Signature Tower

[gaushell]

Has Tony decided on the final design of the Crown of the tower? The last time I've talked to him he said he was still working out the final details of the crown of Sig. He sound like he was undecided on the final crown design. (I could be wrong ) Does anyone know the facts on this?

Pic of the Building's current design: Sig Tower pic

I keep forgetting how massive this tower will be.

That is not the final design. We are waiting for newest drawings to make revisions to the key illustrations. Probably a few weeks out.

[jcoop]

as always, thanks for the update gaushell...it's nice to have information that we know is accurate coming from you.

I would assume any changes will be minor changes though? I know the crown has changed slightly a couple times already, but has never been anything drastic.

[Plasticman]

So, if this is not going to happen, why would we get the FAA involved? I'm half-prodding to see what kind of response i can get out of this, but really, is this a premature move by the airport authority or not?

That does seem to tip the scale more and more in favor of the intended July 4th groundbreaking. If the FAA are altering Nashville' runways, that would lean way, way toward this thing being a go. It would seem to me the FAA is not going to alter runways and flight paths based on speculation or unsure projects.

[bruceman]

That is not the final design. We are waiting for newest drawings to make revisions to the key illustrations. Probably a few weeks out.

So do you know, or can you say if the design of the building and/or crown has changed drastically or went back to it's original design? Also, will you be posting a new rendering of the building? Thanks again for oyur updates.

[chris holman]

There is a pic of a redesigned Signature in Friday's Nashville City Paper. Not sure if the same as the finial product.

The crown is the same shape and size its just that the slits that where in the crown are gone. The crown has more of a transparent look to it. Still very beautiful. I wish I could post the pic.

[chris holman]

That is not the final design. We are waiting for newest drawings to make revisions to the key illustrations. Probably a few weeks out.

Thank's for the update gaushell.

[southsideJ]

There is a pic of a redesigned Signature in Friday's Nashville City Paper. Not sure if the same as the finial product.

The crown is the same shape and size its just that the slits that where in the crown are gone. The crown has more of a transparent look to it. Still very beautiful. I wish I could post the pic.

If I understand that right, it sounds like a step toward the crown looking a little more like the Chrysler Building's crown?

[Hankster]

That does seem to tip the scale more and more in favor of the intended July 4th groundbreaking. If the FAA are altering Nashville' runways, that would lean way, way toward this thing being a go. It would seem to me the FAA is not going to alter runways and flight paths based on speculation or unsure projects.

This thing is sounding more and more like a go to me. July 4th is only 4 short weeks away! The groundbreaking will be an historic event for Nashville, IMO.

[monsoon]

So are there any building permits yet? July 4th is less than a month away.

[Plasticman]

So are there any building permits yet? July 4th is less than a month away.

Isn't that public record? I'm not sure but maybe it could be looked up. I'll try from down here but the Nashville people would probably know where to look.

[atlrvr]

If all they are doing is digging a hole, they wouldn't need building permits....they would once they start to shore up the wall.

[smeagolsfree]

The permits can be pulled the same day they start the work or the day before. I have seen many times that would be the case.

[monsoon]

Sure they can. But what is the chance the builder might have already wanted to have entered the permitting process long before any construction started? If the city requires a change then it can get quite expensive to implement on a project of this magnitude once they have bulldozers out on the property doing things. I would think they would want at least some approval of the engineering design before they do anything.

[smeagolsfree]

I am just going with how permits have been issued here in the past. Permits are not pulled until they are ready to start work. If you dig a hole, then you get a blasting permit that last weeks or months. The permit is issued for the foundation work. Then a permit is issued for the shell. You would be able to do a lot of excavation work even if you have a design change that may not affect the depth or size of the hole. For example, no permits have been issued for the Pinnacle building here but the fence is going up around the property and core drilling is taking place. The permits for the WES excavation were not issued until the day before they started work. I don

[Plasticman]

There is a pic of a redesigned Signature in Friday's Nashville City Paper. Not sure if the same as the finial product.

The crown is the same shape and size its just that the slits that where in the crown are gone. The crown has more of a transparent look to it. Still very beautiful. I wish I could post the pic.

I didn't see it. Can you post a link to the page?

[chris holman]

I didn't see it. Can you post a link to the page?

I wish I could. The pic is not on the website, I pick up the actual copy of the City paper and the pic was in there.

[Plasticman]

Go the website. The hotel is now taking up 15 floors. Also the reservations of the top floors are available. I counted 144 reservations including roughly half of the penthouses. I do find them hard to count as I lose my place.

See what differences you guys see. I also thought the video was different? Maybe not.

[smeagolsfree]

Go the website. The hotel is now taking up 15 floors. Also the reservations of the top floors are available. I counted 144 reservations including roughly half of the penthouses. I do find them hard to count as I lose my place.

See what differences you guys see. I also thought the video was different? Maybe not.

It changed since I looked at it this afternoon. I know there was a floor 13 on the condo plans. The prices may have been tweaked a little as well.

[MTSUBlueraider86]

I hope this tower is a go, but I hope ALL of Nashville can benefit. After all, only 430 or so of Nashville's richest are going to live here, and only people willing to spend $500+ a night can afford the hotel portion. The Pinnacle at Symphony Center will be a building that many people from all walks of life are going to work in and visit on a regular basis. Unfortunately, what is being built downtown now is being marketed to the very wealthy and most working people are not afford to live downtown. The Symphony center is beautiful, but how are the working people supposed to afford a show there?

[Hankster]

The reservations have changed considerably. Here's what I have found out compared to what was shown earlier.

There are six floors not shown on the reservation list that were shown earlier: 13, 14, 40, 41, 64, and 65. I do not understand why. It could be that the hotel now extends up thru floor 14 instead of up thru floor 12 as earlier. If so, I would consider that a strong positive for the project as an indication that Kimpton wants to play a larger role in the project. On the 6 floors that were not shown there were 12 reservations shown earlier. I do know the status of those 12 reservations. Do they still have them, but just failed to show these floors? I don't know. I noticed that there was a significant shift in the percentage of reservations on the higher floors as before. The higher floors have much higher prices, so it's good for the project that there are more reservations up there. A month ago the percentage of units reserved on the lower floors was pretty much the same as for the higher floors. Today, 29% of the units on floors 15 thru 32 are reserved while 42% of the units on floors 33 thru 70 are reserved. I would imagine the total dollar value of reservations must be approaching 40% now.

A month ago there were 144 reservations shown out of a total of 435 units, or 33%. Today there are 143 reservations shown out of a total of 398 units, or 36%. I do not know whether there are still 12 more reservations on floors that were not shown.

[Plasticman]

The reservations have changed considerably. Here's what I have found out compared to what was shown earlier.

There are six floors not shown on the reservation list that were shown earlier: 13, 14, 40, 41, 64, and 65. I do not understand why. It could be that the hotel now extends up thru floor 14 instead of up thru floor 12 as earlier. If so, I would consider that a strong positive for the project as an indication that Kimpton wants to play a larger role in the project. On the 6 floors that were not shown there were 12 reservations shown earlier. I do know the status of those 12 reservations. Do they still have them, but just failed to show these floors? I don't know. I noticed that there was a significant shift in the percentage of reservations on the higher floors as before. The higher floors have much higher prices, so it's good for the project that there are more reservations up there. A month ago the percentage of units reserved on the lower floors was pretty much the same as for the higher floors. Today, 29% of the units on floors 15 thru 32 are reserved while 42% of the units on floors 33 thru 70 are reserved. I would imagine the total dollar value of reservations must be approaching 40% now.

A month ago there were 144 reservations shown out of a total of 435 units, or 33%. Today there are 143 reservations shown out of a total of 398 units, or 36%. I do not know whether there are still 12 more reservations on floors that were not shown.

And with that very major hotel shift, I would agree that some revised agreement has transpired between the developer and Kimpton. Given the fact that the hotel has increased in proportion as opposed to decreased is a very, very positive sign that the hotel's confidence has only risen in the project. At this stage a change such as this can only be viewed as a positive sign even by the most cautious of forumers.

[atlrvr]

I'm not sure it's a sign that Kimpton's confidence has grown...they are only acting as the hotel operator, which means the more rooms the more revnue from management fees. The person whose confidence would have to have increased is the owner of the hotel. Has that entity been named yet? If there is one (and it's not Tony) then its a good sign, if there's not, then it looks like a game of musical chairs.

[Jeeper12]

I'm not sure it's a sign that Kimpton's confidence has grown...they are only acting as the hotel operator, which means the more rooms the more revnue from management fees. The person whose confidence would have to have increased is the owner of the hotel. Has that entity been named yet? If there is one (and it's not Tony) then its a good sign, if there's not, then it looks like a game of musical chairs.

Or a sign that the developer is starting to recognize that he can't sell as many condos as he thought at those prices. You are correct that for Kimpton more rooms means more guaranteed mgmt fees with no additional risk. I'm still not aware of any equity partner announcements for the hotel or the condos. Seems like there is still an awful lot to do (or announce) in the next few weeks.

[Plasticman]

Or a sign that the developer is starting to recognize that he can't sell as many condos as he thought at those prices. You are correct that for Kimpton more rooms means more guaranteed mgmt fees with no additional risk. I'm still not aware of any equity partner announcements for the hotel or the condos. Seems like there is still an awful lot to do (or announce) in the next few weeks.

How do we know Kimpton isn't investing its own money?

I still say this is a positive sign. Adjusting rooms and such without detracting from the overall project would indicate Mr. G. is making his last minute adjustments in order to meet specific guidelines. It certainly isn't negative or even neutral IMO. It is far more likely to be a positive sign regardless of whether he chose to increase the hotel portion due to condo demand. And since "someone" is investing in the hotel, adding those floors is likely a way to increase the ratio of hotel investment to the project thus is also likely to be the final hoop demanded by the banks.

[Jeeper12]

How do we know Kimpton isn't investing its own money?

Because the developer himself has said so.