Signature Tower

[Hankster]

I just saw a spot on WSMV/4 that said something like "what's the future of Signature Tower?" Story on the 10 o'clock news tonight.

If you find out anything, please let us know. I'm still expecting a ground breaking soon, and I'm hoping something about that will be said.

[it's just dave]

I was sure expecting more dire news. Seems Tony's still committed to the building as planned, all 70 stories of it, with a groundbreaking for the end of July. He seems quite confident that the details will be all worked out by tomorrow. I won't speculate on anything, but it sure sounds like he's going to build this sucker.

[barakat]

- Financing plan will be complete by this weekend

- Part of the $5 Million shortfall has already been found

- The report said it would contain 249 units. Is that different?

- Building will remain 70 stories, so I'm assuming no change to the height

[it's just dave]

That 249 sounded strange to me too, but sometimes the news just gets numbers wrong. I guess we'll find out soon.

[jice]

He definitely sounded confident to me too.

Mentioned something about working things out with the current GC, but will get a new GC if need be.

I wonder if this was a follow up from the lil blurb the other day. I sent them an email that night, basically asking for more information, who contacted who, etc. No response. But... my guess is the initial blurb was, as others suggested, a short quote that sounded juicy... & this was a follow up by Tony's crew to clear things up.

[elguapo731]

I bit the bullet and called Tony's office today and got a very similar responce to the news article. I wanted to take pictures for my discovermusiccity website that I am in the process of buildings since the building will no doubt leave it's mark on the city.

I asked about the rumored 7th groundbreaking and if that was still on schedule. The nice lady I spoke with said no confirm hard date had been scheduled (indicating that the 7th was the initial target day) but continued to say they were still very much on track to break ground this month late mid to the end of the month. I told her that I would check back later in the month.

Original coundo count was 390 when the building was at 65 stories and moved up to the 400 then to the 455 count mark when it went up to 70 stories.

249 has to be a bad number becasue you hit the 250 mark somewhere around the 42nd - 44th floor

I would bet the number would be 429 as the latest number I found was close to 450 but that was before the rumored change on one of the floors that breifly appeared on this thread and possibly a few other changes that I am sure take place in the development phase.....

Anyone bother to count how many units are actually showing in the interactive floor plan???? I made it up to the 42nd and lost count. First one in with a total number wins a cookie

[titanhog]

I know I'm going to sound just like metro and Jeeper, but they can talk all they want about breaking ground this month... they still need to sell a bunch more units to actually build this thing. Or...he's found some mighty obscure financing that noone else could find.

[JerseyBoy]

I know I'm going to sound just like metro and Jeeper, but they can talk all they want about breaking ground this month... they still need to sell a bunch more units to actually build this thing. Or...he's found some mighty obscure financing that noone else could find.

Agreed, developers do this all the time to make it appear as nothing wrong is going on and that everything is 100% okay.

[elguapo731]

I know I'm going to sound just like metro and Jeeper, but they can talk all they want about breaking ground this month... they still need to sell a bunch more units to actually build this thing. Or...he's found some mighty obscure financing that noone else could find.

While I remain hopeful and optimistic your statement is very true as metro and jeepers have also reminded us. It's easy to get swept up in the buzz but numbers still have to be met and it still has to make financial sence. I'm still hoping for a July ground breakings

[uptownliving]

Maybe the 249 number is what he has to pre-sell before financing will be approved?

[barakat]

^ Isn't that how rumors get started? That's definatately not what was said in the report, and I see no reason to construe that here unless you called confirm before posting.

[metropolitan]

If there are 249 units, then perhaps that places him very close to the required 50% (?60%) units under contract to satisfy most financiers, given the 120 or so listed as reserved (? under contract) on his website. The question is, how can you suddenly reconfigure a skyscraper from > 400 units to just 249? Or maybe someone was having a dyslexic moment and 429 was meant instead of 249. Seems to me there are way too many odd questions for this late in the game with this one. That news report muddied, rather than clarified.

[Jeeper12]

I think it's safe to assume that when William quoted Tony a few months ago the "260 reservations target" was more likely intended to be the number of sales Tony thought his prospective lenders (whoever they are) would require to finance the project. Here is that article: http://www.signaturetowernashville.com/med...escenter500.pdf

I saw the piece last night and my take was that one of Tony's many problems is being over budget. Like I stated before, I think he sought channel 4 out knowing they don't probe much and he could try and get some publicity, buy a little time, and squeeze Turner and their subs at the same time. Why else would he make the veiled threat of changing contractors if he's really that close to working the budget out ? He'd better be careful though because if Turner walks on him I don't think he'd find another GC willing to invest the time and money getting up to speed and pricing this monster...not with sales so apparently unsteady.

Also it's hard to believe that a "journalist" could interview Tony at this point and not ask about sales or the status of financing. But again, Tony's a smart guy and if nothing else, knows how to manipulate the media; call the talking heads. I'll be very interested to see what a real reporter comes up with next time Tony's wiling to talk openly about where things really stand. Even the most faithful ST fans must be wondering why Tony continues to withold details about how he is going to pull this thing off. If he has a plan (lenders and partners committed subject to sales targets and construction budgets) why not disclose all this and then report progress as it occurs. Why has he yet to confirm a single solitary hard contract especially considering all the back and forth activity each day updating the website ? Is it that hard to change the word reservation to sold ? As most of you know my theory is that his actual sales figure is probably much less than the reservation count he's carrying on the website. If I'm correct and he's way below a hunded in sales he knows that disclosing that would pretty much cause anybody working on ST without payment to reconsider. And it would spook buyers too.

No angry posts please. I don't think there is anything irrational about what I've suggested. If you're angry please call Tony and tell him to quit sitting on all the good news.

[GaTechGuy]

If you count it up on their website interactive floorplan feature, (which isn't that hard....they're numbered), it comes out to 400 units exactly. I counted 108 reserved, which is 27% of the units. As far as total value of the reserved units that would be a higher percentage because it seems that the higher priced units are selling better than the lower priced ones. Of course we still have the bothersome fact that these units appear to only be "reserved" rather than sold....but thats where things stand as I see them.

[uptownliving]

Jeeper I would have to agree with your analysis on this one. If he does end up getting a new GC then I think that a late July groundbreaking is unrealistic.

I think if you want to look for some signs that this thing is moving forward then go look at the Building Permits. Once he applies for a building permit for the Signature Tower it will be public info. That to me would be a good sign this thing is going up. From everything I have read so far Tony hasn't gotten to the point of applying for a building permit. For a building this size it will usually take months from the time of application until the permit is issued and construction can begin.

[jcoop]

For a building this size it will usually take months from the time of application until the permit is issued and construction can begin.

Obviously we haven't had a building "this size" built here before, but where do you get that info from that it usually takes months? I don't know much about it, but from everything else I have read on here people have said that permits are usually pulled just days before work begins especially because they are pulled in stages...i.e.- an excavation permit first. Can someone please confirm that what I am thinking would be more correct?

That being said though, you are right...as stated before, closing the parking lot and building permits being issued will be clear signs that things are moving forward on some level.

[monsoon]

For the most part permits to build skyscrapers are not trival matters and the city should take time to evaluate them from an engineering standpoint before they will approve the start of construction because public safety is involved. For example if they don't design the basement correctly and a wall caves in, it could hurt a lot of people nearby. Skyscrapers are all unique and unlike something like tract housing, require a lot of time and effort for design evaluation.

There should be a design evaluation independent from the developer's people.

Whether or not Nashville will require this, or they just rubber stamp whatever the developer gives them is another matter, but the above poster is correct that in some places it can take months to get an approval to start construction of a building after the application for a permit is made and detailed engineering drawings are submitted.

(There have been a number of notible failures that killed and hurt a lot of people when this wasn't followed. One that comes to mind was the collapse of the interior of, I believe, the Hyatt hotel in Kansas city during a New Years eve party which was later found to have been caused by a simple design change which was not approved.)

[titanhog]

There are and will be some great indicators of forward movement. First of all...as someone has suggested, we haven't built a building this size in Nashville before, so we may not want to judge this exactly the same as something like Viridian. Delays may be normal for a project this massive.

That said, there are still some signs this is probably not close to truly moving skywards.

First...they were going to break ground in Jan...then March...then July 4, then July 7, now mid to late July.

Second...At the most, they have around 120 reservations for a 400 unit tower. Tony himself has stated he needs around 60% for the financing.

Third...no comfirmation on the parking lot being closed where ST will be built.

Fourth...no confirmation of a grading permit or permit to excavate (are those the same things?)

Fifth...no groundbreaking signs

Sixth...no equipment on site

[Jeeper12]

Permits (other than an excavation permit which is easy and cheap to obtain) are probably not the first or next indicator we'll see. Obvioulsy, ST would require months and months of excavation the first month or two probably not requiring blasting (since it was partially excavated for a project that didn't go years ago). So, if Tony wanted to he could cheaply stage some activity if he thought that would help push him over the edge. As I've pointed out though, he'd have to give his monthly parkers notice which nobody has reported him doing. And, unlike Alex Palmer, he'd have to tear up a 100% asphalted lot that generates major cash flow and be forced to build it back to todays codes (drainage and landscaping) which would probably reduce his parking revenue by about 30%. Also, Wachovia, his current land loan lender probably won't permit this anyway since it would diminish their collateral if he failed to ever close on a construction loan.

IMO nothing will happen until he identifies his lender and equity sources and the hard sales contract progress relative to the construction lender's requirements (presumably 260 units or some equavalent $ amount).

[uptownliving]

If one of yall in Nashville wants to call Central Parking and find out if they are still selling monthly spaces on the lot then it should be easy to find that one out.

I was looking at the Reservation Agreement and it has a September 30, 2007 date where Tony G will refund all reservations agreements that havnt been turned into contracts. Does anyone know why September 30th was selected?

Link to Reservation Agreement.

[Jeeper12]

^ No, but I believe his old reservation agreement had all the original reservations expiring this past March 31st. Not sure why he would bother going to the trouble to convert everyone to a new reservation (expiring 9/07) rather than just going straight to a hard sales contract. Very strange.

[Hankster]

As Tony Giarratana states in this video from Channel 4 in Nashville, Sig Tower will be built, will open in 2010, and will be 70 stories. Groundbreaking will take place later this month. The $5 Million gap in construction costs has been significantly closed already and financing will be secured by the end of this week. Tony Giarratana has a history of delivering on what he says. If he says this as emphatically as he does in this video for all the world to see, I have to believe him. If you don't believe him, you might as well be calling him a liar. As for the 249 condo unit statement at the end of the piece, I tend to believe that was a mistake made by the news anchor. There are 400 units listed on their website as available, and that does not include floors 40 & 41. There would either be 16 units total on those two floors, making 416 units, or those two floors could possibly be mechanical, meaning that there are only 400 units.

Here's the video.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/index.html

[smeagolsfree]

If one of yall in Nashville wants to call Central Parking and find out if they are still selling monthly spaces on the lot then it should be easy to find that one out.

I was looking at the Reservation Agreement and it has a September 30, 2007 date where Tony G will refund all reservations agreements that havnt been turned into contracts. Does anyone know why September 30th was selected?

Link to Reservation Agreement.

This is Tony's company Premier Parking not Central. He owns the lot and has his own parking company.

[it's just dave]

Channel 4 reports that whatever agreements were sought were settled today.

They also had a rendering (the first report of this project) of a large building called "The Acropolis" near Centennial Park. Parts of the building will seek Platninum Leed Certification, one of only 5 in the U.S. right now with that designation. I didn't see it too well, but it looked large with lots of rooftop gardens. It also looked expensive.

I suspect this is the project that our friend David has been working so diligently on. Tony G. told us about a large project some months back. Since it was sister story to the Sig, I suspect the rendering and information release was given during a followup to the Signature stories of this week.

[titanhog]

As Tony Giarratana states in this video from Channel 4 in Nashville, Sig Tower will be built, will open in 2010, and will be 70 stories. Groundbreaking will take place later this month. The $5 Million gap in construction costs has been significantly closed already and financing will be secured by the end of this week. Tony Giarratana has a history of delivering on what he says. If he says this as emphatically as he does in this video for all the world to see, I have to believe him. If you don't believe him, you might as well be calling him a liar. As for the 249 condo unit statement at the end of the piece, I tend to believe that was a mistake made by the news anchor. There are 400 units listed on their website as available, and that does not include floors 40 & 41. There would either be 16 units total on those two floors, making 416 units, or those two floors could possibly be mechanical, meaning that there are only 400 units.

Here's the video.

http://www.wsmv.com/video/index.html

Most of us really want Signature Tower to become reality. Most of us are cheering for Tony to make this happen. If he says financing will be secured by the end of this week, I'll take him at his word. If that comes true, then it's obvious to me that someone with deep pockets is footing the bill or a bank believes in Tony enough that they'll take a chance on him even though he hasn't sold as many units as he publicly stated he needed to sell to secure the financing. Or...he's hiding the true numbers and the ones on his website are only half of the actual number.

But tell me this...if he says he's gonna have a ground breaking in Jan, then March, then July 4, then July 7, and now the middle of the month, are we allowed to call him a liar when the date comes and goes? No one's calling him a liar...but questioning a salesman's sales pitch is a healthy thing to do, don't you think?