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May Town Center


smeagolsfree

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I figured I would go ahead and start a new thread on this development since we will probably being hearing a lot about it in the future.

This is going to be a 4 billion dollar project and take up to ten years to complete. It is just in the planning stages at this time and will have to be approved by Metro Council.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=58805

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...IDEO01/80212064

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...NESS01/80212043

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/ipb_seo....000%255E1590149

Thanks to GID for jumping on this so fast.

Here is a rendering:

Maytowncenter.jpg

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I figured I would go ahead and start a new thread on this development since we will probably being hearing a lot about it in the future.

This is going to be a 4 billion dollar project and take up to ten years to complete. It is just in the planning stages at this time and will have to be approved by Metro Council.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=58805

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...IDEO01/80212064

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...NESS01/80212043

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/ipb_seo....000%255E1590149

Thanks to GID for jumping on this so fast.

Here is a rendering:

Maytowncenter.jpg

Just saw the report on WSMV 4 a while ago. Looks like Tony G is one of the figureheads of this project.

My question is this: Does this just increase the sprawl and keep more headquarters from coming downtown? Or is this the best way for Nashville to fight back against Cool Springs?

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This is very much a way to compete with Cool Springs. There just aren't many spaces like this left in Davidson County. Five miles from downtown is the same distance as north Inglewood, far from being considered part of the sprawl. The number of people who actually want to live, breathe and exist downtown is, regrettably, quite small. But, offer them a place that has everything they need to live, breathe and exist within a stone's throw of the city center and they might just go for it. Cool Springs is running out of space, anyway.

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I hope they have plans for better looking buildings than Cool Springs. The buildings in CS has absolutely no character in my opinion. They are boring.

This may be just what Nashville and Davidson County needs to stem the tide of Corporate Headquarter locations in outlying counties. This could also have a pronounced effect of reducing future urban sprawl in the area. I hope this project gains traction.

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This plan looks nice. I believe that it will compete well with Cool Springs since it is closer to DT and WE. I like the way it is more urban and detailed than Cool Springs. It's about time something like this happened in Davidson County instead of the suburbs. But I have to ask, will it work? Will proximity be enough to compete with tax incentives an already well established region retail/office mecca?

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News articles that have a little more in depth information from the CP and the Tennessean today.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=58813

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...ESS01/802130433

I was really afraid of the traffic onto Ashland City Hwy, but now I see that this development would not even be connected to the N. end of OHB and therefore no connectivity with AC Hwy. All of the access would be out to I 40. There will have to be a major overhaul of I 40 between Bellevue and 440 as it is only 3 lanes each direction. The other factor in improving I40 is Nashville West and H2o which are adn will be right on the other inside of the river from May Town Center. If this project is approved, the chance of H2o being built are much higher, IMO.

Another link which may be helpful is to the Wiki page for The Reston Town Center in VA. This is the project that May TC is modeled after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reston_Town_Center

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Actually, the idea behind this reminds me of Las Colinas at DFW.

So where would this project be in relation to H2O? I think I know where H2O will be (wedged between I40 at OHB and the river). This project will be across the river, but where? Has anybody seen how the traffic will flow between this project and H2O?

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Actually, the idea behind this reminds me of Las Colinas at DFW.

So where would this project be in relation to H2O? I think I know where H2O will be (wedged between I40 at OHB and the river). This project will be across the river, but where? Has anybody seen how the traffic will flow between this project and H2O?

Brain, This is the best I could do on the fly. I have noted the locations of the West Nashville shopping development, the Wal Mart Center, The proposed Bridge, The H2O development, and May Town Center.

Here is a Google map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&i...frame><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=116443703988616364354.0004460b8e7076b69235c&amp;ll=36.151002,-86.907208&amp;spn=0.04166,0.042163&amp;iwloc=0004460bb95233077016b&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

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This may be just what Nashville and Davidson County needs to stem the tide of Corporate Headquarter locations in outlying counties. This could also have a pronounced effect of reducing future urban sprawl in the area. I hope this project gains traction.

What about Metro Center (which was built on the North side of town about 20 yrs ago)? Wasnt this supposed to be Class A Corp center, etc, etc...now its pretty much a waste land.

H2O will be (hopefully) on the opposite side of the river, downstream about 1/2 mile.

I am beginning to have mixed feeling about the May development - too much, too concrete? I would like to see a video of the development.

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What about Metro Center (which was built on the North side of town about 20 yrs ago)? Wasnt this supposed to be Class A Corp center, etc, etc...now its pretty much a waste land.

H2O will be (hopefully) on the opposite side of the river, downstream about 1/2 mile.

I am beginning to have mixed feeling about the May development - too much, too concrete? I would like to see a video of the development.

I know there is going to be a natural buffer around the development. We dont knwo a whole lot more yet.

Here is the link to the video.

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/ipb_seo....EO01%2F80212064

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What about Metro Center (which was built on the North side of town about 20 yrs ago)? Wasnt this supposed to be Class A Corp center, etc, etc...now its pretty much a waste land.

The City Paper had this quote:

" 'The more successful office developments are near affluent neighborhoods,' said Darwin Pankey, who runs the Grubb & Ellis/Centennial office. "That's true in any city."

The pitch on Bells Bend is that it's within five miles of the highest-end executive housing in the area

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What about Metro Center (which was built on the North side of town about 20 yrs ago)? Wasnt this supposed to be Class A Corp center, etc, etc...now its pretty much a waste land.

MetroCenter was old when I lived in Nashville in the late 80s. It reflects the shopping-mall like design of office parks from the 1960s-80s. Not to say that they're not still building 'em, however this one appears to be quite dense. Having said that, the density of this project looks more than a little odd out there on the Cumberland floodplain.

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I see the monumental task of developing a project this size. We have to remember what this project will include. "It calls for building up to 5,000 townhouses and condos and at least 5 million square feet of office space mixed in with street-level stores. A hotel would stand at the center of the development, and four building sites for corporate headquarters would be created on its western end." So, there will be in neighborhood of 10,000 residents in this development, so traffic may not be as bad as we envision.

I do share your concern about the infrastructure problems not to mention new schools that would have to be built when adding this number of residents.

It is going to be a self contained city in many respects.

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So, does this development, drawing from Nashville's existing executive-type housing, ultimately cannibalize downtown? I can see revamping Belle Meade Plaza and the Belle Meade Office Park to reel in these folks, but May Town Center seems to be at a much larger scale than necessary to fulfill the need.

I wonder about the same things.

It does seem to me that there is an awful lot of open land on the near-west (and north) side of Nashville. Looking at the map accompanying the story on the CP site, it looks also like a lot of forests and open space will be preserved regardless of what goes in at this site. So I can see an argument for a project this large (built over the next 10 years) as a means to slow down the further extension of development in other directions around Nashville... or any city with a similar opportunity.

So with 5000 residential units in this one and XX (how many??) homes in H2O, would these two projects make any significant dent in the migration to the exurbs? I mentioned the similarities to Las Colinas. And there are other examples, I'm sure. However, the more I look at this one, the more it reminds me of Transit Oriented Development without the Transit portion. I can't help thinking that's a bad thing in the long run.

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Concerning interstructure - Harpeth Valley Utilities is right next door (They are doing another expansion to their facilities, again) So tapping into treated water and waste disposal is not an issue at all.

I would assume I would be able to see the taller buildings from my back yard.

MTC needs to land a few Corp HQ's prior to build

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I think this neglects the fact that CS wasn't just a random huge development in a field... before that there were excellent schools and neighborhoods. The problem Metro continues to face is the lack of suburban Metro high/middle schools and a good education system as a whole. I mean, kids from this development would go to WHITE'S CREEK!

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So with 5000 residential units in this one and XX (how many??) homes in H2O, would these two projects make any significant dent in the migration to the exurbs?

I think Franktown is right on. Schools are the key to getting folks to live in Nashville instead of Williamson County or other places. Office space is going to WilCo because that's where folks have chosen to live for decades now, not the other way around.

I wouldn't be suprised to hear this issue addressed in the near future, be it a city takeover of the schools, a new private campus south of OHB next to May Town Center, or even a special public or semi-public school system in Bells Bend that is a hybrid public-private entity.

When a development is projected to bring in millions in future revenue, politicians are going to race to spend it now, before the first dollar rolls in!

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I think this neglects the fact that CS wasn't just a random huge development in a field... before that there were excellent schools and neighborhoods. The problem Metro continues to face is the lack of suburban Metro high/middle schools and a good education system as a whole. I mean, kids from this development would go to WHITE'S CREEK!

you and shuzilla make very good points, franktown. anyone responsible for leasing class a office space knows that nearby executive housing, high end amenities and good schools are essential to attracting interest. although the project appears more thoughtfully designed it is much more remote and removed from these essentials than metrocenter was. but there are other issues that i think we should be considering.

metro has recently been warned by the bond rating agencies to cut some of its already approved capital projects. these include infrastructure projects as well as the planned redevelopment efforts on the east bank. west end, the gulch, germantown, sobro and even belle meade all desperately need additional streetscapes, sidewalks and overhead powerline removal to reach their potential. is it good policy or even a good use of resources to get distracted by the "potential" offered by some relatively remote land in a floodplain 6 miles from town ? don't get me wrong, the rendering is terrific (as is h20's) and if all things could be successful simultaneously i think it would be wonderful. but unfortunately the reality is that metro has ever more limited powder to deploy. also, any heavily subsidized class a project in bells bend will cut significantly into the modest momentum that our urban areas are just now beginning to experience. hard as they are trying to kickstart momentum in the core, how would eakin and barry feel about the city making it even harder for them to gain momentum and critical mass, particularly when you consider that neither have ever sought any metro handouts ?

as mayor dean and the council face very tough fiscal choices ahead in this weakening economy i would hope they'd be very cautious about investing major dollars into what essentially is an "if you build it they may or may not come" type of project. it's tempting to look at pretty pictures in a tobacco field and start counting the future tax revenues promised by giarratanna. but as we've seen with signature tower things don't always materialize as promised. i tend to agree with shuzilla that there appear to be many other urban areas more ripe for class a redevelopment and perhaps more deserving of the limited infrastructure dollars the city will have available in the next 2-3 lean years ahead.

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My concern ranges from the Charlotte Park/Beacon Square Communities across the river, the beautiful tennessee history and ecosystem of the Bend, to the health of Cumberland River herself. Below is a link to the information from the greater Bells Bend area community meetings. Especially interesting is the input from the Visioning Session. The over all development in Subarea 3 (http://nashville.gov/mpc/subarea/subareas.htm) seems to be shaping up as development for developments sake. (The loss of business and lack of schools arguments dont hold much water with me, just so you know.) Nashville.gov has a link to the police department as well with interactive crime maps. The Charlotte Park/Beacon Square area is much quieter than you might think.

I encourage you to look thru the information at the link below:

http://nashville.gov/mpc/subarea/subarea3dates.htm

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