Paramount Tower, 65-68 stories, approx. 750', 200 units, $240 million, Church Street Park

[Nash_12South]

Metro pretty regularly allows a lane to be lost on side streets for construction projects. Malloy is totally closed for a block and a lane of Second blocked to build the Centric. A lane on Second and First for the 4 Seasons. Portions of Hayes, 16th and 17th Aves. are closed for Broadwest. These all cause headaches and months of inconveniences to the neighbors. Having worked near and used 6th in front of the Hermitage it can't lose a lane and function. You could totally close Anne Dudley to build this tower with little trouble to other businesses. The Hermitage may just figure, why not avoid the inconveniences if possible. I will also add I do not think the Hermitage hurts for customers, generally, and their bar is tiny.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Nash_12South

[PaulChinetti]

1 hour ago, PillowTalk4 said:

So, I don't get why Nashville would have to close off streets to build anything . 

Bending to the whims of developers and construction people. I think there are laws on the books that streets/sidewalks can only be blocked for so many days unleash exemptions are granted, which they always seem to be. 

 

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/contractors-are-shutting-down-roads-without-permission-due-to-lack-of-oversight

[Bos2Nash]

I agree that there is no reasonable logic in allowing the developers to close off lanes. The big city players know how to do this type of construction and do it correctly, but Nashville is still in the Little League of how to truly do it correctly.

If I was Hermitage I would be fighting with everything I've got to keep the park and to advocate for a re-working of the park. The GM has been pretty active with the NCDC and is clearly starting to show that advocacy side to keep some green space downtown. 

[nashvylle]

39 minutes ago, Bos2Nash said:

If I was Hermitage I would be fighting with everything I've got to keep the park and to advocate for a re-working of the park. 

Why? 

[donNdonelson2]

2 hours ago, nashvylle said:

Why? 

There has to be a number one on the list of “top ten sketchy places to avoid near Hermitage Hotel”. (I’m unsure what the other nine would be, but I know that the park would be top of the list!)

Edited June 4, 2020 by donNdonelson2

[Bos2Nash]

2 hours ago, nashvylle said:

Why? 

Because it’s a benefit for the hotel as well as other buildings/businesses around it. 

I’m not gonna re-hash all the arguments that have been had over and over again on this thread, but a public open space in the heart of the downtown core is a public good. We all agree that current programming hasn’t worked, but there is always a solution to open space. I have always been against losing the green space, but am also an advocate of improving it to make it actually useful. 

[subkyle]

I just don’t understand the logic here. Tony wants to create the coolest building in the state of TN AND create a brand new beautiful pocket park even closer to this hotel. Why not back that plan? We would be getting a new pocket park on a developer’s dime and not the city’s 

[PaulChinetti]

1 hour ago, subkyle said:

I just don’t understand the logic here. Tony wants to create the coolest building in the state of TN AND create a brand new beautiful pocket park even closer to this hotel. Why not back that plan? We would be getting a new pocket park on a developer’s dime and not the city’s 

NEIGHBORHOODS!

???

[LA_TN]

2 hours ago, subkyle said:

I just don’t understand the logic here. Tony wants to create the coolest building in the state of TN AND create a brand new beautiful pocket park even closer to this hotel. Why not back that plan? We would be getting a new pocket park on a developer’s dime and not the city’s 

Tony also tried to make 505 go 60 stories. Even if he got the park, that doesn't mean he will get the financing to build it as currently rendered. What would be the reaction of everyone if he built a 30 story Paramount there? 

[nashvylle]

2 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

Because it’s a benefit for the hotel as well as other buildings/businesses around it. 

I’m not gonna re-hash all the arguments that have been had over and over again on this thread, but a public open space in the heart of the downtown core is a public good. We all agree that current programming hasn’t worked, but there is always a solution to open space. I have always been against losing the green space, but am also an advocate of improving it to make it actually useful. 

But a luxury condominium tower would benefit a luxury hotel more than a public park, particularly one with the current issues at hand. 

[Bos2Nash]

It may benefit the hotel, but it’s not gonna benefit the city. The proposed green street is a wonderful addition, but adding greenery to a street is very different from having a green open space in the heart of downtown. And again while it’s not a good space now, but the Hermitage Hotel has been active in trying to work with advocacy groups to improve it and I applaud that  

IMHO, I don’t see much value in the design of the tower overall. Circle South and Tony’s 900 Church have a lot more “coolness” than this tower. I like the lobby, but I don’t really see these tenders coming to fruition. 

[smeagolsfree]

13 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

Because it’s a benefit for the hotel as well as other buildings/businesses around it. 

I’m not gonna re-hash all the arguments that have been had over and over again on this thread, but a public open space in the heart of the downtown core is a public good. We all agree that current programming hasn’t worked, but there is always a solution to open space. I have always been against losing the green space, but am also an advocate of improving it to make it actually useful. 

Guess we all have to disagree here as it benefits no one but the homeless that occupy it. Its more like a brown space. You know how I feel about it. If it does not benefit the community as a whole, then it benefits no one.

[nashvylle]

10 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

It may benefit the hotel, but it’s not gonna benefit the city. The proposed green street is a wonderful addition, but adding greenery to a street is very different from having a green open space in the heart of downtown. And again while it’s not a good space now, but the Hermitage Hotel has been active in trying to work with advocacy groups to improve it and I applaud that  

IMHO, I don’t see much value in the design of the tower overall. Circle South and Tony’s 900 Church have a lot more “coolness” than this tower. I like the lobby, but I don’t really see these tenders coming to fruition. 

I love the tower design, but I agree it’s possible it won’t fully come to fruition. 
 

I guess I’m just confused with the love for this park, especially since bicentennial mall is just a few blocks away. 

[Nash_12South]

The concept for the park was a mini oasis in the middle of downtown.  The reality was that once the homeless took over it became unusable. When anyone tried to clean it up and get rid of the homeless, they were branded as heartless haters of the downtrodden. There is really no love for the park except by folks who generally never actually experienced it or were affected by it's slide.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Nash_12South

[DDIG]

45 minutes ago, Nash_12South said:

The concept for the park was a mini oasis in the middle of downtown.  The reality was that once the homeless took over it became unusable. When anyone tried to clean it up and get rid of the homeless, they were branded as heartless haters of the downtrodden. There is really no love for the park except by folks who generally never actually experienced it or were affected by it's slide.

I can think of one particular Belle Meade based council member who is extremely vocal about protecting the park that I can't imagine has ever stepped foot in it more than once or spent more than ten minutes near it.

[BnaBreaker]

6 hours ago, nashvylle said:

I love the tower design, but I agree it’s possible it won’t fully come to fruition. 
 

I guess I’m just confused with the love for this park, especially since bicentennial mall is just a few blocks away. 

Agreed.  I mean it sounds from all accounts like it is, effectively, non-functional as a park, so why are some people so gung-ho about preserving it?  It's like if there were a parking garage in which every parking spot had a giant immovable boulder in it.

[Armacing]

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

Agreed.  I mean it sounds from all accounts like it is, effectively, non-functional as a park, so why are some people so gung-ho about preserving it?  It's like if there were a parking garage in which every parking spot had a giant immovable boulder in it.

Actually, that gives me an idea.  The church street park could be re-designed to be a Japanese rock garden with gravel beds and massive boulders.

Wait, scratch that.  Such a park would become an ammunition depot for rioters. 

How about replace it with a field of weeds and blue/orange painted telephone poles sticking out at random angles?  And I don't mean a sparse collection of sticks, I mean a veritable forest of them so thick you can't even wedge yourself between them.  The name?  "Sticks 2.0 : This time it's serious"

 

[PaulChinetti]

The re-stickening! 

[markhollin]

Metro Nashville Council members unanimously agreed to accept a $465,000 donation from a nonprofit group headed by owners of the nearby 5-star Hermitage Hotel, in a vote early Wednesday morning. 

The grant will pay to spruce up the maligned downtown park for Women's Suffrage Centennial celebrations in August. Its acceptance gives control over the Metro property temporarily to the Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation for the first time since the group formed last summer.

Planned improvements this summer include new lighting, "colorful seasonal plants," and movable tables, chairs and umbrellas. 

A dedicated caretaker will maintain the grounds and free public events will be offered, such as fitness classes, food trucks and puppet shows. 

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2020/06/10/nashville-council-accepts-grant-church-street-park-makeover/5330988002/

And at The Nashville Post here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/metro-government/article/21136768/council-passes-church-street-park-plan-after-delay

[smeagolsfree]

Again a key take-away is this, "Mayor John Cooper assured Councilmember Freddie O’Connell, whose district includes the small park, that the nearly $500,000 in improvements were a temporary plan to prepare the park for the centennial celebration of the 19^th Amendment, and not a permanent plan for the park."

[Bos2Nash]

Quote

"This is intended to get the park into some kind of shape to start helping celebrate Women’s Suffrage Centennial," Councilman Freddie O'Connell said before the vote. "We will move to a more appropriate and fully public process after this. But it is of a time-sensitive nature. We had meetings with some stakeholders and I think we’re on the right track."

They will probably move into a public charette session afterwards. This is good, but also takes a lot of time to implement and complete.

Quote

"I wish Mayor Cooper and the Hermitage-backed effort the best of luck with the short-term plan to spruce up Church Street Park. To have a lasting impact, I hope that we can create a bolder, long-term vision." - Tony Giarratana

We all know what that means.

[bigeasy]

To me this sounds like a your scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. So in my mind this almost confirms Paramount is dead. 

[nashvylle]

Just now, bigeasy said:

To me this sounds like a your scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. So in my mind this almost confirms Paramount is dead. 

so build it at 801 Church!

[MLBrumby]

Seems that the synergies (i.e. critical mass) for the Amazon crowd would work slightly better with these two buildings being at the same intersection. Also, a parking garage would now be a part of any Paramount-sized tower, and the number of units is actually greater than the original plan contained. The stacked-boxes tower would also cater to a lower price point. With that in mind, I think Ron might be onto something with speculation that this would be about the same height as the original plan. IMO, a new tallest at that spot would do more to 'pull' the western (Midtown) skyline closer to the DT skyline.  Looking at many recent panoramic photos of the skylines from the southeast, I see a big gap where this property (potential second tower) would be. PLUS: Wasn't the old Paramount Theater on that side of Church Street anyway? 

Edited June 10, 2020 by MLBrumby

[markhollin]

Tony Giarratana is making another pitch for the Church Street Pocket Park.  He is willing to build, at his own cost, a 4 story 60 residential homeless center on MDHA land at Jo Johnston and 16th Ave. North in exchange for the park.  His letter is below.  

He seems to be calling the bluff of Hermitage Hotel-led group that promised to upgrade the park (it has been fenced off for 9 months and hardly anything has been undertaken). 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21145307/downtown-developer-pitches-third-plan-for-church-street


Renderings, diagrams, and site map for the proposed Homeless Center can be found in the North Nashville thread here: