Wedgewood Village (Merritt Mansion Development, 6.3 acres, eight 4-6 story buildings, 800,000 sq. ft. mixed-use)

[markhollin]

AJ Capital Partners has paid $15 million for the 1.7 acres at 511 Houston/448 Humphreys St. that includes a nondescript/non-historical warehouse currently home to Tru Color Litho. The seller was the Daws family (owners of Tru Color), who paid $115,000 for the plot in 1998. 

They also paid $15.86 million for 1230-1232 Martin St. and 441 Humphreys (Merritt Mansion site owned by Kings of Leon). The historic mansion will be moved about a hundred feet west to make it fit as the centerpiece in the overall courtyard plan.

This combines for $30.86 million in purchases of major chunks of the land needed for the 6+ acre Merritt Mansion mixed-use development.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/wedgewood-houston-property-sells-for-15m/article_3b722efe-0c17-11ec-929a-db8b191575ae.html

And here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/developer-pays-15-86m-for-weho-properties/article_bd0f073e-0c2b-11ec-b92b-4f921710c103.html

 

[Flatrock]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

The seller was the Daws family (owners of Tru Color), who paid $115,000 for the plot in 1998.

130 x original investment.... not too shabby.

[markhollin]

NBJ coverage of the land buys this week that brings them to 5.7 of the 6.1 acres needed for the development:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/09/02/aj-capital-closes-on-merritt-mansion.html?s=print
 

[markhollin]

The development has grown a bit in scope with some additional land buys, and AJ Capital has released new diagrams for the 6 acre site.  There will now be 6 structures (ranging from 4 to 6 stories) instead of 8. 3 will be residential (380 units) and 3 will be office. More ground floor retail seems to be part of the adjusted plans, taking up 88,000 sq. ft.  throughout the campus. The plan is still to move the historic Merritt Mansion slightly to the west and create a green space courtyard lined with ground level retail around it.

No new renderings or a current timeline have been released.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2022/03/31/aj-capital-merritt-mansion.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=0

North section:

South section:

[markhollin]

Good overview at NashvilleNowNext of the Merritt Mansion development plans that have been submitted to Metro Planning:

https://nashvillenownext.com/2022/04/07/the-plan-for-853000sf-of-new-mixed-use-development-in-wedgewood-houston/

Some new diagrams:

[UrbanWes03]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

Good overview at NashvilleNowNext of the Merritt Mansion development plans that have been submitted to Metro Planning:

https://nashvillenownext.com/2022/04/07/the-plan-for-853000sf-of-new-mixed-use-development-in-wedgewood-houston/

Some new diagrams:

Those arched windows look amazing. This project is gonna add so much to area architecturally and in terms of retail and activity! Really excited for this one. 

[Melrose]

I like the reduction from 8 to 6 buildings, that feels right.  I would like to see Buildings A, D, and E maybe have some softer (I don't know if this is the right word) corners, like small plazas, just so they are not all hard building corners.  I think this would be especially nice with Building A at the corner of Martin and Houston, it would make pedestrian flow feel nice.  

[colemangaines]

In a perfect world I would've preferred for buildings D-F to have all car access from the back alleys and remove the private drive from the Great Lawn area. Would've given it a great collegiate plaza sort of feel. Still a great looking project though, and I'm so glad the house is not only staying up but being highlighted.

[Bos2Nash]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:22 PM, colemangaines said:

In a perfect world I would've preferred for buildings D-F to have all car access from the back alleys and remove the private drive from the Great Lawn area. Would've given it a great collegiate plaza sort of feel. Still a great looking project though, and I'm so glad the house is not only staying up but being highlighted.

It seems like the car traffic would be relatively light around the Great Lawn. The drive is probably there more for emergency vehicle access than anything else. Have to be able to get those types of vehicles up to the buildings. If this was a larger, single-entity campus the road around the great lawn could've probably been pedestrian only except for in emergency situations. My guess is each building with have multiple tenants going in each one (with the possible exception of Buildings B and C), so each building would kinda need their own entrance.

[markhollin]

Work on the the first phase of the 6 acre project is expected to start early in 2023.

The block across from Soho House in Wedgewood-Houston will be the first to see site work in the first quarter of 2023, said Lesley Florie, AJ Capital's senior vice president of brand identity. The rest of the project will be built out in phases, with the next round of construction eyed for later that year.

AJ Capital had secured two prominent restaurant concepts for the area around Soho House: the Parisian-focused Pastis and Japanese restaurant Momotaro.

The firm is still working through ideas for what the early 1800s-era mansion itself will hold, but something that honors Wedgewood-Houston’s creativity and artistry is likely, Florie said.

“We do not take lightly the responsibility of being the next stewards of that building,” said Lindsay DeCarlo, the company's vice president of brand and programming.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2022/12/01/aj-capital-merritt-mansion.html


It appears that the first phase will be the northern block along the south edge of Houston St:

[markhollin]

Phase I update: more prep across the site.

Looking east from intersection of Houston St. and Martin St:

[henburg]

This future of this site can be seen in the foreground of these images-

Also tons of other hyperrealistc renderings showing the rest of the development- 

https://www.ajcpt.com/portfolio/directory/wedgewood-village

 

So stunning, will be one of the coolest area's in Nashville before long

[markhollin]

Memoir Wedgewood Houston (6 stories, soon to break ground) is now open  for leasing. 

It offers studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The buildings amenities include a pickle ball court, putting green, sauna and cold plunge, as well as a pool deck with cabana seating. Memoir will also feature a full-service coffee and cocktail bar and a dog park. Unfurnished apartments start at $1,800, and flexible leasing options will also be offered with fully furnished apartments for shorter-term stays.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/02/16/deal-dash-union-station-hotel-event-space.html

[markhollin]

More renderings:

[BnaBreaker]

Holy cow... I had forgotten how massive that project is!  Basically creating a 'downtown' WeHo!

[UrbanWes03]

Such a beautiful and well done project, like many others in WeHo. When they’re all said and done, that area is gonna be incredible!

[markhollin]

A bit more info on Memoir Wedgewood Village:

•    515 Houston St.:  A 170,000-square-foot, four-story building to be anchored by Japanese cuisine restaurant Momotaro and a “forthcoming Italian eatery.” Construction is underway on the building.

•    507 Houston St.: A mixed-use building that will offer 51,000 square feet of Class A office space and 10,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

•    448 Humphreys St.: A four-story, 53,300-square-foot building to includes 5,300 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space and 48,000 square feet of Class A office space.

•    445 Humphreys:  A building to include 240 residential units sitting above ground-floor restaurant and retail.

In addition, an image on the website offers a “future phases” to include two buildings at 430 Chestnut St. One structure will offer 140,000 square feet of Class A office space with 16,500 square feet of ground-floor restaurant and retail space sitting atop a structured parking lot. Relatedly, an adjacent building will accommodate a live music venue. 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/images-details-released-for-wedgewood-houston-project/article_29e39412-d59a-11ee-bc50-cf0f461685e5.html

Some additional renderings:

[markhollin]

A few more renderings in coverage about the development at NBJ:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/02/28/hall-management-group-to-open-second-restaurant-at.html
 

[titanhog]

I still can’t look at the name WeHo without thinking in my head, “I Ho, You Ho, We All Ho” 

This is a great project, though.  WeHo is looking awesome. 

[steelkid247]

i'm curious if they will make any of these residential buildings condominiums?   Has there been any information out regarding that?   Everything i read says apartments, but with the glut of apts coming into the area, i wonder if condos would make more sense? 

[nashville born]

This image shows just how vitally important it is to the sklyline that the Y tower comes throuch.  IMO it will make this and so many other skyline views pop for real.

[markhollin]

Digging underway for northern portion.

Looking east from Martin St., just south of Houston St: