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5th and Main - Feb 2008 photo update


HopeGardensGuy

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5th and Main's site. For those who aren't local or simply haven't seen this project in awhile, I've posted some pictures on picasa in an album. This phase of the project is likely 80+% complete, I'm guessing? There are future phases, to be sure, but this phase is entering the home stretch.

Last I heard, there were about 30 units still available. There are a few units @ $149,900 if you meet the income requirements (referred to as "affordable units"). These are 640-740 sq ft, give or take. The rest of the units range in price from $249,000 to $595,000, ranging in size from 850 to 2,200 sq ft.

http://picasaweb.google.com/GregDDT/5thAndMainUpdate

5andM.jpg

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Excellent update. Thanks for the pics and the links. This is one project that is really exciting and would love to see the other phases start soon. I say give it a year and many things will get back to a sense of normalcy. Then the other phases in this project can start.

I do have a question and I hope you have an answer HopeGardensGuy.

Do the developers own the rest of that block ? I think there is a whiter cinder block building next to the development and was curious as to if they own that too?

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From what I've seen, all the phases involve only additional apartments and/or condos. The only retail is in the first floor of this phase. Space-wise, I just don't know how it would work. There's not enough room for the large number of parking spaces required, let alone the store itself.

BUT, as we all know, plans can change. Given the current economic conditions, who is to say what will end up on the site!

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This is a really nice project, and I'm happy it's going up in East Nashville. That area is getting more and more desirable. However, the pricing on these condos is not cheap at $270 to $290 per sq. ft. for all but the few lower priced units. Would I be correct if I would say those prices represent the highest per sq. ft. in East Nashville?

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This is a really nice project, and I'm happy it's going up in East Nashville. That area is getting more and more desirable. However, the pricing on these condos is not cheap at $270 to $290 per sq. ft. for all but the few lower priced units. Would I be correct if I would say those prices represent the highest per sq. ft. in East Nashville?
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  • 2 weeks later...

For those who have been following the project, the last remaining old building is coming down! Demolition has begun on the old, white complex on the corner of 6th and Main, across 6th from the church. Don't know what it used be.

While multiple phases are planned to develop the other parts of this entire block, I wonder what they do in the interim? Level them and pave them over? Plant grass? Or perhaps the future phases will begin very soon after the current phase is completed?

Curious...

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All this being said, the pre-construction deals are turning out to be pretty excellent! It will be interesting to see how many folks actually close on their units, as opposed to turning into flippers! If you had the foresight or the luck to have signed a contract in late 2005 or early 2006... you'll either save quite a few bucks if you actually close on your unit and move in, or you'll make a tidy sum on your fairly small reservation down payment (mine was 1%.), if you flip.
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Geez! I hope this flipping thing is over. It's one of the main reasons why we are in the real estate mess that we're in. I remember some earlier threads where certain individuals defended that greedy practice. All they did was cause grief for everyone else. Anyone who ends up losing money trying to flip I have zero pity for.
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  • 1 month later...

Misc. 5th and Main Musings

=================

Had a chance to spend a bit more time within the complex this past weekend. Looked at a variety of units in the towers, as well as spent more time in what is my tentative unit, one of the townhouses.

VERY interesting experience. Although I had been pretty familiar with the complex, it was a whole new experience to walk through the mixture of units. Small to large, no balcony, one balcony, two balconies, flat, two-story loft. Street facing, courtyard facing! Lots of variety, to put it mildly. And some of the units are architecturally impressive. Well, they are if you like modern design. Not for you if you're looking for crown moulding and traditional layouts. Lots of concrete! Hardwood upgrades are available, but they aren't inexpensive. Staining is also an alternative, but it isn't cheap, either. That somewhat surprises me, but apparently to do a "green" concrete stain is a non trivial action.

A fear with concrete floors is noise transmission between floors - I was able to see how a special connector is used to mount wallboard to the ceilings. This connector acts as some sort of a buffer, and introduces a dead space between the concrete ceiling and the wallboard. This is supposed to greatly minimize or eliminate noise from the above unit. So while a unit may have concrete floors, concrete columns and possible concrete supports if it's a loft, a unit will NOT have concrete ceilings if there is a resident above them. (You can interpret from this that top floor units have concrete ceilings - no unit above them.)

There will be a public green space/garden on one of the outdoor areas around the 4th floor - it will the top of the area jutting out on the right, facing downtown on the Spring St. side. Should be a great place to watch the fireworks @ LP field!

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The interior courtyard is getting a great deal of emphasis. I think it's a bit of a New York strategy. When your residence is on the smaller side, you leverage other nearby areas to augment your space. So the courtyard becomes a bit of a shared backyard.

This shot is facing downtown, which you can almost make out through the opening at ground level. That opening is to stay open, and will be a walkway through the complex towards downtown. Main Street is on the left on the other side of the tower, Spring St. is on the other side of the tower straight ahead. Effectively sitting on top of the underground parking garage. Will have large planters for landscaping, and various seating/benches. Grass on the right side adjacent to the townhouses. HOWEVER, it will be open, public space. Anyone will be able to walk into it or through it. While I'm sure it will be well lit, what does that open access do for security? I think that there is to be 7x24 security, of some sort, predominantly to watch the underground parking, but there are to be video monitors and such throughout the complex that security will be able to keep tabs on the property.

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I had not really known much about the heating/cooling system of the towers - I had assumed that it would the normal electric heat pump that is in most multi-unit new construction. Well, you know what they say when you assume!

It seems as though the building uses some sort of a sealed water system that runs from a central, top-floor position, to every unit. (Perhaps there are multiple central units - I saw a unit in one section of the building.) Both hot and chilled water is available at all time for heating and cooling. There is some sort of exchange process/equipment in every unit that helps transfer the warmth or coolness from the water into the individual unit. Unit 302 wants A/C in December, no problem. Unit 414 wants heat in June, no problem. Note that the units still have their individual hot water heaters - this system is solely heating and A/C.

It was explained to me that this has a number of benefits - eliminates compressors for each of the units. You may have seen some developments where the roofs look like compressor "farms", rows and rows of them. Saves space and energy, apparently. No copper available to thieves, either. And since it's centralized, it is somehow measured and billed against each unit, independent of normal electric usage in the units. Curious as to how works. And how it affects overall monthly costs. Seems very commercial property oriented.

When there are so many varieties in floor plans, it's all the more curious as to how prices are arrived at. Similar size units may vary by tens of thousands of dollars. Premiums for city view versus courtyard.

Then there is the whole issue of design decisions, independent of price. Not just a 5th and Main topic, buy pretty much any complex. Here, a larger two bedroom has one tiny balcony, but it's attached to the second bedroom. A couple of very nice floor plans, higher priced, with NO balconies. Or a great unit, one balcony, but it's right over Spring St - seems very noisy. Many of the affordable units do have balconies, while some of the more expensive units do not! Go figure. Some units have entry closets, which I find VERY rare in new construction. A nice touch.

A very unique quirk of the towers is that all the windows are sealed! Commercial-style windows. So some units will only get fresh air from the HVAC system or the front door! At least those with balconies can open those doors. The townhouses have a single window that opens on the middle floor of each unit. Perhaps a codes issue? The top floor of the townhouses have an outdoor terrace, and the main living floor has a rear entrance, while the ground floor has the front door. So perhaps there has to be some sort of external access in every floor of particular unit?

One of the most attractive touches for a downtown residence is the availability of storage closets throughout the towers. Of course, they aren't free. Approx a $100/sq ft, and I think they range from about 4 x 5, sort of a closet-sized unit, up to larger units close to 10x10. Helps make up for all that open living in loft spaces.

As per my last post - there's a mix of units still available - from a few "affordable" units up to a unit over $500,000! One of the larger townhouse floor plans is available, too. Apparently, there hasn't been much sales activity recently, but that seems to have been expected. Once the sales center can go on-site, actually in the tower, and prospective buyers can actually "touch" the units more readily, the feeling is that the remaining units will move. Remains to be seen, given the state of the market.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just a few more pictures as this phase of the project wraps up. The townhouses do not yet have the cedar planks that will cover the cream panels. The final exterior will be hardy plank, cedar, and brick. Not sure if the hardy plank is to be painted.

The courtyard views are from the rooftop deck of one of the townhouses, with Main Street on the other side of the tower. The first courtyard picture shows where the new restaurant being done by the same folks who are behind Germantown Cafe will be. Ground floor, the gray bricked block that is on the corner.

The final picture is a rendering of what one of the 2 story, 1 bedroom units with 2 balconies could look like, with the exception of the window that opens. It was "value engineered" out - too $$$$, I guess. (Not my work - a picture of what is shown in the sales center.)

5m01.jpg

5m02.jpg

5m03.jpg

5m04.jpg

5m05.jpg

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5m07.jpg

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