Oracle, 60 acres at River North, 1,200,000 sq. ft. of space, $1.2B Investment, 8,500 jobs

[volsfanwill]

8 hours ago, nashville born said:

Oracle's old headquarters in CA.  Photo courtesy of Businessinsider.com.  Hoping they give us a little pizazz like Titanhog said.

that Screams 1999.

OH btw. Im back.  havent checked the board since early May of last year.  I just spent the last 3 weeks catching back up.  there was A LOT to read!

[titanhog]

24 minutes ago, volsfanwill said:

that Screams 1999.

OH btw. Im back.  havent checked the board since early May of last year.  I just spent the last 3 weeks catching back up.  there was A LOT to read!

Dang!  A year away and you come back to a completely different city! 

[Mr_Bond]

41 minutes ago, volsfanwill said:

that Screams 1999.

OH btw. Im back.  havent checked the board since early May of last year.  I just spent the last 3 weeks catching back up.  there was A LOT to read!

Me, too, @volsfanwill.  It's taken me more than 3 weeks and I'm still not caught up.  Now, with the Oracle announcement and the ensuing speculation, UP will blow up and it will take me another month to read the new stuff.

[smeagolsfree]

Sometimes all you have to do is stay out of town for a couple of months.

 

Welcome back guys!

[chris holman]

 

[smeagolsfree]

More on Oracle this morning from the TN.

State holds breath on Nashville Oracle deal, jobs package (tennessean.com)

Possible I-24 Jefferson exit work

The Tennessee Department of Transportation contributes funding for infrastructure work as part of economic development projects.

Ongoing talks include upgradingInterstate 24 and the Jefferson exit near the River North location where Oracle plans to build 1.2 million square feet of office space and retail. 

Traffic flow in and out the campus is critical, Rolfe said. Congestion has long been a concern for the area. 

 

Nashville Director of Infrastructure Mark Sturtevant said TDOT has been studying I-24 for years, from Trinity Lane down through the East Bank.

REVITALIZATION: Nashville to spend $13.8 million for riverfront improvements

The city's River North revitalization plan includes road projects in two neighborhoods. A roadway passing under the interstate into the Cleveland Park neighborhood would be handled by TDOT, Sturtevant said. Connections at Cleveland and Grace streets would be done by the city. 

[downtownresident]

I don’t like the wording from the state in that article. Hopefully Mayor Cooper didn’t throw a wrench in things by seemingly announcing this too soon. 

[nashvylle]

7 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

I don’t like the wording from the state in that article. Hopefully Mayor Cooper didn’t throw a wrench in things by seemingly announcing this too soon. 

Can you summarize what was said please?

[markhollin]

Analysis on how Oracle's new  influx of 8,500 employees (and probably another 10,000 + ancillary jobs) over the next decade could effect the already tight Nashville area housing market at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2021/04/16/what-does-oracles-proposal-mean-nashvilles-housing-market/7222043002/

[downtownresident]

7 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

Can you summarize what was said please?

Essentially the state ECD office was frustrated with the announcement, as they wanted to communicate the project to Metro Council/other stakeholders quietly, as its not yet finalized. 
 

Key quotes: 

But multiple people familiar with the pending deal told The Tennessean the news amplified frustrations in both Gov. Bill Lee's office and the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development.

Commissioner Bob Rolfe called it "fair observations."

State and local officials worked with Oracle and consultants to figure out how to alert stakeholders to the massive project, without formally announcing it.

"We wanted to do it quietly," Rolfe told The Tennessean Thursday. "But I promise you, we are cheering on the Metro Council, the Chamber of Commerce and the various groups. This to me is the most transformative project in Nashville's history and Tennessee."

 

From later in the article: 

In Rolfe's view, there is no project yet. LandingOracle continues to be highly competitive.

"Where Oracle will give the state and city a leg up is if Metro Council approves," Rolfe said. "I'm not taking that for granted. Our job is to be 100% supportive in the hopes that they will." 

 

[KJHburg]

I am quite surprised this was announced before it was finalized.  with the exception of Amazon HQ2 search which was highly promoted by them and publicized that is not the way big econ development deals are done.   It seems TN and Nashville have played their hand so to speak and other states might say we can do you one better come here.  I saw your mayor saying this and that about it and question when is his next election?  it is coming this November?  (on another note first the property taxes were going up 35% now they are rolling them back?) I guess that is another thread.  

[downtownresident]

2 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

I am quite surprised this was announced before it was finalized.  with the exception of Amazon HQ2 search which was highly promoted by them and publicized that is not the way big econ development deals are done.   It seems TN and Nashville have played their hand so to speak and other states might say we can do you one better come here.  I saw your mayor saying this and that about it and question when is his next election?  it is coming this November?  (on another note first the property taxes were going up 35% now they are rolling them back?) I guess that is another thread.  

The Metro IDB board had to issue a public notice for the public hearing on April 27th to discuss/vote on the city’s contribution. This would have become public at that point, so all this did was leak details out a few weeks early. 
I imagine that they wanted to wait until then to release more details, but the Tennessean and NBJ were able to get details and ran the story.

Oracle has been looking at this site for years, and seems to have the property under contract so I’m not too worried. 

The state is still playing their cards close, and likely hasn’t finalized their portion yet. 

[Binbin98]

1 hour ago, downtownresident said:

The Metro IDB board had to issue a public notice for the public hearing on April 27th to discuss/vote on the city’s contribution. This would have become public at that point, so all this did was leak details out a few weeks early. 
I imagine that they wanted to wait until then to release more details, but the Tennessean and NBJ were able to get details and ran the story.

Oracle has been looking at this site for years, and seems to have the property under contract so I’m not too worried. 

The state is still playing their cards close, and likely hasn’t finalized their portion yet. 

I think the ball right now is in metro council’s court. A big tech company like oracle wouldn’t have renderings of a campus in a city unless they were very committed to going through with the plans. I have no doubt oracle wants to be in Nashville but again metro council has to approve it. I’m pretty sure that is what is meant by ‘Nashville holds its breath’ or whatever. The same thing happened with Amazon and as we now know Amazon is opening a large corporate office and campus in downtown. Oracle is extremely likely to follow.

[MLBrumby]

I think they used the term "holds its breath" because they know how Cooper can sabotage the whole thing with one comment. So far, he hasn't screwed up... but there's still time. 

[downtownresident]

1 hour ago, MLBrumby said:

I think they used the term "holds its breath" because they know how Cooper can sabotage the whole thing with one comment. So far, he hasn't screwed up... but there's still time. 

I’m sure a few eyebrows were raised with his typical poorly thought out comments from this morning. 

[nashvylle]

19 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

I’m sure a few eyebrows were raised with his typical poorly thought out comments from this morning. 

IE the tax rate going down? 

[smeagolsfree]

This has been a very badly kept secret from day one. The Post reported from reliable sources over two years ago and that was from the Oracle end. The Metro end has not been much better. 

This mayor has two and half more years or so left on his term I think.

[downtownresident]

2 hours ago, nashvylle said:

IE the tax rate going down? 

It was more of an attempt at spinning the rate going down due to the assessment as a property tax cut, and saying multiple times that the city was insolvent. 

Edited April 16, 2021 by downtownresident

[Bos2Nash]

On 4/16/2021 at 3:49 PM, smeagolsfree said:

This has been a very badly kept secret from day one. The Post reported from reliable sources over two years ago and that was from the Oracle end. The Metro end has not been much better. 

This mayor has two and half more years or so left on his term I think.

I mean STG moved here right around the time I moved to the city and I believe that may have triggered some of your intel, no? STG designed Oracle's campus in Austin and I know I applied there way back when I was looking for work. If that is any indication, this has been a very long time coming.

[smeagolsfree]

The intel on Oracle did not come from STG, trust me.

[markhollin]

A bit more background on the 8,500 Oracle jobs coming over the next decade.

Also, the River North campus will echo their Austin campus (which opened in 2018) in many ways.  It includes amenities geared toward recent college graduates: outdoor terraces, a fitness center, a "tech bar" and "huddle rooms."  It also includes an apartment complex to offer housing options to employees.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2021/04/20/oracle-nashville-hub-proposal-jobs/7230101002/

[downtownresident]

More coverage from the NBJ. Bob Rolfe views upcoming Metro Council vote as “make or break” to Oracle officially committing to the campus: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/04/20/oracle-metro-council-incentive.html?ana=twt

Key quote: 

“"I think it is make-or-break, in my professional opinion," said Bob Rolfe, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. "If the city and the Metro Council approve it, I think we stand not a 99% chance but a 95% chance that we will be selected. But I think anything short of that approval — or any tinkering with it or tweaking it — may not be the direction that company may choose to go."”

I know Director Rolfe wanted this to be communicated quietly because it’s not a done deal, but what did they expect? The public notice went out on the 13th, and the NBJ/Tennessean were able to get details/comments and put their stories out on the 14th. I’m curious as to why they would line up the public hearing and council votes without everything being officially agreed to. 

[Binbin98]

47 minutes ago, downtownresident said:

More coverage from the NBJ. Bob Rolfe views upcoming Metro Council vote as “make or break” to Oracle officially committing to the campus: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/04/20/oracle-metro-council-incentive.html?ana=twt

Key quote: 

“"I think it is make-or-break, in my professional opinion," said Bob Rolfe, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. "If the city and the Metro Council approve it, I think we stand not a 99% chance but a 95% chance that we will be selected. But I think anything short of that approval — or any tinkering with it or tweaking it — may not be the direction that company may choose to go."”

I know Director Rolfe wanted this to be communicated quietly because it’s not a done deal, but what did they expect? The public notice went out on the 13th, and the NBJ/Tennessean were able to get details/comments and put their stories out on the 14th. I’m curious as to why they would line up the public hearing and council votes without everything being officially agreed to. 

I think oracle will come to Nashville if the metro council approves it I don’t understand this cautious tiptoeing. Just like Amazon it’s all down to the council

[DDIG]

54 minutes ago, Binbin98 said:

I think oracle will come to Nashville if the metro council approves it I don’t understand this cautious tiptoeing. Just like Amazon it’s all down to the council

In my reading it is putting pressure on the council that if you try to tinker with this too much you might kill 8500 jobs.

[downtownresident]

32 minutes ago, DDIG said:

In my reading it is putting pressure on the council that if you try to tinker with this too much you might kill 8500 jobs.

Honestly that’s what I’m worried about. I’m not worried about it passing. More worried about the various amendments and such that may poison the deal.