed with restaurants and other retail uses. This area will be the next Gulch for our city — with all the mixed uses of residential, office and retail."

"We are focused on developments in walkable neighborhoods with all the amenities in the area. We are currently working to secure tenants to kick off the building in RMH."

 

Yeah, except THIS does not say to me walkable neighborhood or resemble the "next Gulch" in any way.      The office park design lacks street front retail and pedestrian interaction.  Look at the large retaining wall abutting the sidewalk on the left.     Eakin describes the attractions of the neighborhood, yet his proposal doesn't contribute to it.