River North, 105-acre Cowan Street corridor, Phase One: five 4-7 stories, 650 residences, 85 K sq. ft. retail, 50 K sq. ft. office, mile long riverfront park; Phase Two: two 12 story office buildings, pedestrian bridge across river

[Bos2Nash]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

I hate to say this, but I find that this pedestrian bridge will never happen as the beautiful artist rendering depicts it (I know it is Phase 2 and a ways out yet). I imagine any crossing of the Cumberland will need to be at a height equal to the historic pedetrian bridge due to air rights. I hope the bridge actually happens, but I don't want us to grow attached to something that has a long way to go.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Bos2Nash

[markhollin]

3 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

I hate to say this, but I find that this pedestrian bridge will never happen as the beautiful artist rendering depicts it (I know it is Phase 2 and a ways out yet). I imagine any crossing of the Cumberland will need to be at a height equal to the historic pedestrian bridge due to air rights. I hope the bridge actually happens, but I don't want us to grow attached to something that has a long way to go.

Indeed.  It will also need to be higher above the surface of the river to allow some larger vessels to pass under, and also to stay above flood levels....not to mention that the bluff on the other bank (Germantown side) is much higher elevation.  

[PruneTracy]

4 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

I hate to say this, but I find that this pedestrian bridge will never happen as the beautiful artist rendering depicts it (I know it is Phase 2 and a ways out yet). I imagine any crossing of the Cumberland will need to be at a height equal to the historic pedetrian bridge due to air rights. I hope the bridge actually happens, but I don't want us to grow attached to something that has a long way to go.

2 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Indeed.  It will also need to be higher above the surface of the river to allow some larger vessels to pass under, and also to stay above flood levels....not to mention that the bluff on the other bank (Germantown side) is much higher elevation.  

The guide clearance for the Cumberland River at Cheatham Lake is  57 feet in summer pool and 40 feet under the maximum regulated flood. The Coast Guard is careful to remind us that these are not regulatory and aren't used as the basis to deny a bridge permit, but I think we can safely assume this one won't be permitted as shown.

Of course I'm sure the developers are aware of this and taking liberties with their renderings, or perhaps they're planning something like this:

[smeagolsfree]

These are just conceptual renderings too. They were told to do a bridge so they did a bridge. There are a lot of thing s that have to happen first, but IF Oracle happens, there could be bigger money behind such things.

[Baronakim]

I hate to bring this up, but how in heavens is this project going to make the banks of the Cumberland work for this project?  First...flooding.  That stretch is low and flat.  How do they keep their nice buildings  dry?  This area is lower than First Avenue N. by a fair bit.  Second...bank stabalization.  If anyone has ever ventured past chainlink fences, you will see that the banks on that side of the river are earthen, not rocky bluffs like on the west bank there.  You can see a great deal of undercutting from currents.  At the north end of the stadium river walk, a very large chunk fell into the river taking a huge tree with it  a year or so ago.  Similar erosion occurs between the Woodland bridge and the Victory and continues down river past the banks behind Cornerstone Church.  I have walked the banks behind Top Golf several years ago looking to help some homeless men camped there.  The beautiful rip rap is NOT going to work like in the rendering IMO.  The banks dont slope like that at all.   I think the bank will require deep and expensive work.  One of the things in the rendering with the ridiculous bride is having the pier for the arch IN the river so close to the banks. They would be subject to debris logjams probably every Spring.  Third... as others point out, the bridge is going to be a LOT higher and it will screw up both the Greenway and the streets.  Will there be an elevator tower for accessibility like the Sigenthaler?   I think a spiral rampdown may be one of the most compact bridge access on that bank.   Fourth.... What good is it to build Greenway there until Alley-Cassity Brick yards are gone and  a connect can be made at the end at the stadium.  The rail spur is not going away until all the big tank farms go away.  There is a level riverbank area maybe 15 feet below the level of the tracks, but it is a dangerous no mans land right now.   Fifth...more on a "greenway' through to connect.  There are the original east bank abutments of the suspension bridge over the cumberland in the early 1800s.  I think this is something that must be preseved and possibly reconstructed partially to save some of th originak stone pier lying around.  The location of the original bridge is between the two existing bridges right at the Ben West Building face on Gay street.  I did a whole post a couple of years ago and it is in a tread called "Old Nashville Treasures" page 7, page 2 of the thread  about halfway scrolling down.   The post is a fairly comprehensive look at the riverbanks and ther are photos of the original bridge piers on it that may be useful to folks not in Nashville or who hasn'rt scrambled on foot all along the banks like I have.  It may also be of interest for new members to look at,.  The posts  in that Thread offer some rather large posts on the other history of many areas in it like the courtouse square and the old Sulfur Dell which are part of the West bank.  Hope these issues are going to be addressed if River North is going to live up to its hype.  The photos show the first bridge  built at Aasville in the early 1800s.  The stonework is the remains of the east abutment.    The west bank is in better condition.   I would think that a simple sloped rip-rap woud destroy one of the oldest orignal pirces of Nashvile exhuant.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Baronakim

[smeagolsfree]

I know there was talk about infill for this but I am unsure. I was not following the discussion early enough to have heard what the plan was. Bu the fact they are doing a reuse on one of the buildings makes me think someone will be sorry sooner or later when it rains hard enough.

[titanhog]

Baronakim….I agree with a lot of what you’re saying.  A flood like the one a few years ago WILL happen again someday.  Everything at ground level and below will be flooded…so I’m not sure how you overcome that possibility without massive money spent (on top of basic construction prices).  And what you’re saying about the riverbank and erosion has to be addressed by these guys.

Some of the renders I’ve seen over the years of proposed river “pleasure” uses almost assumes the river downtown is a lake rather than a river.  I wish we had that kind of control on the river downtown…but without a nearby lock and dam, it seems the river can only be controlled so much.

[MidTenn1]

A map of the 2010 flooding. It's a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers map.

[PaulChinetti]

Is that pedestrian bridge a dream by the River North developers or something that is actually in the cities plans?

Sorry my page hadn't reloaded, and I didn't see all the other comments.

Edited February 11, 2021 by PaulChinetti
bad internet

[PillowTalk4]

I agree that the featured pedestrian bridge is probably just to give a conceptual idea of the how a bridge fits into the project.  That being said, when the time comes to actually design the bridge, could it not be done as a draw bridge?  If the Woodrow Wilson that is part of  I-95 that goes over the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia can be a draw bridge, why not a pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland?  One other feature of the WWB is it includes a side for pedestrians.    The WWB has over 250K vehicles that pass over it every day.  I wouldn't think a pedestrian drawbridge would be much of an inconvenience.  The old WWB which was much lower, typically was raised once or twice a week.  Never during rush hour.  The new WWB is rarely raised because it is much higher.  There is signage board to alert drivers when the bridge would raise.  Even the news media in the area tends to announce when the bridge will be raised.  People living near the bridge and in the area often gather with their kids to watch it raise.

[MidTenn1]

A comparison of the Shelby Bottoms Walkway ped bridge to the proposed crossing site at River North. RN would require  33% greater length to keep piers out of the river. (Dimensions are taken from Google Earth Pro).

 

[21jump]

On 2/10/2021 at 11:26 AM, markhollin said:

 

This view reminds me of the view looking from the Moda Center towards downtown Portland Oregon. They've done a great job utilizing both sides of the riverfront there. I'd say the Willamette going through downtown Portland is about the same width as the Cumberland going through downtown Nashville.

[smeagolsfree]

That is what  William and I discussed as well. But Nashville has a long way to go to catch up to Portland.

[markhollin]

The Landings at River North has released some new renderings and info. The two 7 story structures will be named The Oxbow and The Wayward and will have a collective 651 residential units and 43,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21147046/new-images-released-for-river-north-project
 

[Andy20]

I was at top golf this week, and it gave a great view of the project. You can see how big of a footprint this first phase is. Unfortunately, my phone couldn’t get a good shot of it.

[rolly]

I'm not a superfan of the dark charcoal look for the 7 story buildings, but I could see it growing on me. But looks like a busy and fun place, so hopefully this phase one buildout gets started soon.

[markhollin]

River North Landings infrastructure work pics courtesy of Stephanie Amador of The Tennessean:
 

[markhollin]

More River North Landings infrastructure work.

Looking SW from Cowan St., 1/2 block north of Cowan Ct:

Looking west from Cowan St., at Cowan Court:

Looking south along Cowan St., 1/ 4 block south of Cowan Ct:

[PaulChinetti]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q5zThe3c00sQ7j6J7FB5Qvi714vEg7nK/view
 

https://twitter.com/freddieoconnell/status/1389399239340482561

Good rundown of info from CM O'Connell

Edited May 4, 2021 by PaulChinetti
apparently twitter links embedding is broken.

[smeagolsfree]

I am sure that is in response to the radicals wanting more and saying they have not been involved in the conversation and wanting more from the agreement. According to those answers there have been public meetings and everything else has been done in accordance with State and Metro laws. As far as guaranteeing minority owned businesses getting a certain % of the jobs and a certain wage, this was tried by Metro and shot down by the State. 

This is an industrial area and there are no residences in the area and are crying when they have no legal skin in the game. Unfortunately property values are going to rise and people are going to be pushed out of the fringe areas, but Metro, Oracle, Amazon and other entities can work together for better housing solutions. 

The same thing will happen for the next large swath of land to be developed that already may be zoned for a large development and the folks in the neighborhood were not paying attention or just did not care. As an example is this development here https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1421-Baptist-World-Center-Dr-Nashville-TN/16071538/. This is on my map and you may or may not know this area already has an SP approved for it. I will bet the neighbors around here know absolutely nothing about it and it happens will be screaming bloody murder. But its their fault because of their own inaction!

 

[PaulChinetti]

I don't see the problem with pushing and even expecting more from these gigantic corporations.

If the government isn't going to do anything, then local organizations are the only ones there to protect the average person. 

[DDIG]

34 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

I don't see the problem with pushing and even expecting more from these gigantic corporations.

If the government isn't going to do anything, then local organizations are the only ones there to protect the average person. 

Yeah, but it seems backwards to me to expect a gigantic corporation to solve our problems. They'll create job opportunities, taxes, and talent development pipelines through local partnerships. Anything else is not and shouldn't be their responsibility. 

[MidTenn1]

The development tracker has details regarding TDOT proposals to provide an underpass under I-24 for traffic from Cowan Street to Cleveland Street and a pedestrian/bike underpass to Grace Street.

Quote

WHEREAS, the Tennessee Department of Transportation desires to create such connectivity by constructing a Cleveland Street extension and Bike/Pedestrian connection: Cleveland Street, from SR-ll (US-41, Dickerson Pike) to Cowan Street under Interstate 1-24; and Bike/Pedestrian Connectivity under 1-24 from Grace Street to Cowan Street (the "Project"); Agreement #210064; PIN 131513.00; Federal Project # Pending; State Project #Pending (the "Agreement");

and WHEREAS, upon completion the Project will facilitate public transit, automobile, pedestrian, and bicycle connections between the River North development, including the planned Oracle campus, and other parts of East Nashville; and WHEREAS, the Project will create connections between River North and East Nashville that are vital to the Oracle America, Inc. development that is the subject of RS 2021........

A map;

That's going to be a long traffic tunnel, (700'+ , 2 or 3 football fields)

[PaulChinetti]

4 minutes ago, DDIG said:

Yeah, but it seems backwards to me to expect a gigantic corporation to solve our problems. They'll create job opportunities, taxes, and talent development pipelines through local partnerships. Anything else is not and shouldn't be their responsibility. 

Just a difference of opinion I suppose.

Asking them to do everything and anything they will do seems the most logical route. Why leave anything on the table if they are willing to pony up for it?

[UTgrad09]

3 minutes ago, DDIG said:

Yeah, but it seems backwards to me to expect a gigantic corporation to solve our problems. They'll create job opportunities, taxes, and talent development pipelines through local partnerships. Anything else is not and shouldn't be their responsibility. 

I agree that we shouldn't expect corporations to solve all of our problems, and it's not their responsibility to do so. However, when they are offered tax/financial incentives, then they owe more than just providing some good paying jobs.