Omni Hotel/Convention Center hotel/24 stories/800 rooms/complete

[East Side Urbanite]

Just a bit of info to report on since I won't be there tomorrow. At yesterday's briefing to the Council on the hotel project, information was released on hotel/tourism tax collections that will be used to repay the bond debt for the MCC. For the fiscal year that ended June 30th, the City collected $1,000,000.00 MORE than was projected in the reports used to substantiate the bond repayments. This was accomplished during our current economic downturn and with the loss of revenue for 2 months from the Gaylord hotel. A very positive report....

P2,

A positive report indeed. But on a negative note, you'll miss another UP meet. Man, we've got to get you back in the fold.

WW

[MTSUBlueraider86]

I have asked him to join us until I am turquoise blue in the face! I guess greatness is indeed a shy one. Maybe he will join us and share his encyclopedia of knowledge one day.

BR86

[producer2]

I have asked him to join us until I am turquoise blue in the face! I guess greatness is indeed a shy one. Maybe he will join us and share his encyclopedia of knowledge one day.

BR86

Makes me want to come even more.....

[MTSUBlueraider86]

I hope we see a rendering soon. I would think they would want to break ground before the ice and snow start in January but I am sure they are still working on the orientation of the building.

BR86

[FromParkAveToTN]

I hope we see a rendering soon. I would think they would want to break ground before the ice and snow start in January but I am sure they are still working on the orientation of the building.

BR86

Rendering shown today in the City Paper. I'm disappointed. I was hoping that there would finally be a building over 40 stories.

[MTSUBlueraider86]

At the forum meet last Saturday we went around the table and everyone guessed on the height. I predicted 250-325 feet. 350 feet at the most and unfortunately /fortunately depending on how you look at it, I was right. For height enthusiasts this is indeed a disappointment but from a practical standpoit, its a nice building. They are using efficiency of space and hopefully there will be some green elements possibly of the LEED Certified type, although nothing has been mentioned on this yet.

To see the rendering:

www.nashvillecitypaper.com

Click on the link titled 260 foot hotel.

BR86

[it's just dave]

Appears to be a huge L-shape. The height is fine. It's also clean, modern and sharp with no silly spires, twists or turns. It'll take a huge swath of dead street and, with the convention center, put more feet on the sidewalks than SoBro's seen in a hundred years. And that's probably in its first month.

I think I like it. It'll be interesting to see how it ends up tying in to the Hall. Hopefully, all parties will see the value in this integration.

[producer2]

Appears to be a huge L-shape. The height is fine. It's also clean, modern and sharp with no silly spires, twists or turns. It'll take a huge swath of dead street and, with the convention center, put more feet on the sidewalks than SoBro's seen in a hundred years. And that's probably in its first month.

I think I like it. It'll be interesting to see how it ends up tying in to the Hall. Hopefully, all parties will see the value in this integration.

[MidTenn1]

From the Nashville City Paper;

A crude, homemade rendering of the apparent orientation of the hotel relative to the MCC;

The hotel will be 50' taller than the adjacent Encore Condo tower, so it present an impressive block long, mid-rise facade to Korean Veterans Blvd. And with the addition of the (up to) 150' tall MCC and additional hotels, the 'canyonization' of SoBro is well underway.

The design of the facade apparently incorporates features used in the Fort Worth Omni as shown here...

...including a good balance of glass curtain wall, with a stone cladding section resembling early 20th century buildings. Of course our Omni is not as nearly as tall as the original Marriott or the Ft Worth structure. But, I like this better than the earlier Marriot design. It will blend in better with the area.

Edited October 8, 2010 by PHofKS

[Lexy]

I would've liked to have seen some more height because everything in Nashville hovers around the upper 20's to lower 30's in the floor count. Me personally, I think it's time to break that and move up a little. But, I'm just looking at it from a grumpy old "tired of the same ol'-same ol'" point of view here. I'm sure the building will be stunning, but 25 floors? UGH! We already have enough of that crap around this town. But in this economy, beggars can't be chooser's I suppose!

Cheers!

[ariesjow]

I can live with the height but this hotel looks woefully bland. Would it kill developers to add some color or visual interest to our skyline? This appears to be another beige box. The Ft. Worth hotel and Indy's convention center hotel really put this design to shame. Hopefully this rendering will not do it justice.

Edited October 8, 2010 by ariesjow

[East Side Urbanite]

I can live with the height but this hotel looks woefully bland. Would it kill developers to add some color or visual interest to our skyline? This appears to be another beige box. The Ft. Worth hotel and Indy's convention center hotel really put this design to shame. Hopefully this rendering will not do it justice.

I'm with ariesjow fully on this. Where is the distinctiveness? In fairness, this is an early rendering and what we get might look very different. But... Too boxy and bland. Maybe there will be lots of cool metal elements. and interesting geometric forms that this image does not reveal. But the shape, clearly, is basic. Now, I am optimistic about the street activation. And I like the catwalk connecting the hotel to the MCC (and spanning Fifth). And the fact we're getting a nice-sized building that will add lots of pedestrian activity to SoBro...all good.

Other than BlueRaider86, we all (myself included) at last Saturday UPlanet meet predicted a building of between 350 and 400 feet. BR86 strikes again. How does he sense this stuff?

WW

[producer2]

I can appreciate all of the thoughts regarding a more robust design. Let's keep in mind that many of the forum members along with Council members and constituents of Davidson County are the first to complain when Metro spends a dime on anything. In this instance Metro is paying nothing for the design and build of this hotel. It is on Omni's dime. As far as the Ft. Worth project, with 600 rooms and 65,000 square ft. of meeting space, this project is far smaller than the Nashville project. It was also capitalized by the City of Ft. Worth.The same holds true for the newest Omni project in Dallas. It is paid for entirely by the City.Folks, Omni is not an ego driven company, it is a business and the design reflects both a need for functional space and a blending of i's surroundings. In this economic time I would think it hard to find anyone who wants to build an egocentric skyscraper on their own dime.

Some of the features within are fabulous as is the fact that the motor entrance is currently designed to be facing KVB.Give me green space, sidewalks, and user friendly facilities, leave the skyscrapers in Manhattan.

[dmillsphoto]

I just returned from driving over 440 at 65 and decided it will NOT be visible from there, only from the east bank/Silliman Evans (sp)bridge; from the south starting just after Chestnut at 65, and from the south loop. From the west side, it will be visible from 440 over Charlotte, Not visible at all from the north.

Just thinking about it. I would probably be more interested in this structure if there was something that didn't involve a completely flat roof. Not a spire, not something round, but 40' taller at it's highest point and maybe with a slope would help. Maybe even a segment of high-end suites or restaurant at the corner of the L shape that gave it 40-50' additional height...

I happy that something is in play, but just wish it were tweaked a bit.

[East Side Urbanite]

I can appreciate all of the thoughts regarding a more robust design. Let's keep in mind that many of the forum members along with Council members and constituents of Davidson County are the first to complain when Metro spends a dime on anything. In this instance Metro is paying nothing for the design and build of this hotel. It is on Omni's dime. As far as the Ft. Worth project, with 600 rooms and 65,000 square ft. of meeting space, this project is far smaller than the Nashville project. It was also capitalized by the City of Ft. Worth.The same holds true for the newest Omni project in Dallas. It is paid for entirely by the City.Folks, Omni is not an ego driven company, it is a business and the design reflects both a need for functional space and a blending of i's surroundings. In this economic time I would think it hard to find anyone who wants to build an egocentric skyscraper on their own dime.

Some of the features within are fabulous as is the fact that the motor entrance is currently designed to be facing KVB.Give me green space, sidewalks, and user friendly facilities, leave the skyscrapers in Manhattan.

P2,

You make some strong points and Omni does quality work overall. But I must disagree somewhat when you say "Omni is not an ego-driven company." I attended the media event and one of the Omni officials (seemed like a pleasant enough chap) basically said the following: "We really do have the best team in this industry." When I heard that I thought one of two things: 1. The man is speaking in cliches and doesn't even realize it. That's disturbing. What else do he and the Omni brass do in cliches and not realize?; and/or 2. ego. Either way, that limits my optimism.

What disappoints me is that we're getting a nationally significant convention center and -- to join it -- what appears to possibly be a "regionally significant" headquarters hotel -- at least in terms of exterior design. I hope I'm proved wrong.

Having said that, I vow to remain cautiously optimistic. Renderings are not the actual buildings.

Keep us posted on insider info, Producer2.

WW

[MTSUBlueraider86]

Its still a 260' building! It could be a disappointing 180' building like Suntrust Plaza. I was disappointed when they only went 13 stories on that building. It does seem Nashville only does what it has too for design of its tall buildings. I think some of us agree with Christine Kreiling when she calls the Pinnacle Tower "stubby." That is why I asked if Nashville will ever be a skyscraper city. We now know that is a definite no.

This building was the last chance we had at height for a very long time. It appears West End Summit will never happen in its current design state as with Signature Tower. The Lionstone Building faded off of the radar. The Eakin Twin Towers were never a serious proposal. The Westin failed to come to fruition so chances are this may be the last major project for awhile. What we have had in the past 10 years are:

Viridian

Encore

Suntrust Plaza

The Hilton

Adelicia

Rhythm

Icon

Terrazzo

Hampton Suites

The Cumberland

The Schermerhorn

Commerce Center

That is 12 major projects in the past decade. Not bad for a tier II city.

I think Producer2 may be right. Omni is a classic brand for a reason. They have nice properties in Tier II and Tier I cities. This will be a nice addition. As far as architecture, I would have love something with some Art Deco and maybe some Greek elements since we have a lot of that on Church Street but the box theme seems to be a Nashville standard but its better than nothing and ESU is right, street activation is most important.

Where is Newtowner to discuss this box?

BR86

[Nashvillain]

It's just a rectangle! WTF!!?? Since when did they start building buildings out of rectangular, boxy-like forms and not ovular, circly-like forms? Oh wait...since forever. Ha ha, extreme sarcasm. Seriously, the rendering seems OK, if overly large, but that fits in with the neighborhood, I guess. My biggest concern would be street front activation. According to the City Paper article, this is slated to have a coffee shop (wheeee) along the 5th ave. side and a restaurant along KVB (I think). That leaves a lot (seriously a lot) of blank wall along long stretches of lonely sidewalk. And given the lack of mixed uses in the neighborhood already--MCC, Schermerhorn, CMHoF, Pinnacle--there may be a lot of new pedestrians in the area but nowhere for them to go. Except Broadway.

It would be great if Omni would consider opening up the bottom floor to more retail spaces, hell, give the MCC goers somewheres to shop while they're in Nashville besides Ken's Western Wear and Dolly Parton's Knickknacks or whatever. But I guess the prospect of attracting retail is ghoulishly dim in this economy so the bottom line is no street front activation once again for downtown Nashville. Fail.

And William, I am curious about your comments on the national significance of the MCC and possible regional significance of the hotel. In what regard? Architecturally? Technologically? Just curious.

[East Side Urbanite]

It's just a rectangle! WTF!!?? Since when did they start building buildings out of rectangular, boxy-like forms and not ovular, circly-like forms? Oh wait...since forever. Ha ha, extreme sarcasm. Seriously, the rendering seems OK, if overly large, but that fits in with the neighborhood, I guess. My biggest concern would be street front activation. According to the City Paper article, this is slated to have a coffee shop (wheeee) along the 5th ave. side and a restaurant along KVB (I think). That leaves a lot (seriously a lot) of blank wall along long stretches of lonely sidewalk. And given the lack of mixed uses in the neighborhood already--MCC, Schermerhorn, CMHoF, Pinnacle--there may be a lot of new pedestrians in the area but nowhere for them to go. Except Broadway.

It would be great if Omni would consider opening up the bottom floor to more retail spaces, hell, give the MCC goers somewheres to shop while they're in Nashville besides Ken's Western Wear and Dolly Parton's Knickknacks or whatever. But I guess the prospect of attracting retail is ghoulishly dim in this economy so the bottom line is no street front activation once again for downtown Nashville. Fail.

And William, I am curious about your comments on the national significance of the MCC and possible regional significance of the hotel. In what regard? Architecturally? Technologically? Just curious.

Nashvillain/Phillip,

I guess was generalizing with that comment -- and focusing on exterior design. I'm a bit disappointed with the Omni so am not likely to be as thorough in my comments.

WW

[MTSUBlueraider86]

I wonder if this is what was meant by "Nashville Flavor" as mentioned in one of the media pieces? Does Nashville have a reputation for bland architecture design? If it does, that is different then what my cousin from Long Island NY said. He thought we had some very impressive architecture when he visited in February 2010.

BR86

[producer2]

Nashvillan,

The motor entrance is also scheduled for the KVB side. I would guess there will be lots of engagement on the 5th ave. side since that is how folks will get to the center. Hopefully there will be an agreement between Omni and CMHOF that connects the two.

[East Side Urbanite]

Nashvillan,

The motor entrance is also scheduled for the KVB side. I would guess there will be lots of engagement on the 5th ave. side since that is how folks will get to the center. Hopefully there will be an agreement between Omni and CMHOF that connects the two.

P2,

I hope you're correct about O-Hotel orientation-activation focused toward Fifth. If the area south of KVB and west of Fifth is ever going to fully infill, that type siting from the hotel will help.

WW

[MTSUBlueraider86]

Infill is the key. We need good infill all the way south to the interstate. We need to get rid of the adult book stores, carpet warehouses, liquor warehouses, et al and focus on sustainable and worthwhile development.

BR86

[East Side Urbanite]

Infill is the key. We need good infill all the way south to the interstate. We need to get rid of the adult book stores, carpet warehouses, liquor warehouses, et al and focus on sustainable and worthwhile development.

BR86

Agreed. However, I like the thought of a Frugal in a quality building.

[MTSUBlueraider86]

I wonder when we will have a ground breaking on this project. Could we see as many as 8 tower cranes in the sky at once?

BR86

[nashwatcher]

Infill is the key. We need good infill all the way south to the interstate. We need to get rid of the adult book stores, carpet warehouses, liquor warehouses, et al and focus on sustainable and worthwhile development.

BR86

Totally agree. Does anyone know if there's any plan for the development of this area south to the interstate loop...it's a blank slate with great potential...I wonder if it'll just be hodge podge, or if our city planners will actually try to make this a terrific area to visit, complimenting the development of the riverfront...