Fuddruckers near Vanderbilt.

[barakat]

I wish they had indeed bought the three fast food joints and leveled them. My biggest annoyance on West End.

[Lexy]

Great article William. I just feel, even after digesting the article and what the developer has said in it, that one story chain stores is not what the property needs. Maybe he needs to conduct a study on his studies and look at what other developers are trying to get out of properties like that in Nashville. Most, if not all, are trying to add more than one element to them. At best, this appears to be a half-hearted attempt to just make money and that's it. My apologies if that seems harsh, but I still have major reservations over a stripmall in the middle of midtown. That is embarassing. And i'm being as nice about it as I can. I can only hope that stucco isn't used on the exterior.

[barakat]

I don't like it either, Lexy. It is not an ambitous project.

[it's just dave]

I'm not really crazy about the look of the place, but I've thought a lot about this and have tried to put a positive spin on it. Right now, Fud's is gone, Salathai is gone, there are parking lots...nothing much there. Now, follow me here, midtown and downtown is trying to convince an insane number of people who presently live in the suburbs to move to the area. Some of these people probably haven't been downtown in years. People are very accustomed to certain things and those things make them comfortable. Downtown Nashville or any city could possibly be scary places to them. You don't have people covered in blood crawling out of the gutter drunk and wanting to talk to you in Cool Springs. Placing the new and shiny and filled with the familiar T.G.I. Fridays, the slick Jason's Deli and such will comfort people and show them that intown isn't exactly the scary place they thought it was. Everything about this development will look familiar, well-lighted and safe. So, with that in mind, I think that sometimes some compromises have to be made and some of these things have to be accepted as cogs in the wheel of change which will indeed be necessary to convince large numbers of people who previously wouldn't consider living in town that it's really a cool place to be.

This place has a garage, it's to be built to the street and it's going to occuped with successful and well-financed businesses. It just doesn't have a tower. Neither does Amerigo, and it's looks just fine. We will probably have to suck it up and deal with the mall-ish facade, but at least there's no darn parking lot in the front. And I like Friday's and Jason's. Chains or not. I would expect the future of the block will be more inclusive of the fast food joints there when the prices for the land get high enough. Property owners will always sell out. A midrise residential would be perfect to complete the block. I guess we wait and see. In the meantime, seeing this part of the block activated will be a good thing.

[Lexy]

Gee Dave, that's a good post. LOL!!! I can see your points and they are good one's at that.

[Nashvillain]

I posted this on the NC and cut and pasted it verbatim for the UP:

It would be difficult to castigate a developer for under building on a site such as this. There is no established character or aesthetic in the area, it's pretty much all over the map with a beautiful Italian renaissance church built right up to the street, the Palmer Plaza a few blocks away and nasty suburban strip centers and fast food joints intermixed. Like Dave and William Williams said, at least it will be built to the street with parking in the back and a side wall screening the parking from view along 21st ave n. The architecture is typical suburban postmodernist crapola reminiscent of the Demonbreun St./Music Row area but it has a not insignificant presence in terms of scale in relation to the (at this point theoretical) pedestrian and durable materials would certainly help give it some aura. I suspect the developer is doing the best it can with the resources available and should be commended for being sensitive to and responding adequately to good urban design practices.

[cheeriokid61]

I don't understand. Have they released a rendering yet?

[it's just dave]

Yes cheerio, go to the CityPaper website and open the PDF documents. The menu on the left will direct you. They load quickly. I believe it's in the News section.

[Black and White]

Yes cheerio, go to the CityPaper website and open the PDF documents. The menu on the left will direct you. They load quickly. I believe it's in the News section.

[Nashvillain]

How does decoration cause pollution, DaddyYo?

[Black and White]

Who is DaddyYo?

To answer your question - in the same way that the manufacture of any building material pollutes and is not sustainable.

Think of all the material that's involved in manufacturing and that goes into a dump from a decorated building. All those cornices, awnings, porticos, pergola, decorative columns and widow heads and sills.

It's a crime against nature I tell you!

We have LEEDs standards that dictate what building materials can be used and where they can be purchased and disposed of. Why not have similar LEEDs standard for building decoration to prevent the use of our natural resources in the beginning. I would think that life cycle costs would also be lower if the base cost of the building was less by saving on useless decoration.

[barakat]

^ We're talking about a small, nondescript retail center here, right? If we're going to talk about buildings in Nashville that may have a high environmental impact, let's talk about the Schermerhorn or any of the highrises under construction, on another thread. Why attack this paltry little building on environmental grounds anyway?

[smeagolsfree]

I see where B&W is coming from. I wouldnt mind seeing some manditory LEED projects come about. I dont know how much of a cost increase that is involved by making a building green, or at least the facade or decorations of the building.I dont think it will happen for a while though because it would discourage too much development. Metro could make it a condition for any tax breaks and TIF out there. It would be great, but is a dream at this time I'm afraid.

[cheeriokid61]

I do agree with what he's saying, but I doubt they'll decorate the back. Places like this usually don't even if that's where parking is.

[smeagolsfree]

Drove by this motning and the block is being razed. This project is going to move forward soon.

[Onyte9]

Environmentalists sure know how to take things to the extreme.

[ATLBrain]

What do you mean by that?

[BnaBreaker]

Environmentalists sure know how to take things to the extreme.

[Black and White]

I could definitely think of worse things than being passionate cleaning up the planet...like, for instance, ridiculing those who are passionate about cleaning up the planet.

[BnaBreaker]

That's right. Let's go after China and Dubai and make them be sustainable and non-poluting. Oops, forgot. China was exempted from the Kyoto Agreement because having to 'save the planet" would cost them too much an they wouldn't be able to industrialize as quickly.

I guess communisim trumps environmentalism.

[Black and White]

Yep. Same with the United States. We opted out of the Kyoto Agreement because short term capital gain trumps long term health of the planet. Sucks that the world's biggest polluters don't want to have to take responsibility. I'm getting off on a tangent here. I'll end this here. lol

[Black and White]

I drove by the site yesterday. Thank God that Fuddruckers eyesore is gone. What a blight!

By the way - what is a Rudd and why would anyone want to have sex with one?

[BnaBreaker]

Nope, not the same as the US. We refused to sign the agreement because we are a sovereign country and don't wish to be regulated by foreign powers with the purpose of destroying our economy..

China was exempted from the agreement. Meaning they weren't even required to sign it in the first place. I wonder how long it will take for China to surpass the US as the worlds largest polluter. Then what? do you think they'll sign on then? Do you think they will be required? China is not really know for submitting to outside control. How are the global warming alarmist going to force China into taking responsibly for "saving the planet" (as if).

It is not a tangent. All global warming alarmism based urban planning is politically motivated so any discussion of urban planning is a discussion about politics.

[Lukin]

Wow...nevermind. I was going to respond, but that was before when I, for some reason, thought for a second you might be a reasonable person. Nope...just another 'global warming is a liberal conspiracy/urban planning is a tool of those liberal commies' people. Here's a thought: All so-called "global warming based" urban planning is ETHICALLY motivated. What is up with some people? Seriously. I'm a future urban planner, and I assure you, i'm not part of any Soviet conspiracy, and I get absolutely zero politically for my beliefs. I don't know how much longer I can take this psycho-babble.

[BnaBreaker]

I completely agree and second your frustration. It's really interesting to see people still question the validity of global warming when it is something that is no longer really disputed in the scientific community. Urban planning is something that just makes sense. For thousands of years people have been building communities that are dense and have the pedestrian in mind - these cities were largely "planned" and done so in an "urban" fashion...it is only since World War II that communities (mostly in the US) have been designed with regards to the car instead of the person. Urban planning that is "global warming based" is responsible, moral, and typically places the importance of the pedestrian at the forefront of design. I don't see how this is alarmist, I just see how it benefits significantly in the long run - although I'm sure the short-term costs can increase.