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The SoBro | 32 stories 345 ft | 3rd & Demonbreun

smeagolsfree

By smeagolsfree
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Paramount747 Burg

Paramount747

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Does anyone know any numbers on how many people are living in the downtown core now...as compared to say, 10 years ago?  Just wondering how much of an impact these apartments (like SoBro) and condo towers are having on the DT core.

 

Also...how many people living downtown do you guys think we need before we start to see more retail start to blossom?

I think the number is right at 3000, but someone else may have better information. 10 years ago it was around 1000.

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dmillsphoto
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markhollin
markhollin

Since the exterior is basically complete (except for the three restaurants on the first floor), here is a tour of the structure from all angles. It is a handsome building from ground level:  

markhollin
markhollin

During our Meet-Up walkabout on Saturday, Smeagolsfree was able to finagle our way into getting a tour of the SoBro from a couple of the rental reps.  We got to look through several sample apartments

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Jamie Hall Hamlet

Jamie Hall

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Posted (edited)

Does anyone know any numbers on how many people are living in the downtown core now...as compared to say, 10 years ago?  Just wondering how much of an impact these apartments (like SoBro) and condo towers are having on the DT core.

 

Also...how many people living downtown do you guys think we need before we start to see more retail start to blossom?

 

I recall that The Tennessean just recently did a big cover story on the rise of downtown residential, and it included a lot of numbers. If I get time later I'll look for it.

 

As for the residential: I sure wish the folks that built the failed shopping mall downtown had waited about 20 years. They were just too eager and overestimated the market at the time.

Edited by Jamie Hall
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satalac Burg

satalac

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 Otherwise, I think this tower, if executed well, will be only the third residential tower of any real distinction, as far as design and materials, built since the mid-2000s urban real estate boom (alongside Adelicia and Terrazo, IMO).

No Viridian? I think that one has pretty good distinction,except it kind of gets hidden behind other buildings (thanks density!). 

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Nashvillain Burg

Nashvillain

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No Viridian? I think that one has pretty good distinction,except it kind of gets hidden behind other buildings (thanks density!). 

Negative, because Viridian's facade is some chintzy almost foam material and the plasticky green glass isn't a good look plus its design is cookie cutter Novarre. If you haven't noticed, it looks very similar to the Encore and numerous high rise condos in Atlanta also built by Novarre. So, distinctive? Hardly. 

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mirydi Hamlet

mirydi

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Oh, don't forget about Novare's latest pitch, SkyHouse. Numerous locations, such as Dallas, 2 in Atlanta, Orlando, & Houston.

Speaking of Skyhouse...

 

Does anyone think we could see a Skyhouse tower built here? I mean, they seem to be in just about every other city...lol

I could easily see Novare scouting Nashville for a possible Skyhouse tower. To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't jumped into the Nashville market already the way things have been going lately. With demand consistently outpacing supply even with all the construction, an occupancy rate almost at 100% for several years, it seem's like it would be a safe bet to me. What do you guy's think? Could we be seeing a Skyhouse Nashville in the near future?

 

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MLBrumby Metropolis

MLBrumby

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Speaking of Skyhouse...

 

Does anyone think we could see a Skyhouse tower built here? I mean, they seem to be in just about every other city...lol

I could easily see Novare scouting Nashville for a possible Skyhouse tower. To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't jumped into the Nashville market already the way things have been going lately. With demand consistently outpacing supply even with all the construction, an occupancy rate almost at 100% for several years, it seem's like it would be a safe bet to me. What do you guy's think? Could we be seeing a Skyhouse Nashville in the near future?

 

 

 

 

OMG!!! Those all are THE SAME!!   Yuck!   They most definitely are cookie cutter.   But speaking of... they really do look like rip-offs of their Viridian in Nashville.  

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mirydi Hamlet

mirydi

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I get that they're all the same and cookie cutter, but I don't think they're all that bad looking either. In fact, I think they look pretty nice... :whistling:  I guess I'm in the minority of people that wouldn't mind one if it was announced they were building one here. I could care less if there was one in every city as long as it was replacing a surface lot or something. If you guy's think Skyhouse is bad, what do yall think of the Hyatt Place in SoBro?

 

Hyatt Place Austin...http://i.imgur.com/Q6RL0.jpg

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Hey_Hey Burg

Hey_Hey

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Before I went to their website I assumed "cookie cutter" was used in the sense that they were similar in styling, materials, amenities, etc. I didn't realize that they are EXACTLY THE SAME.

That being said, I wouldn't mind one of these being built in Sobro or Midtown or the Gulch at all. For 99.9% of the people who are in Nashville this would not even be an issue because they don't follow other city's development trends. Whether a new building in the Gulch is original or the 20th iteration, it still gets people living in the core and provides additional ground level retail (I assume there's some retail component).

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UTgrad09 Town

UTgrad09

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Before I went to their website I assumed "cookie cutter" was used in the sense that they were similar in styling, materials, amenities, etc. I didn't realize that they are EXACTLY THE SAME.

That being said, I wouldn't mind one of these being built in Sobro or Midtown or the Gulch at all. For 99.9% of the people who are in Nashville this would not even be an issue because they don't follow other city's development trends. Whether a new building in the Gulch is original or the 20th iteration, it still gets people living in the core and provides additional ground level retail (I assume there's some retail component).

As I said, I'm all for highrise development...

 

It's just...we strive for architectural significance (don't usually get it)....is there a certain point where it doesn't matter or not?

 

I mean, I'm sure Viridian and Encore are pretty damn similar to other new highrises...but an exact copy? What if there are Death Star weaknesses to these things? 

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Paramount747 Burg

Paramount747

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Speaking of Skyhouse...

 

Does anyone think we could see a Skyhouse tower built here? I mean, they seem to be in just about every other city...lol

I could easily see Novare scouting Nashville for a possible Skyhouse tower. To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't jumped into the Nashville market already the way things have been going lately. With demand consistently outpacing supply even with all the construction, an occupancy rate almost at 100% for several years, it seem's like it would be a safe bet to me. What do you guy's think? Could we be seeing a Skyhouse Nashville in the near future?

 

 

If it's Nashville, it will be 10 stories instead of 20! Just like the Austin Hyatt Place was 18, we get 13. A Childress Klein tower in Atlanta is 30, we get 17. We will get 5-10 stories less than our peer cities. If Tony were building the Sobro in Austin, it would be 60 stories, not 33. If Donald Trump were to build a tower here it would be 25 instead of 80. Nashville has always had the reputation of thinking and building small. A skyhouse tower would be no different.

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nashvillwill Burg

nashvillwill

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Are those all really the EXACT same, or did they just use the same rendering to represent some very similar buildings?

I've got to say, it's not that different than what we are seeing in residential neighborhoods. I've seen houses that are just a block or two away, that are literally exactly the same. But even when there are minor differences in the homes (a different shrub here, a different tile color there) they will use the same pictures in realtor listings to represent two different houses. I'm guessing the reason (which is probably the same for these buildings) is the price of architectural plans. If you have to pay a firm X amount of dollars for architectural drawings, why not use them a few times and get more for your money? It's basically the high-rise version of what we are seeing in residential neighborhoods. However, at least these guys are being gracious enough to put them in different cities as opposed to putting 10 of them in the same neighborhood.

It's a little strange though.

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arkitekte Hamlet

arkitekte

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Are those all really the EXACT same, or did they just use the same rendering to represent some very similar buildings?

I've got to say, it's not that different than what we are seeing in residential neighborhoods. I've seen houses that are just a block or two away, that are literally exactly the same. But even when there are minor differences in the homes (a different shrub here, a different tile color there) they will use the same pictures in realtor listings to represent two different houses. I'm guessing the reason (which is probably the same for these buildings) is the price of architectural plans. If you have to pay a firm X amount of dollars for architectural drawings, why not use them a few times and get more for your money? It's basically the high-rise version of what we are seeing in residential neighborhoods. However, at least these guys are being gracious enough to put them in different cities as opposed to putting 10 of them in the same neighborhood.

It's a little strange though.

 

For the most part that's what it is. The cookie cutter homes are all designed in house by whoever is paying to have those homes built. Technically you don't need an architectural license to design single family residential, so they can have architects or more so "designers" design in house for much cheaper and not have to hire a firm. 

 

I'm going to assume that Novare has licensed architects in house for these towers that work together as a firm would. I can't imagine any firm surrendering hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could bill against a client all because they designed a tower that can be plopped anywhere and can fit basically any piece of property barring slight differences in excavation work and engineering (which they wouldn't get paid for altering that design).  The architect of record of course will be different for each project due to them being in different states, but there's one group of people doing the design work on all of these and if they're all actually identical from the interior to every smear of stucco on their facade then they're probably done in house. If the floor plans are different then it's a combination and two firms are making pretty good money off of Novare for each tower, which particularly wouldn't make sense for Novare. 

Edited by arkitekte
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gannman Whistle-Stop

gannman

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Speaking of Skyhouse...

 

Does anyone think we could see a Skyhouse tower built here? I mean, they seem to be in just about every other city...lol

I could easily see Novare scouting Nashville for a possible Skyhouse tower. To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't jumped into the Nashville market already the way things have been going lately. With demand consistently outpacing supply even with all the construction, an occupancy rate almost at 100% for several years, it seem's like it would be a safe bet to me. What do you guy's think? Could we be seeing a Skyhouse Nashville in the near future?

 

 

 

Let's hope not. Anything by Novare seems sterile and harsh at street level.

Edited by gannman
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Paramount747 Burg

Paramount747

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Back to the Sobro now....still the lot is not blocked off a week or more since Tony said he had his financing?


While I like the idea for more highrise residential, the prospect of getting a cookie cutter tower that a bunch of other cities in the south have excites me just slightly more than getting another Dell Web community

What's a Dell Web Community? Is that Like Del Bocca Vista on Seinfeld? Is the Dell Web Community a retirement community named after a man named Dell Web?

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