Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs

[Kheldane]

If I had to move to Nashville, I think I would get one of the condo's being built around 31st and West End.

Do you think you would? Get your $400,000 ready! That neighborhood is drastically over-priced.

[barakat]

Music City Central delayed

http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville.../11/story4.html

[smeagolsfree]

2nd crane is now up at the Braxton in Ashland City.

[Nycticorax]

Does anyone know exactly what lots and/or existing buildings will be affected by the "Artestia" project? Their website is vague about the exact address.

[smeagolsfree]

The District Lofts @ 4th and Harrison are now under coustruction. Drove by yesterday and the had been a lot of earth moved, a sign up and footers started. This is the old site of the Harrison Lofts.

[Nashvillain]

I went downtown Monday and today, breaking my three-year injunction against visiting Nashville. I wanted to check out the new sculpture at the southwest corner of the Schermerhorn by Audrey Flack that was unveiled last Tuesday and I also wanted to see the new show at the Frist. I was blown away by all the construction going on all over town, and how fast much of it is coming along. I took a few photos, too:

The Encore is flying up

Just for the hell of it

This is the first time I've seen the finished Schermer. This thing is fantastic, very humbling, gratifying and with all the benches and courtyards, infinitely study-able and rewarding. We are very lucky to have this in Nashville. I went inside and checked out the lobby before the guards told me to get lost, the interior is pretty scrumptulescent as well. Free tours at 1:00pm on Wednesdays by the way.

I only had to pay this guy 75 cents for his picture. He's from Miami and says he served 2 tours in Vietnam. He was surprised at the aggressiveness of Metro PO in dealing with people in transitional life phases. I forgot to ask his name but he talked a lot so I just listened.

The Encore (See the concrete skeleton with the shallow little rivets? This will be the exposed facade of the building, verdad?) with the Hampton in the background

The aforementioned sculpture by Audrey Flack, the craftsmen were touching up some of the trim pieces and stone pavement that didn't set right due to the heavy rain last Tuesday.

Here you can see the R&R building slated to be demolished for the Westin. Last I heard the storefronts housing the law firms next door are going to come down so Barber can recoup the cost for LEED certification. Please tell me that the Pesca and Past Perfect buildings aren't slated for demo, too.

I wanted to see what was left of the original facade of the Trail West. Not much apparently.

Here's the rest of the block, Nashville won't be losing much in these two if the Westin is built. The 2nd Ave. side, the side of the Decades club is blank brick wall.

I thought this was cool, downtown used to be full of buildings with pitched-roofs like this holdover.

I know everyone and their grandma's taken this picture, but this was the first time I've seen the completed square. Funny, I walked right by the giant Festivus pole without even seeing it, I was trying to take in as much of the spatial grandness and the civic warm fuzzy-goodness that I walked right by it, I was distracted by the magnificent presence of City Hall and the Square. So much potential here, although I wonder how much the four lanes of James Robertson Parkway hurt any future pedestrian oriented function of this area. The Stahlman and the AmSouth Plaza seem so far away across all that traffic.

The Viridian wasn't as junky-looking as I wanted it to be, which bodes well for the Schermer/Encore relationship and the addition of the HG Hills will be tremendous for the area. There are so many lofts just down the block toward 2nd Ave. that Church will be packed with people that actually own property, pay taxes and who buy stuff in the city, as opposed to being packed with people that squat on little pockets of downtown temporarily (Homeless people rise up!).

The Suntrust will be pretty nice, I think. I really like the Round-a-bout Plaza building so I think we can expect this to be very high quality.

Edited December 21, 2006 by Nashvillain

[Nashvillain]

I drove around the Gulch before going to the Frist today. The Madam X was being demolished, the Icon was at three or four floors in some places, very exciting stuff. I also walked along the Demonbreun Street Viaduct and snapped a few pics:

I love the variety and density in this shot

This one's for RockyTopBuzz and the good folks over at the Charrette.

Who says there aren't any good contemporary buildings in Nashville?

Some may think the literal narrative details of the D-Street Viaduct are cheesy but you can't fault the effort and thoughtfulness of the attempt.

All in all, it's a very exciting time to be in Nashville. There is so much to see and do for both visitors and residents, there was so much stuff that I wanted to see that I couldn't get to in two days. That's a pretty good compliment for a city, I think. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Fin

Edited December 21, 2006 by Nashvillain

[cheeriokid61]

Great posts! Those were some nice pictures.

And just a side note, there is now a crane up at the Nissan site.

[franktown]

Great photos. Does anyone think that we should just have a stickied (or whateer it's called) thread at the top of Nashville pictures were things like this and things like Tours of West End/Vandy and past photo threads can go?

[ATLBrain]

Thanks for the very nice pics, NV. That sculpture is beautiful. I found myself staring at her for a long time... plz don't tell the wife (lol).

As I can't get to NSH very often, I love it when pics are posted. Things are relly coming together to create a photogenic DT!

[smeagolsfree]

Great job.

I agree we need a thread pinned at the top called phots or Nashville pics.

I saw the construction equpiment outside the Madam X buiding saturday and figured it was about to come down. Maybe this bodes well for the Terrazzo and the Sliver building getting started soon.

[frankliner]

This is the first time I've seen the finished Schermer. This thing is fantastic, very humbling, gratifying and with all the benches and courtyards, infinitely study-able and rewarding. We are very lucky to have this in Nashville. I went inside and checked out the lobby before the guards told me to get lost, the interior is pretty scrumptulescent as well. Free tours at 1:00pm on Wednesdays by the way.

The aforementioned sculpture by Audrey Flack, the craftsmen were touching up some of the trim pieces and stone pavement that didn't set right due to the heavy rain last Tuesday.

I wanted to see what was left of the original facade of the Trail West. Not much apparently.

Great posts!!!. I am living in the UK and won't return to America until August, so this is a great way for me to see how the city is changing, thanks so much.

Some ideas that sprung from your pictures:

First, It would be so great (to me) if they restored that wall painting on the Trail West painting if (and probably when) the Westin project finally goes through. It would go a long way to helping allay some concerns on destroying Broadway's heritage by restoring it!!! I haven't heard them mention this in their plans before, so I hope someone will plant the bug in their ear.

I screwed up getting that statue's picture (actually, all of the pictures I wanted to show, oh well) in my reply, but it looks absolutely amazing. I am guessing this is new since the Schermerhorn opened and really adds to an already GREAT plaza.

Finally, the Schermerhorn itself is an example to me of why copying old styles works. People that complain about the practise. I agree we are lucky to have it in Nashville and hope that people can find inspiration for further public projects in how it turned out. I'm not saying every major project needs to be neo-classical in Nashville, but I think playing up the image of Athens of the South even through contemporary projects in the built environment can broaden our appeal for many years to come. That and I really like the neo-classical look (there's a reason it's been around a couple of millenia ).

Edited December 21, 2006 by frankliner

[Nashvillain]

This is just wishful thinking, but the parking lot at the corner of 10th Ave. S. and Demonbreun, right across from Cummins Station and directly behind the Frist Center, would be an ideal spot for a new mixed-use project. Retail and residential or maybe office if there's need. This could be one of the most desirable spots in downtown. One block from Broadway, a short stroll to Cannery Row, at the foot of the Demonbreun Viaduct and thus an easy walk to the Gulch and just on the other side of Cummins Station from the land port which could be the future sight of a light rail station. Anybody with deep pockets want to make a bid on this lot and get the ball rolling?

[frankliner]

This is just wishful thinking, but the parking lot at the corner of 10th Ave. S. and Demonbreun, right across from Cummins Station and directly behind the Frist Center, would be an ideal spot for a new mixed-use project. Retail and residential or maybe office if there's need. This could be one of the most desirable spots in downtown. One block from Broadway, a short stroll to Cannery Row, at the foot of the Demonbreun Viaduct and thus an easy walk to the Gulch and just on the other side of Cummins Station from the land port which could be the future sight of a light rail station. Anybody with deep pockets want to make a bid on this lot and get the ball rolling?

That area is in the process of being included in the revised special assessment district for the nashville downtown partnership. This would provide the area with certain services but a slightly higher tax rate. I think it'll be settled by next year. This might improve the viability of redevelopment at this spot, but I believe the lot is owned by Central parking or the Methodist Church both of which aren't really known for their redevelopment prowess (on a related note, there have been rumours that they are considering moving their printing facility out of downtown) So I wouldn't hold my breath .

[Hankster]

The aforementioned sculpture by Audrey Flack, the craftsmen were touching up some of the trim pieces and stone pavement that didn't set right due to the heavy rain last Tuesday.

What a beautiful sculpture and addition to the Schermerhorn. They just keep adding more wonderful touches to the building grounds. It is truly a showcase for Nashville! Thanks for posting these pictures.

Here you can see the R&R building slated to be demolished for the Westin. Last I heard the storefronts housing the law firms next door are going to come down so Barber can recoup the cost for LEED certification. Please tell me that the Pesca and Past Perfect buildings aren't slated for demo, too.

I wanted to see what was left of the original facade of the Trail West. Not much apparently.

Here's the rest of the block, Nashville won't be losing much in these two if the Westin is built. The 2nd Ave. side, the side of the Decades club is blank brick wall.

The Pesca and Past Perfect buildings are not slated for demolition. I have never thought there was much to lose with any of the other buildings. The R&R building really does nothing for me. The rest I care about even less. If any of the buildings slated for demo were like the 4 story building directly across Broadway from the Trail West, I'd be complaining big time about their demolition. As it is, I think Nashville and Broadway will be enhanced, not hurt, by the Westin project.

[urbanbna]

i found a new rendering of the Adventure Scince Center Sudekum Observatory slated for construction soon

[barakat]

^ Is this an observatory or a planetarium? It seems an astronomical observatory would need to be removed from the effects of city lights.

[smeagolsfree]

A planetarium. The only observatory is out in the Forest Hills area close to Brentwood. Its Vanderbilt's.

[urbanbna]

sorry, planetarium

[cheeriokid61]

A planetarium. The only observatory is out in the Forest Hills area close to Brentwood. Its Vanderbilt's.

That's right, and is very cool, I might add. I spent the night in it once. I was wondering though. Why is the planetarium a giant cone? I always thought they were domes.

[urbanbna]

there probably is a dome under that, but a cone for looks on top of it

[barakat]

I'm sure the new planetarium will be nice, but after visiting the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, I'm not sure they will be on the same level. It was such a great experience. Anyone else been there?

http://haydenplanetarium.org/index.php

[cheeriokid61]

That place is so cool. I hope this can be as good.

[Nashvillain]

Here's a link to a photo gallery from the Tennessean showcasing some of the under construction and completed condo projects downtown. It has some nice views from the upper floors of the Viridian plus a cool shot of the green roof on the Westview.

Condo Craze

[cheeriokid61]

Those are pretty cool. But does anyone else think that the green tint on the Viridian windows make the inside look really dull and depressing? It makes it look like the sky is cloudy everyday.