Novare Group

[doormanpoet]

I have been told that Novare Group is going to be heavily investing in Nashville in the near future. The Viridian is NOT the only project they are going to build here. Novare has saturated Atlanta with it's design philosophy. If you will notice, all of the Novare designs in Atlanta are very similar.

IMHO we will see at lest 5 new condo towers in downtown of the 25 to 40 story range over the next 5 to 7 years. I am also hearing that Nashville is a prime candidate for a new office tower and it is not the Signature. This will be in addition to Signature.

If we get the new Sounds Stadium, I believe this will come true.

[it's just dave]

This doesn't really surprise me. Anyone who thinks no one but "you-know-who" (not ATL) will grow with the good stuff are mistaken. But that's okay, we're going to be quite the stunning community in the not too distant future. And we're going to do it in our own special way.

This is a fun thought. Now let's get going.

[Claws]

You bet it's a fun thought. With two very tall skyscraper proposals, we have an even better chance of adding something really tall to our skyline. But Doorman, what does the Sounds stadium have to do with these possible towers?

[it's just dave]

I can't see that it would have a direct connection, but a synergistic one. What I mean, and I think doorman means, is that we're at the beginning stages of seeing many of these projects come out of the ground. As downtown begins to look like it's developing well, the more development will follow. For example, Church Street looks like Bagdhad right now. The roadway is in shambles and its gap-toothed appearance from the earlier ravages of demolition is very evident. But, it only takes a slow drive through the area to envision what is happening there. In a few short months, Church Street, as many know it now, will be history. It will be a corrider of trees, flowers, wide sidewalks, two-way traffic, the front door of the Viridian, a grocery store, new restaurants, and so on. People are the key. Sometimes it's tough to get people to realize what something is becoming and often they can see things only as completed projects. Once these things are further along, people will see this as an attractive alternative to their convenient, but boring and traffic filled suburban enclaves.

The same goes for the Gulch. As I drove through there yesterday, I was amazed at the difference between now and only a few months ago...and most of that is purely infrastructure. Who in their right mind would have envisioned the need for slick, stainless steel park benches in the Gulch? If one projects a short look into the future, he can see what is happening there.

The same is true of Rolling Mill, Thermal, much of the SoBro area, West End, the Midtown area, Germantown, and before long, the immediate northside area along the river. These things won't happen overnight, but what is essentially happening is that we're re-building our city almost from the ground up. We're re-introducing city life and providing the amenities to continue the trend. Hopefully, some retail will begin to reappear furthering the cause of repopulation. Then, as success in that arena is realized, larger retail concerns might follow. Nashville is on track to be a premier downtown, a taller skyscraper (or two) or not.

Nashville's metro currently has the 9th lowest office vacancy rate in the country according to something I read in the Biz Journal. This WILL translate into something that might possibly resemble the boom of the 80s...but it will be more cautious. The fact that the Symphony Hall is now a magificent building instead of a vacant lot, Viridian is about to rise quickly (a couple of more floors of parking and up, up it goes), the full commencement of the Suntrust, the re-opening of the beautiful Legislative Plaza, the continuing progress of the Courthhouse park, the renovation of the Stahlman, the nearing completion of that cute little building for the courts (it's very nice indeed). One only has to take a quick look to know a bucket full of stuff is going on around here.

I would guess that when considering the growth going on around downtown and in the suburbs that our metro plays second fiddle to no one. Charlotte is further along, but that's nothing new, it's been like that for a long time. Our relative position to Charlotte is similar to the one which Charlotte holds with Atlanta. Charlotte seems poised to be Atlanta-like and I hope nothing of that sort EVER happens around here. But to experience many of the things that Charlotte has done and is doing would be good for us. But let's just not grow ourselves out of control. Personally, I think we have a more interesting and identity-filled area and that is to our advantage. If things are taking a while, it's because of fiscal responsibility of our city government. It seems every day I read about the city of Charlotte committing funds to build things. I'm not convinced that the city as developer is a good idea to that extent. It eventually will come out of our pockets and if enough comes out of the city pockets, those people who are the very soul of our community and the diversity of race, politics, economic standing, goals and interests will be homogenized to the point of sterilization where only the rich can play.

I don't want to see that happen. In Nashville, I think we're playing close attention to that and that is why we're considered a model city on the incorporation of afforable housing efforts. This is so important.

So, back to doorman's comment. I think he sees the big picture and his hope for the Sounds stadium is a valid one. The exclusion of the stadium won't kill progress, but from an economic standpoint, I think it will be a winner. And better yet, if someone beside "us" pay for it, all the better. The city's budget has to be signed off on this week, after that, when the dust settles, people will begin to talk about projects again. Now is not a good time. Just hang in there, guys, it's all good.

[it's just dave]

One more thing, if anyone has any doubt that changes are happening around here, take a trip to Rivergate, turn around and head back into the city.

When I-65 hits a now open section of freeway that's 5-6-7 lanes in one direction, repeat after me, "Toto, we're not in Kansas, anymore."

[doormanpoet]

One of my favorite areas is 12 south! It is booming and a new mens clothing store is opening up. Also the "Curb" or the "Curve" in the Belmont area is doing very well. It is imperitive that these neighborhood establishments come back. The area by David Libscomb University is another neighborhood location that is beginning to have some retail and eating establishments. Over by the Macabes Pub and Cafe Nona is another cool place.

We humans need to be social again. Video games, television, and this damn internet keep us locked up in our homes! Once my wife gets back from her bike ride, we plan on heading to one of the cool hip areas to hang wiht some fellow artists and writers. Nashville is really becoming a cool and friendly place.

A lot of social and religious conservatives seem to dislike the new Nashville. I don't think many patronize the coffee shops because they may run into people they don't like or are afraid of! Well its 2005 people. As Jim Morrison once said "Wake up! Can you remember where it was? Has this dream stopped? Wake up!"

[cheeriokid61]

Dp, is there a chance that these five highrises could be the new proposal we're talking about. They would fit your description quite nicely.

[doormanpoet]

It could be, being in the hotel business we hear a lot of things because we want to remain competitive.