Which Development is Most Important to Nashville?

[Hankster]

What development do you think is the most important and will have the most profound impact on the future of Nashville? The Signature Tower may put Nashville residential development into hyperdrive. It will be a sense of pride and a symbol of progress for Nashville. Many people outside Nashville may look at the city in a different light as a result of this project.

The new convention center should catapult Nashville into the top tier of convention destinations in the country. New hotel investment would accompany this project, plus countless other developments.

The gulch redevelopment projects, if completed will add a tremendous new vibrancy to the city of Nashville, bringing thousand into the area, and adding great retail and entertainment options to the city.

The Nissan Headquarters relocation brings 1300 elite professionals into the city. New businesses could spawn from this influx of talent, and the very fact that such a great company is reloacting into the area, could sway other corporate relocations, just as impressive.

[memphian]

I voted for the Gulch because it brings a new neighborhood to the city. My best answer would be a combination of the Gulch and a new Conv. Ctr.

[smeagolsfree]

I voted for the CC because there will be a lot more national exposure to the city. We will be able to compete with many other larger cities to bring major conventions to Nashville. The Gulch is a great development yes, but we can have a 2 or 3 similar projects in the area and it would not impact the city as much as a CC. The tax dollar flow alone in hotel/rest sales will be tremendous, not to mention that a center that size will surely draw one if not two major hotels to the downtown area. It may well spur a retail development as well.

[GaTechGuy]

To me its between the new Convention Center and The Gulch. I ended up voting for the Convention Center because I think it will help the city out more in terms of bringing people to the city.

[satalac]

i went with the nissan relocation. having a major corporate office move here gives us national and worldwide recognition as a good place to do business. this could cause a serious influx of more relocations spawning even more developments (hopefully downtown of course!).

[Rural King]

Convention Center - as smeagolsfree stated, it will generate exposure to tourists, business groups, etc at the same time as generating big time tax revenue. When those folks come to town and are able to see the Gulch, Sig Tower, Rolling Mills Hill, etc, as they come online, it will hopefully impress people enough to make them want to come back to visit, relocate, do business, or invest in the city.

In other words I think a new top of the line Convention Center could magnify the positive impact of all the other projects under way and/or proposed for the city.

[where_am_I]

I vote the convention center for all the reasons previously stated. A world class, state of the art facility would bring great exposure to the city and will generate tax revenue and many great things on the blocks around it to accomodate the events that it have. Also it could accomodate a variety of huge conventions that would otherwise go to World Congress Center in ATL, or similar facilites that completely over-shadows the current CC that Nashville has.

[cheeriokid61]

I have a quick question. I'm pretty much clueless as to what our current convention center is, so I went to its website, and at the top left is a picture of what I'm assuming is the convention center. I've never seen anything that looks like that whenever I go downtown. What street is that side facing?

[it's just dave]

Cheerio, the convention center is connected to the Renaissance Hotel between Commerce and Broadway. The east side faces the Ryman and its directly across Broadway from the GEC.

I think the convention center is a nice center, but is woefully inadequate for the mega-conventions we could land with a top-flight facility.

I voted the convention center, but the others in contention are also very important. For the reasons others have stated, the exposure to so many millions of people over only a few years time could result in an enormous economic impact and image boost that should prove invaluable in growing Nashville's brand as a dynamite place to do business and set up shop. The synergy created among the current and planned projects and the mega-center being discussed with propel our lil' town to some heights we only dreamed about only a few years ago. Bring it on.

I realize many, many studies on conventions centers question the viability of such endeavors, but this isn't just any old town, this is our town, Nashville, and we know what she can become. Investing is sometimes a risky business, but I think this one just might be worth the dollars.

[nashvol85]

New convention center?

[Lexy]

I'm torn. I want all of them dang it!

[it's just dave]

NashVol. For you:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News...stm/index.shtml

[nashvol85]

NashVol. For you:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News...stm/index.shtml

Mother of God.............

WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?????

[nashvol85]

btw...why did you call me NashVol...that's my name on other forums!

[it's just dave]

The full name would just seem so formal. Kind of like, Mr. 85.

[Hankster]

I'm torn. I want all of them dang it!

I feel the same way as you. I want them all, but after considerable thought chose the new Convention Center as the most important,, as long as they go all the way for the 1.2 Million Sq Ft, Tier I facility.

But, heck all of the projects listed are MEGA projects, the kind of projects that will ALL have a truly lasting impact on the city. It really hard to believe that so much is going on in Nashville right now. I would bet that never before in the city's history has such an array of MEGA projects has been comtemplated at the same time!!! We've already gotten one of them, the Nissan relocation. Now let's go out there and get the REST of them!!! Yeah!!! Can you imagine Nashville will all of these projects a reality?

[nashvol85]

The full name would just seem so formal. Kind of like, Mr. 85.

Ahh, I see. I was referring to you capitalizing the "N" and "V". My original ESPN boards username is NashVol85, but when I signed up for this board I decided not to capitalize it. Seeing NashVol just kinda surprised me for some reason.

[sleepy]

I would say Signature Tower. As Dave alluded to, convention centers are almost always financial losers, the convention market is shrinking, and there are more and more cities competing for that shrinking market.

Now, Signature Tower--along with the Viridian, I think it's the kind of development that marks downtown as The Place to live in the Nashville area. To put it pointedly, it brings in the very rich. Now that goes against my egalitarian nature, but the advantage is when you get a wealthy constituency living downtown, having a stake in downtown living, it boosts the center as a whole for everyone. And there certainly seem to be enough more affordable projects going on downtown so that downtown just doesn't become exclusively a playground for the rich--which would be unfortunate imho.

Downtown Memphis pop. is over 12,000, and is growing at 10% a year, while the metro as a whole grows at 1.3%. Much of that growth was anchored--imho--by the late 80's Harbortown development which brought the rich to downtown in large numbers. Now, downtown Memphis is considered a rich, exclusive area which competes with Germantown. At the same time, there are still studios to rent for $400 and 2 bedroom condos for $150,000.

So . . . . I think the Sig along with the Viridian would have a greater impact than the other projects. I foresee the day in the near future, when downtown Nashville will be competing for residents along with Franklin and Brentwood. In other words, downtown won't just be considered someplace for the hip, just an ordinary neighborhood.

[Hankster]

So . . . . I think the Sig along with the Viridian would have a greater impact than the other projects. I foresee the day in the near future, when downtown Nashville will be competing for residents along with Franklin and Brentwood. In other words, downtown won't just be considered someplace for the hip, just an ordinary neighborhood.

I contemplated combining the Signature Tower along with the Viridian when I put this poll together. Now that both projects are totally residential (well, there is a retail component, too) and are both the product of the tireless, imaginative, and fearless leadership of Tony Giarratana, it is reasonable to put them together. Had I done that, I probably would have voted for them rather than the convention center. Tony G., we salute you and what you are doing for the city of Nashville! You will long be remembered as one who will have a truly great and lasting impact on this city. It's people like Tony G. who will make Nashville, IMO one of America's truly great cities.

[ATLBrain]

Downtown Memphis pop. is over 12,000, and is growing at 10% a year, while the metro as a whole grows at 1.3%.

Not trying to dispute this or anything... just want to put into perspective.

I've seen this statistic many times before, and it makes me wonder. According to my math, this means that the whole metro area is growing at about 16,250 per year (based on about 1,250,000). Of that amount, approximately 1,200 per year are moving into the downtown... which means that about 15,000 per year are still moving into the suburbs. Do I have this right? I realize that those 1,200 moving into downtown might also be moving from elsewhere in the metro area. But they still come from the growing pool of metro area residents.

I'm surprised that Memphis' metro area isn't growing any faster than 16,000 per year. How old is that statistic?

[ATLBrain]

As I kill more time this afternoon, I'll try to illustrate how important the convention center would be to Nash.

First off, it would put the city in the top tier of conventions. That alone would be millions of additional dollars into the tax coffers of the city. These are mostly from people who live elsewhere, and they spend gobs of money. Furthermore, it would foster additional businesses in the area that will cater to this segment. Chief among them will be new hotels. And they would need at least two new convention hotels on the order of the current Renaissance (and even larger like the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta). So there alone you'd see at least two new high rises of 30-40 stories. Who knows which ones, but I'm convinced that several operators are just waiting at the moment to see what will happen with the CC... and hence, where to locate their new hotels.

Finally, all of this adds to the growing population to downtown. It will also use up more land (that includes a lot of surface lots right now)... and force future developers downtown to go up, up, up.

[urbanbna]

looks like im the only one, but i voted other.

i can not choose just one out of those projects. they are all of equal value to the growth and developement, and economy of the greater Nashville area.

[hayesmw]

What development do you think is the most important and will have the most profound impact on the future of Nashville? The Signature Tower may put Nashville residential development into hyperdrive. It will be a sense of pride and a symbol of progress for Nashville. Many people outside Nashville may look at the city in a different light as a result of this project.

The new convention center should catapult Nashville into the top tier of convention destinations in the country. New hotel investment would accompany this project, plus countless other developments.

The gulch redevelopment projects, if completed will add a tremendous new vibrancy to the city of Nashville, bringing thousand into the area, and adding great retail and entertainment options to the city.

The Nissan Headquarters relocation brings 1300 elite professionals into the city. New businesses could spawn from this influx of talent, and the very fact that such a great company is reloacting into the area, could sway other corporate relocations, just as impressive.

Hey Hankster - I thought that the convention center people did not want to be in the Top Tier. Isin't that their pitch? They want to be in the 2nd tier so as not to compete with Orlando, Vegas and other 1st tier cities. Just wondering.

[Hankster]

Hey Hankster - I thought that the convention center people did not want to be in the Top Tier. Isin't that their pitch? They want to be in the 2nd tier so as not to compete with Orlando, Vegas and other 1st tier cities. Just wondering.

You're right. I think saying "top tier" was an exaggeration. I remember the Convention Center rumored to have 1.1 Million Sq Ft at one time. Had it actually been proposed that big, that would mean they were shooting to be a "top tier" city. Still I would say that the 455,000 SQ Ft CC proposal would catapult Nashville from a weak (or wannabe?) second tier convention city to a strong second tier convention city.

[ATLBrain]

I thought it was a 1+ mil. sq.ft. cc that will cost $455m.