North Gulch Gateway, (Tennessean site) Phase II: Gulch Central (41 story residential/hotel, 28 story office, 6 story mixed-use); Phase I: Asurion HQ (10 & 11 stories)

[dmillsphoto]

2 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Glad they're going downtown! Still confused on the site, but I think that's the very spot I referenced a few posts back today about the "fat part of the guitar shaped lot" of the Tennessean properties. 

You're correct, it's the body of the ukulele. I refuse to call it a guitar. 

[TheRaglander]

A few more details...

The development will consist of two mid-rise towers, significant underground parking, retail and outdoor space with planned occupancy in late 2021. Current plans put the building at approximately 465,000 square feet of office space, 76,000 square feet of outdoor space that is linked to the Nashville greenway and supported by 21,000 square feet of retail space on 11th Avenue North.

[LA_TN]

16 minutes ago, TheRaglander said:

... two mid-rise towers ... late 2021 ... approximately 465,000 square feet of office space, 76,000 square feet of outdoor space that is linked to the Nashville greenway and supported by 21,000 square feet of retail space on 11th Avenue North.

Thank you sir!! It was interesting watching the puzzle come together!

 

Basically, this is two Gulch Crossings buildings built next to Church St

Edited February 6, 2018 by LA_TN

[MidTenn1]

Hope I got the facts straight...

[markhollin]

A few more bits:

- Purchase price by Highwoods was $50.3 million for the entire Tennessean site (not $55 million as reported earlier).

- First quarter 2019 start date for Asurion buildings for their $252 million structures. 2021 completion date planned.

- 5.4 acre parcel, which is about half of the total site Tennessean site.

- The 7 and 8 story structures will be built atop a six level parking podium that includes the retail portion. NBJ states that 3 of those will be underground. If so, then these are essentially 10 and 11 story structures up from the surface of the CSX tracks., unless some of the garage is wrapped by retail, which means they could be in the 9 and 10 story range. 

-Hastings  Architecture designing.

- Since it is going to become the centralizing some of it's 16,000 local Asurion employees, then it is going to be a boost for apartment/condo sales downtown (as some will wish to relocate), as well as a lot of additional restaurant/retail business, especially on weekdays. NBJ says there will be 2,000 at this locale. Will have to see how these numbers play out. 

- This is going to enliven what has been a very dead portion of Church Street along that portion of the viaduct.  Has been a surface lot for eons. Is going to kick start further development of Dunn properties (some refurbishments of warehouses, some empty lots), as well as the Gibson Guitar holdings on that side of the Gulch.  

-Will be interesting to see how the Gulch Greenway will weave it's way through this project.  My guess is it will be slightly diverted to the east and hug the railroad tracks.

- The massive N.E.S. property to the NW across Church (I'm guessing it is about 15 acres--slightly larger than Nashville Yards total) has GOT to be getting some serious looks from forward thinking developers.  

More in Nashville Post , Tennessean, and NBJ coverage:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/20991623/asurion-set-for-future-building-at-tennessean-site

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/02/06/asurion-retail-space-occupy-development-downtown-tennessean-property/313525002/

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/02/06/asurion-wrapping-four-offices-into-one-new-gulch.html
 

[Jamie Hall]

This is a great start to the redevelopment of that property, and there's still about half of the Gannett property still to develop even after the Asurion project. Still lots of potential for great things to rise up in those spots.

Also, I had to chuckle when I saw that the NBJ broke the story before the Tennessean.  Ouch.

 

[CenterHill]

21 minutes ago, Jamie Hall said:

Also, I had to chuckle when I saw that the NBJ broke the story before the Tennessean.  Ouch.

 

Tennessean would have had it first if Getahn were still there.  

[Guest]

I guess I am the lone voice of dissent, but this spot deserved a 30-35 story gateway building....this building is cool for the 'burbs.

[DeemonBruhn]

It just looks an awful lot like a building that the SWP team developing Nashville Yards has in their renderings for the Church Street and 10th Avenue part of their project. 

Very very similar.


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[LA_TN]

1 hour ago, nashville_bound said:

I guess I am the lone voice of dissent, but this spot deserved a 30-35 story gateway building....this building is cool for the 'burbs.

I agree, but this is exactly what I expected from Asurion. I never thought they would go into a 30 story tower

[markhollin]

[TheRaglander]

14 hours ago, nashville_bound said:

I guess I am the lone voice of dissent, but this spot deserved a 30-35 story gateway building....this building is cool for the 'burbs.

While I would have loved to see another tower in Nashville, this one kind of makes sense.    It's a great filler for this empty part of the Gulch and will create a wider street activation that goes well in the area along 11th.   

One of the objectives in staying downtown versus the burbs is to attract a younger workforce.  This facility and the surrounding amenities definitely do that.  And we may not bring a massive tower downtown, we are bringing 2k+ workers which could give way to some new towers for residency.   The "gateway" along Church is being addressed by Nashville Yards anyways.  And, let's face it, this building is too fancy for WillCo.  

[Guest]

Totally love that Asurion will stay downtown and yes, the building is filling a large 'hole' in the Gulch. The building looks  and acts like Synovous Bank building hanging off the Demonbreun viaduct...good connection with 11th below but leaves behind a slight aroma of what could have been.... positive nonetheless!

[Pdt2f]

I’m excited about the future possibilities with 11th. We could eventually (especially if the NES lot gets developed) see a 2 or 3 mile long retail-and-restaurant-laden urban trail running from the Thompson to the Lifeway building in capitol view. Complete with a greenway running parallel and easy access via stairs to the roads above. 

[markhollin]

In a Feb. 7 interview, Tony Detter, CEO of Asurion said they plan to create 400 "highly skilled tech jobs" in the next five years in their new downtown HQ.

"I wouldn’t say we didn’t think about any other options, but the only really seriously considered, viable option was for us to remain in the Nashville area," Detter said. "We feel like Nashville is the right spot for us to attract talent. We're pretty locked in … we just feel like we're one with the city."

Detter identified three attributes that made the Highwoods project stand apart from the many others Asurion scouted in the metro area.

• Access: Highwoods is developing a property along 11th Avenue North that spans Church Street to Broadway, just two blocks from interstate ramps. Two of Asurion's offices today are in SoBro, and road closures for events can affect the ability of workers to reach or leave the office, Detter said. "This minimizes the impacts of those sorts of things," he said.

• Location: Detter said he wanted an office in close proximity to an array of amenities, including lunch and dinner spots and shopping. This Gulch location ought to do the trick.

• Layout: Highwoods plans to build an eight-story office building and a seven-story office building in this project. Detter said that mid-rise height will more easily foster collaboration.

"It's not a ton of floors. We wanted to have a small number of buildings with large floor plates, so people weren't having to go up 10 or 20 levels or flights of stairs," Detter said. "When we look at the growth we want to create … the advantage of people being able to walk down the hall or up a flight of stairs is central to how we view our ability to innovate. Our thought process is, we see a ton of value when we can get people together in one location."
Full story/interview here:
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/02/07/ceo-asurion-will-create-hundreds-of-new-jobs-at.html

[Pdt2f]

Would that make a total of 2,400 workers at their downtown HQ? Weren’t they condensing 2,000 workers originally, so this would be added? That would make them the biggest private downtown employer, right? 

[Guest]

1600 existing + 400 new hires = the 2000 total 

 

[bnacincy]

Don't like this at all-it's a misuse of Broadway.

For over a year now, I have been telling anyone and everyone who would listen in the urban design community in Nashville about an idea I had for the four corners of 12th and Broadway. It is a retail fashion district called Fashion Row which would highlight Nashville's burgeoning fashion design scene along with more notable national and international retailers. Along with massive residential development in the Gulch and a Museum/Theater district on Upper Broadway where Beaman and the other car dealer is located the idea was to present the concept to an Amazon sized company as a recruitment tool. Couple that with an expanded Nashville Yards and you would have an entirely new downtown with enough residents to support such a concept on Broadway.

Nobody listened.

So now we have a suburban style building being built on the heart of Broadway instead of any number of spots in Downtown.

Nashville deserves better. Broadway is Broadway and it needs something special.

[dmillsphoto]

4 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

Don't like this at all-it's a misuse of Broadway.

For over a year now, I have been telling anyone and everyone who would listen in the urban design community in Nashville about an idea I had for the four corners of 12th and Broadway. It is a retail fashion district called Fashion Row which would highlight Nashville's burgeoning fashion design scene along with more notable national and international retailers. Along with massive residential development in the Gulch and a Museum/Theater district on Upper Broadway where Beaman and the other car dealer is located the idea was to present the concept to an Amazon sized company as a recruitment tool. Couple that with an expanded Nashville Yards and you would have an entirely new downtown with enough residents to support such a concept on Broadway.

Nobody listened.

So now we have a suburban style building being built on the heart of Broadway instead of any number of spots in Downtown.

Nashville deserves better. Broadway is Broadway and it needs something special.

Broadway and Church aren't the same street...

[bnacincy]

OK, just read The Tennessean's correction-apparently they got the story wrong originally.

I don't live there anymore so it's hard to keep up!

[MLBrumby]

It's ok... and as I said first, I'm glad they're staying downtown... and adding 400 jobs. 

As far as its presence on Church, it looks like it will be quite similar to the 10-story building Gulch Crossing built a few years back on Demonbreun & 11th. Like that building, Asurion's new HQ apparently will have connectivity from Church to 11th and the retail component. I think we all will be surprised at the life it adds to that dead stretch of 11th between Church and Broadway. Folks, with the Peabody project, the large hotels at Demonbreun/8th Avenue and the ped bridge to South Gulch, Capitol View, and now this stretch of 11th, all the nodes of activity are growing together. With the Bankers Alley boutique hotels/bars, Second Avenue (Market Street) and the creme-de-la-creme Lower Broad, Nashville will have one of the most comprehensively lively downtowns in the country. 

 

 

[Jamie Hall]

So as best I can tell, no plans have been announced for the huge lot that currently houses the Tennessean itself, or their small parking lot on 12th, or the parking lot on the other side of Broadway (and the warehouse space that sits underneath it). With some creativity, those lots could turn into something amazing in the next 5 years. 

[Neigeville2]

On 2/6/2018 at 5:15 PM, dmillsphoto said:

You're correct, it's the body of the ukulele. I refuse to call it a guitar. 

Looks more like a balalaika to me.

 

[Guest]

Many may or may not know this, but the Tennessean building spans the above ground Broadway building we all see and extends underneath the Broadway viaduct all the way to the end of the parking lot next to the Exxon. The parking lot is actually the roof of the building which extends under the viaduct.

 

4 hours ago, Jamie Hall said:

So as best I can tell, no plans have been announced for the huge lot that currently houses the Tennessean itself, or their small parking lot on 12th, or the parking lot on the other side of Broadway (and the warehouse space that sits underneath it). With some creativity, those lots could turn into something amazing in the next 5 years. 

 

[Guest]

Question regarding the Asurion (Tennessean) Development.  Of the 5.65 acre triangle parcel the Asurion buildings encompass under half of the available area. The remaining land will be between the (current) greenway and the railroad tracks. Any thoughts on the use for this parcel? If built-up it will have access to the Church Street viaduct, but almost no access on 11th.

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eNJlzgNqHGORxOnj5K_ArawPi2736T2d/view?usp=sharing