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2400 West End


barakat

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Nothing is mentioned about this being a two phase project, so I wonder if it will indeed be done all at once. It appears so. It also appears much larger than the lot that is currently there. This will be interesting to watch this go up, especially since it has an 18 month timeline. That is fairly swift for a concrete building. I would assume this will not be stick frame as it is 7 stories. I am sure Ron could find that out on Bidclerk. The hotels in the area are getting quite dense. Very competitive.

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The rendering is from West End. See the pink florist house on the left? Though small, you can see the words "West End Avenue" at the bottom of the site plan.

That is actually a pretty nice looking render. Obviously I'd rather it be 10-12 stories at it's highest, but still. interesting. Definitely competitive in that area now. Is that view from West End or Elliston, though? I can't tell, the site plan is wayyyy too small...
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Wow...I'll withold complete judgement until I see other renderings, but going just off that, I'm not a fan at all. It's a very typical Midtown building. Large construction with a very generic design that doesn't address the street even slightly. I thought there were zoning overlays now in Nashville that forced buildings to be urban in nature? It's just frustrating, because every new building that is constructed that does not do anything to create a successful urban street wall is another wasted opportunity. This entire gigantic block will now be totally non-urban in nature for multiple decades to come. I do hope I'm wrong.

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^Yeah, usually one has to go out to a suburban office park to see something that impressive. :ermm:

Hmm, my sarcasm didn't quite come through in my post. Guess I should get with the times and do the /sarc HTML tag. However, the render itself is pretty, looks like something Tony G would produce. That's about all it has going for it.

My real thoughts are that I think it's bland, reminds me of the West End, and doesn't address anything I hoped it would address. I think the Tower facade deserves better street/sidewalk incorporation than it's getting, and I thought the main idea was to utilize Elliston and not West End as the primary entrance? Oh well...

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Also, I don't understand why they couldn't just make it a thirteen story building that hugs West End Ave. rather than some wide bodied seven story building that has to bow out into the back lots of the block to even be accomodated...really makes no sense to me at all.

Also, it's a pet peeve of mine when renderings of completely non-urban structures show people walking on the sidewalks outside, almost like they're trying to trick us into believing it will promote pedestrian activity. Has nothing to do with this project specifically but I had to get that off my chest. haha

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Hmm, my sarcasm didn't quite come through in my post. Guess I should get with the times and do the /sarc HTML tag. However, the render itself is pretty, looks like something Tony G would produce. That's about all it has going for it.

My real thoughts are that I think it's bland, reminds me of the West End, and doesn't address anything I hoped it would address. I think the Tower facade deserves better street/sidewalk incorporation than it's getting, and I thought the main idea was to utilize Elliston and not West End as the primary entrance? Oh well...

I do agree that it should use the Tower facade, however, that being said, it looks like the corner of the building on West End and Elliston is set to be a good restaurant or cafe spot, with an entrance on the street. I do like that part, at least.

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In some cases it's hard to do a hotel right up to the street. Unfortunately with the street grid as it is in the area, the design had to reflect motor traffic off West End. I too would like the building to hug the street, but this seems to be the best they could do with what they had. Remember the article said they tried to emulate architecture on the Vanderbilt campus. Furthermore, Mid town is not downtown, and as a CBD/Downtown guy, this project does not bother me as much as if this were built downtown. A lot of buildings on West End also must fit the comfort zone of the clientele. There is good chance that those who stay in this hotel never make it to downtown.

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This isn't really a good comparison, considering how tiny the site on Division is. There are two hotels crammed into the site on Division/Broadway, compared to one hotel on a comparable site on West End. The Division hotels share a parking garage, too, which is under and between the hotels.

I hate to agree but I do. The hotel under construction on division addresses the street much better than this one. I wonder how architects like the one they designed this building keep getting work.

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This isn't really a good comparison, considering how tiny the site on Division is. There are two hotels crammed into the site on Division/Broadway, compared to one hotel on a comparable site on West End. The Division hotels share a parking garage, too, which is under and between the hotels.

Not a good comparison why? They are very different sites, no doubt. But the Division sites had limited space and made the most of it. The FYE site has great visibility and space and the architects seem to have screwed it up. That's what it comes down to for me.

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Because the sites are so different in size. I don't blame the architects; they merely deliver what the developer client demands. The failure here is more with the city ordinances. Rather than requiring actual storefronts on Elliston/24th Avenue, what's required is a taller first floor, and window glazing that creates the 'appearance' of storefronts. On sites such as the FYE site, ground floor retail/restaurant space should be required as part of any new development, but it isn't. As far as the new Homewood Suites, I think they did a decent job considering the demands of cars and the people who will stay at this hotel. Granted, it's ugly, but the goal was to mimic Vanderbilt's architecture. In a way the hotel reminds me of an old-school U-shaped apartment building. I'm most disappointed that only one retail space is part of the development; the site had at least 8-10 businesses before.

Not a good comparison why? They are very different sites, no doubt. But the Division sites had limited space and made the most of it. The FYE site has great visibility and space and the architects seem to have screwed it up. That's what it comes down to for me.

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In a way the hotel reminds me of an old-school U-shaped apartment building. I'm most disappointed that only one retail space is part of the development; the site had at least 8-10 businesses before.

I think that the comparison to a U-shaped apartment building is very appropriate. I agree: it does resemble a courtyard apartment building in shape. Plus, it does have a base, a middle (brick?) and a cap, which gives it a very traditional look that does harken back to the '20s, which is the era when this area was being developed anyway.

Homewood Suites hotels are toward the budget end of the Hilton portfolio, and in terms of their furnishings and interiors, they remind me of college dormitories. Some even offer beer as part of their evening buffet offerings! So the college dorm/apartment comparison kind of works on that level, too.

And compared to most of the hotels that face West End, this one is actually an improvement in terms of addressing the street. At least there is no parking lot in front on West End, and for crying out loud, at least there is no Qdoba stuck out front. It is a shame that there is not more actual retail, especially on the Elliston side, but the existing buildings did not address Ellison, either.

Other than losing the historic car dealership facade, I still think that this one is a step in the right direction for making West End more pedestrian friendly, even if only a baby step.

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  • 1 month later...

I was wondering when this was going to start to happen. This is going to be a very busy area as far as construction goes with the Elliston 23, Park 25, 2400 and the dorms @ Vandy on the corner of 21st and West End (Kassam Hall) due to start in the next month or so. Not to mention West End Village.

Looks as if they were doing some utility work over there the other day.

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