Signature Tower

[Hankster]

What is the NC? ....... I last stopped by on the 18th and the worker there said that the workers had been told they were closing down the parking lot every month since May. He said "we're told every month that they are closing but we're still here." I'll try and stop in again on Monday and talk to a worker and see if they've been notified that they are out of a job.

By the way, congrats to Savethepreds.com, awsome job on donating the $20,000 worth of tickets to the kids charity. Great to see the organization help keep the preds which is vital to our DT development.

nashvillecharrette.com. If you get any information Monday, please post. We would definitely like to know as much as is possible. This waiting is difficult.

[showtime21]

Yes, its very difficult but we still have hope, lets keep hope alive!!!!

[barakat]

I received a mass email from the Signature Tower sales team regurgitating the July 18,2007 article at newcityskyline.com about the project, the one which indicated the height reduction to 1030ft. The article says the ground at the time would be broken "any day now." So I replied to the email from the sales team asking when ground would actually be broken. I got a quick response that says "we plan to commence site preparations this month and to complete the project in mid-2010." Nothing new here, that I know of. Just sharing.

[Hankster]

I received a mass email from the Signature Tower sales team regurgitating the July 18,2007 article at newcityskyline.com about the project, the one which indicated the height reduction to 1030ft. The article says the ground at the time would be broken "any day now." So I replied to the email from the sales team asking when ground would actually be broken. I got a quick response that says "we plan to commence site preparations this month and to complete the project in mid-2010." Nothing new here, that I know of. Just sharing.

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[chris holman]

A update on the Signature Tower website with the new rendering included. Sig. Tower

[barakat]

A update on the Signature Tower website with the new rendering included. Sig. Tower

I think that's the best rendering yet. It was included on the "pied-a-terre" advertisement card mailed out a month or two ago.

[Plasticman]

That has actually been there a couple of weeks now. I like the new look spire trim. I hope those lines that run down the top and side of each fin light up. That would be impressive. Now you guys need to buy some units. Notice I said "you".

It seems after a flurry of activity, the sales (reservations?) are somewhat just a swap meet with some dropping off an different ones being added but the total remaining in the 130-140 range.

[Nashvillain]

Now you guys need to buy some units. Notice I said "you".

Homey, please. I would pay to ensure that this thing doesn't get off the ground. Even if it was a good project, "me" and most of the people I've met on this forum couldn't afford a unit in this piece. Why don't you buy a unit for a vacation spot outside of the "urban" hell that is Atlanta.

[dxartist]

So I replied to the email from the sales team asking when ground would actually be broken. I got a quick response that says "we plan to commence site preparations this month and to complete the project in mid-2010." Nothing new here, that I know of. Just sharing.

I wonder what they mean by "site preparations?"

[Plasticman]

Homey, please. I would pay to ensure that this thing doesn't get off the ground. Even if it was a good project, "me" and most of the people I've met on this forum couldn't afford a unit in this piece. Why don't you buy a unit for a vacation spot outside of the "urban" hell that is Atlanta.

Neither could I. Urban hell? You must be talking about the traffic. It is a nightmare. Well I actually live about 50 miles from DT so while I am in the metro area, I am actually on a rural 2 acres with two goats, 30 chickens, rabbits, and a dog. I drive through Atlanta and do business there quite often. I love the look and feel of the city but I would never live there.

Atlanta has issues but at least they are able to get major projects off the ground. If Signature doesn't fly, Nashville will again be relegated to just Pinnacle, another dull 400 or so footer which only adds to the plateau look of the skyline. You guys have got to have some height DT and some visionaries like TG that will break that ceiling. If you don't like Sig, that's fair enough but somebody needs to break the 500 foot mark (and not with two sticks stuck on top).

[monsoon]

So this begs the question. Why would you want Nashville to copy Atlanta in regards to skyscrapers when it creates a city that you just said you wouldn't want to live in? I will point out that some of the most desirable and lovely cities in the world do not have any monolithic skyscrapers so it's not clear to me that you can judge a city based on this criteria.

[Plasticman]

So this begs the question. Why would you want Nashville to copy Atlanta in regards to skyscrapers when it creates a city that you just said you wouldn't want to live in? I will point out that some of the most desirable and lovely cities in the world do not have any monolithic skyscrapers so it's not clear to me that you can judge a city based on this criteria.

I'm not judging the city as a city on skyscrapers. The negatives about Atlanta are the same negatives that most cities have and that's crime and traffic. But by not living there I don't have to deal with it on a daily basis and can still enjoy the benefits of going there to shop, eat, sporting events, college classes, a night out with my wife, etc. I'm less than an hour away from anything I want and yet I can still go home to peace and quiet at the end of the day. Suburban hypocrisy at its finest.

Nashville should not copy Atlanta tit for tat and should certainly focus more on DT than on sprawl. My point is while we are on a thread about skyscrapers and particularly Signature Tower, I want to voice the opinion that people like Tony Giarratanna are what helps cities break the monotony and bring groundbreaking projects to fruition.

[ATLBrain]

You in fact did say you like the look and feel of Atlanta. I love Atlanta, and even I agree on your point about traffic. I totally got your point about Atlanta's ability (collectively) to build up rapidly, and it is thank goodness. However, as the hub of the south, we have a greater capacity to build more and faster. I think it's exciting to watch how Nashville is arriving at that point now and hope this building gets built. However, I have not seen anything lately to suggest that it's anything other than a long shot (still).

[it's just dave]

And as a resident here for the past half-century, I rather like our balanced skyline. Granted, Siggy will make a significant contribution to changing the familiar into something new and different, but I don't really see that as an end-all point. I do hope it happens, but I won't be all broken up if it doesn't. Tony will do something perfectly acceptable with his sites around town. I'm perfectly pleased with what this smallish southern town is accomplishing especially in regard to the news of the day about Nashville's financial health. That, in itself, will bring good things, Siggy or not. It bodes well for continued healthy growth. It could also bode well for the possible end success of this tower itself.

Nashville rates high

The Nashville area

[BnaBreaker]

In regards to this recent debate, although I surely would welcome any taller structure that "broke the mold" of the Nashville skyline, as it were, I think it's silly to say that ANY city, much less Nashville, "needs" buildings of a certain height. The height of skyscrapers have little if any bearing on the quality of the urban environment, and I don't at all mind the fact that our skyline has a plateau effect. The same could be said about many other cities around the world, such as Washington DC, San Diego, Vancouver, Sao Paulo etc.

In regards to Signature itself, I echo Dave's sentiments. I think that this tower is gorgeous, and would be glad to have it in my city. However, what I am really interested in are the projects that are changing the urban environment of the city and creating new urban places for real people to thrive in. On that scale, Signature Tower doesn't do very much. I am actually quite a bit more excited about many other low and mid rise projects going on around the city than I am about a highrise that will take up a quarter of a block. So, if this does not get built, I won't be that upset. I hope it gets built, but in the end, it would be nothing more than a boost to Nashville postcards, and a moderate boost to the downtown residential population.

[Plasticman]

In regards to this recent debate, although I surely would welcome any taller structure that "broke the mold" of the Nashville skyline, as it were, I think it's silly to say that ANY city, much less Nashville, "needs" buildings of a certain height. The height of skyscrapers have little if any bearing on the quality of the urban environment, and I don't at all mind the fact that our skyline has a plateau effect. The same could be said about many other cities around the world, such as Washington DC, San Diego, Vancouver, Sao Paulo etc.

In regards to Signature itself, I echo Dave's sentiments. I think that this tower is gorgeous, and would be glad to have it in my city. However, what I am really interested in are the projects that are changing the urban environment of the city and creating new urban places for real people to thrive in. On that scale, Signature Tower doesn't do very much. I am actually quite a bit more excited about many other low and mid rise projects going on around the city than I am about a highrise that will take up a quarter of a block. So, if this does not get built, I won't be that upset. I hope it gets built, but in the end, it would be nothing more than a boost to Nashville postcards, and a moderate boost to the downtown residential population.

Precisely my sentiment although I don't believe I've effectively voiced it. No city "needs" skyscrapers to be a city. I said that above in response to Metrom. But this thread is about Signature Tower and a lot of threads on here are devoted to skylines thus my reference to the "need" for a taller building. So in that mode of thinking Nashville's skyline is very good, certainly much better than twenty years ago. But it is a somewhat flat skyline with little contrasting height. It seems that for the last 50 years nobody save the developer of Bellsouth had the vision to break the 500' ceiling. IF Signature flies, great. If not, that's fine too. I find highrise towers and many other structures interesting but I don't live and breath them. This particular structure is extra intriquing to me so I spend a lot of time on here discussing it.

[BnaBreaker]

Precisely my sentiment although I don't believe I've effectively voiced it. No city "needs" skyscrapers to be a city. I said that above in response to Metrom. But this thread is about Signature Tower and a lot of threads on here are devoted to skylines thus my reference to the "need" for a taller building. So in that mode of thinking Nashville's skyline is very good, certainly much better than twenty years ago. But it is a somewhat flat skyline with little contrasting height. It seems that for the last 50 years nobody save the developer of Bellsouth had the vision to break the 500' ceiling. IF Signature flies, great. If not, that's fine too. I find highrise towers and many other structures interesting but I don't live and breath them. This particular structure is extra intriquing to me so I spend a lot of time on here discussing it.

Understood. Thanks for clearing it up.

[ATLBrain]

Because I've seen it before here in Atlanta, I believe that Nashville will get its share of 500+ footers. I remember when the IBM (Atlantic Center) tower went up in the mid-80s and how astonished everyone was that such a tall tower was being built so far from (even the Bellsouth Tower) the few other buildings that tall that were downtown. Of course, it was just the first of so many others that followed. I believe supertalls will happen in Nashville too.

When the taller towers come to Nashville, they will have a major impact on the visual density of DT. When taller towers of Atlanta's midtown were first built, they had a bit of a diluting effect (if that makes sense) on the apparent density of our DT (including midtown). In effect, they stretched the skyline out.

In Nashville, they'll likely go downtown... and when they do, they'll look very nice against the already-built 300-400 footers. I can envision a skyline somewhat like Minneapolis'. You could say that Nashville is in the process of building a nice "foundation" for the future supertalls.

If I look ahead with a generous dose of optimism, I see the possibility of Signature... and a 600-700 foot hotel (as has been rumored)... and another tall counterpart to the Pinnacle in the next 10-15 years or so.

[FromParkAveToTN]

I

[queensguy06]

I want to be optimistic about this tower, but it seems to be a little sluggish on the sales end. If the economy were stronger right now I would think this project could sustain this slow but consistent pre-sales commitment, but as interest rates rise and the housing market slows I don't see any hope for this project in the short term. I would think Tony G. might want to go with plan B for this site and put Signature Tower on indefinite hold. Who knows? Two years from now I am confident (bar some unforeseen event) we will being humming a different tune.

[TopCat]

I talked to a source at Metro Codes. They said the project was really going to happen. Siggy is jumping through the hoops.

[Plasticman]

I talked to a source at Metro Codes. They said the project was really going to happen. Siggy is jumping through the hoops.

Unless they have financing locked down already by some other method than secured sales, they'd better get on the ball with the reservations. For the last week or so the number of units on reserves has fluctuated up and down in the 130s and holding at 138 yesterday. I'm hoping he has a big chunk of sales pending that he is holding back for release on the website at once (although I can't see any benefit to that). One day a few weeks back he went from 98 to 124 in one day.

I talked to a source at Metro Codes. They said the project was really going to happen. Siggy is jumping through the hoops.

Also, what hoops has Signature jumped through? I figured they would manage to clear the code hurdles. Doe Metro Codes have concrete information of a groundbreaking date or that the project's design is ready to roll with no reductions or redesigns?

[Hankster]

Unless they have financing locked down already by some other method than secured sales, they'd better get on the ball with the reservations. For the last week or so the number of units on reserves has fluctuated up and down in the 130s and holding at 138 yesterday. I'm hoping he has a big chunk of sales pending that he is holding back for release on the website at once (although I can't see any benefit to that). One day a few weeks back he went from 98 to 124 in one day.

Also, what hoops has Signature jumped through? I figured they would manage to clear the code hurdles. Doe Metro Codes have concrete information of a groundbreaking date or that the project's design is ready to roll with no reductions or redesigns?

I still have every reason to be optimistic. The reserve numbers are rising, and there seems to be lots of behind the scenes work going on. Still, it would be a huge boost to all the supporters of this project (myself included) when the groundbreaking finally takes place.

[TopCat]

Also, what hoops has Signature jumped through? I figured they would manage to clear the code hurdles. Doe Metro Codes have concrete information of a groundbreaking date or that the project's design is ready to roll with no reductions or redesigns?

[Hankster]

Also, what hoops has Signature jumped through? I figured they would manage to clear the code hurdles. Doe Metro Codes have concrete information of a groundbreaking date or that the project's design is ready to roll with no reductions or redesigns?

Siggy, like all buildings, only more so (via the design team) has meetings with codes many times to work out any building code issues. There are meetings with the fire marshal to nail down life safety systems, and work out the specifics with metro on the sprinkler systems. Meetings are held with NES to deal with the electric vault, meetings at public works to verify demands and that the utilities are available in sufficient amounts. Meetings with planning, zoning, on and on...The meetings go on for months. You do preliminary design meetings, on a building this size, you do them again in mid design, then you turn around at the end and walk it through a 3rd time just to be sure there aren't any massive screw ups.

Metro has also recently adopted the 2006 code, meaning the building has been in design under the 2000 code and will have to be reassessed on the new code since a building permit was not issued under the old code. There are some code changes that will have to be addressed. It takes time to get it all done.

I just know that they are working their way through the process, enough so that my source said "its real, [signature] is going to happen". The point is, that Tony G is activly moving this project. They are not sitting on their hands waiting for something to happen.

I have to trust my source. The conversation did not get into talking about schedules, but the implication was clearly sooner rather than later.

Sorry I don't have any more info. It was a short conversation.

Great post. This clears up many of the issues for me. Hopefully, they have worked through most of the issues by now and groundbreaking is not far off. I can only imagine what it must be like to work with Metro on such a large project. The bureaucracy issues must be outrageous.