Nashville Bits and Pieces

[PaulChinetti]

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nhl/predators/2019/09/18/predators-bridgestone-arena-renovations-scoreboard-concessions/2359303001

I read this article and get more mad at the Titans. Before/During/After the game this past Sunday. I was paying attention to the stadium and it's surroundings. I don't think the Titans upgraded A SINGLE THING in and around the stadium. It's mind boggling. I thought maybe they were poorly run, I am thinking now they just don't give a damn about the fan experience are a content to let it be. They should seriously consider hiring someone from the Predators to take over. 

I'll take it back, they changed one thing, they made it worse somehow getting into the stadium. The people they hire to direct traffic seem to care even less than they did last year at directing traffic. 

[markhollin]

Mayor-elect John Cooper did an interview with NBJ that was published today.  Here are some highlights in regards to development:

“Step back from everything people may have heard about me and really realize that much of that is political rhetoric designed to push voters. It’s not necessarily accurate at all."

What does your outreach to the business community look like? "I am meeting with everybody: the chamber, the downtown partnership, the Music City Council. I am meeting with everybody, and I want to hear from everybody. I am clear that downtown Nashville must be an even greater success. We have 15.5 million tourists, and it must grow. We must reinvest in that business to make it a success. Now, are we doing that? I think there is sufficient worry, but I had support from that community also."

When you talk about reinvesting in downtown, what does that look like under the Cooper administration? "The first thing is to really agree on the strategic plan going forward. Funding in the tourism space is not connected to reinvestment needs. The funding is pooling up from a collection of taxes that were engineered half of a generation ago. … Let’s do a thought experiment: You have a $60 million surplus at Music City Center. What happens to that surplus — and this is after debt service and bonds and buying the parking garage and the other real estate and capital improvements — when 6,000 hotel rooms come online and the grocery stores open and the food court opens? That $60 million is headed to more than $100 million surplus. At the end of this year, I think [the convention center] will have a $190 million surplus in cash on its balance sheet that’s not reserved for bond repayments. … Are you waiting for it to become a $1 billion surplus of cash before you make this adjustment? … My addition to this — and the reason this election is important — is to make the community a partner in the success of [Nashville’s tourism industry], so that when I see that visitor from Toronto, I thank them because that visitor is paying for my teacher’s raise. I am for changing the relationship between residents and tourists into a healthy one, once we receive a healthy return from tourism."

How do you access those Music City Center funds? "By having a dividend back. How do you do it? Well, there are adjustments, reimbursements that we can get, taxes that can be paid, and having the cooperation of this space is a great and happy thing. Any other defensive course circling the wagons of such a cash stream is an injustice to the citizens of the city. They need the investment that this brings. We didn’t embark on this growth adventure to simply have more traffic and also higher taxes. We embarked on this growth strategy to one day have a return."

When you were finance committee chairman, you said city officials must find ways to help develop the East Bank. "Yes, and right now, you have five $1 billion-plus projects that you can see happening on the east side of the river."

You mean River North? "And headed all the way south. … Let’s just do another thought experiment: You own PSC Metals. How much can you make on moving scrap metal? You bought [that land] because one day it’s going to be a fabulously valuable site. I think that day has arrived.… Now, if I can introduce the owners of PSC Metals to people who have great ideas for that project, for example, I’m happy to do that as mayor. It is a little bit bad for our beautiful city to have that right across the river, and it is an impediment to future growth. … Atlanta’s Beltline is our river line, and when you start to think of it that way, you’re really talking about a super future. "

Historically, Metro would chip in money for that type of redevelopment, like moving PSC Metals. Is that something you would have the appetite for? "We don’t chip in money if all you’re doing is subsidizing land price. … If all you’re doing is subsidizing the price of the land for a private party that’s doing super well already, then that’s not effective government. That’s been my basic quarrel: When is it needed, and when are you providing surplus economic rents for somebody that’s a powerful special interest?"

It sounds, then, like you would support incentives for infrastructure? "Yes, and historically I have. On the campaign, I’ve been fairly nuanced on this because it depends on the deal. Even Major League Baseball, I said it’ll need to be a very good deal. Of course, you look at anything that’s going to make Nashville better, and you’re proud of people for coming up with great ideas for making Nashville better, but we’re not in the business of creating profits for real estate speculators. That’s a good sentence." 

How do you want the business community to gauge your progress? "This is why I’m pretty confident the actual business community is for me — and I want to even say crazy for me — because they will see a sense of financial management, rather than PR-driven deals. The business community wants a fair, level playing field, and instead of big tax incentives going to a single party that may or may not be warranted, [I want to use] the money we would have spent there and improve [the Codes Department] and the interface with development in general. We’ve got $4.5 billion in permitted construction projects, and it’s within our best interest to get that done as quickly as possible. We’re late in the cycle. … We need to bring in a skilled and experienced person in real estate into the mayor’s office as the liaison to get this done and get this stuff online as smoothly as possible. That’s a great use of city money, as opposed to going to a particular project with a particular subsidy. My lord, codes inspectors are not that expensive, and that’s how I serve the business community is to have the interface with government be easy and have government be as responsive as possible."

More behind theNBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/09/19/welcome-to-coopers-town-how-nashvilles-next-mayor.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[e-dub]

River North and the PSC site were mentioned by name, what are the other $1B+ projects on the east side of the river?

[smeagolsfree]

Just sort of going to be business as usual, IMO. 

PSC Metals is something every Mayor since Bredesen has been working on, so lets see if Cooper can get the ball rolling.

A real estate Liaison in the Mayors office sounds like a nice job for someone to get a handle on codes which is broken but all of Metro seems to be broken at the moment. He will have a lot to fix. 

MLB is something that just will not happen unless the guys wanting it here pay for it themselves. I just dont see Metro putting one cent into another stadium. Then, if it did happen, what do yo do with the old or rather new Ball park that was just built. The Sounds owners plus Metro will not be happy about that either.

MLB... Stay away! We dont need you.

[nashvylle]

11 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

MLB is something that just will not happen unless the guys wanting it here pay for it themselves. I just dont see Metro putting one cent into another stadium. Then, if it did happen, what do yo do with the old or rather new Ball park that was just built. The Sounds owners plus Metro will not be happy about that either.

MLB... Stay away! We dont need you.

MLB can happen if there is land surrounding the stadium to be developed, and PSC is the only location I know about.

[PaulChinetti]

This is so rich. Develop away. 

These are all development related questions but all his answers are KEEP BUILDING. He does mention teachers once at least. 

[MLBrumby]

I wasn't aware of the PSC site being developed for a $1B project... and the interviewer failed to ask (or clarify). Makes me shake my head sometimes how news (even Business) writers are so casual with numbers. This article reads like $1B projects are a dime-a-dozen. Also, it's not clear that Cooper understands PSC will not move if they have no incentive to do so. He sounds like he only views it as 'subsidizing' the land purchase. But if you already own the 'fabulously valuable' land and it's working well for you, why would you move? 

[smeagolsfree]

I think that is Project Phoenix that has been mentioned before, but details are a mystery.

[grilled_cheese]

Quote

"I am meeting with everybody: the chamber, the downtown partnership, the Music City Council. I am meeting with everybody, and I want to hear from everybody. I am clear that downtown Nashville must be an even greater success. We have 15.5 million tourists, and it must grow. We must reinvest in that business to make it a success. Now, are we doing that? I think there is sufficient worry, but I had support from that community also."

Everyone except the COB.  Oh and didn't this guy run his entire campaigning pooping on downtown and tourists?

[PaulChinetti]

23 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

Everyone except the COB.  Oh and didn't this guy run his entire campaigning pooping on downtown and tourists?

Yes. Yes he did. Except like someone said earlier in the thread. 70% of the counties income comes from downtown. So can’t really ignore it. 

[jkc2j]

Not sure if this has been posted. The Property Brothers consider Nashville and Las Vegas the top real estate markets to invest.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/property-brothers-las-vegas-nashville-122450493.html

Edited September 20, 2019 by jkc2j

[markhollin]

Nashville’s flexible office space inventory grew to 697,000 square feet by the end of this year’s second quarter, an increase of 20 percent compared to the figure from a year earlier, according to newly released report from CBRE.

More behind theNashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21087950/north-nashville-eyed-for-apartment-building

[henburg]

On 9/19/2019 at 8:58 AM, PaulChinetti said:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nhl/predators/2019/09/18/predators-bridgestone-arena-renovations-scoreboard-concessions/2359303001

I read this article and get more mad at the Titans. Before/During/After the game this past Sunday. I was paying attention to the stadium and it's surroundings. I don't think the Titans upgraded A SINGLE THING in and around the stadium. It's mind boggling. I thought maybe they were poorly run, I am thinking now they just don't give a damn about the fan experience are a content to let it be. They should seriously consider hiring someone from the Predators to take over. 

I'll take it back, they changed one thing, they made it worse somehow getting into the stadium. The people they hire to direct traffic seem to care even less than they did last year at directing traffic. 

Disclaimer: I may just be working through some leftover frustration from last night, but this stuff has been on my mind a lot lately so here goes. 

In fairness to the Titans, they have only begun caring about the fan experience very very recently, really only a couple of years under the consolidated leadership of Amy Adams Strunk. Despite the team's best effort to screw it up on the field, she's made some good decisions in increasing community outreach with events like the New Uni Reveal party, the kickoff party, and the Draft. 

That said, this philosophy has yet to extend itself to the most important aspect- the gameday experience. With the Raiders leaving the Coliseum for Vegas next year, I'm confident in declaring Nissan Stadium as the worst stadium in the league, and I don't even think it's even that close. It's ugly, cramped, and uncomfortable with no real fan engagement whatsoever. The only "substantial" changes that have even been made since its opening are the bigger screens on the scoreboard, new elevators, and new seats, basically the minimum efforts required to keep it at NFL standards.  From experience, I can tell you that none of those things are worth much at all when fans are still being subjected to unbearable hot, cold, or wet weather conditions. I went to the Titans-Ravens game last year in the rain, and it was easily the worst sports experience I have ever had in my lifetime. The Titans were woefully unprepared to play (what a surprise) and the rain was so hard that it forced everybody to take cover on the concourse, resulting in people sitting shoulder-to-shoulder just wishing it was over. In that state of collective misery, I just felt terrible for dragging my friends along to experience that. They're all huge Preds fans, and they couldn't stop commenting on how much worse the gameday experience was than a night at Bridgestone Arena. The sad thing is that they're absolutely right. 

The point in all of my ranting is that there will need to be big changes sooner than later, or else you're going to totally lose the support of the city. Nissan Stadium has nothing other than its location going for it, so either give it a complete makeover or start from scratch. Nashville can be a top tier sports city as evidenced by the Predators and the growth of Nashville SC, but the relationship is a two-way street. The Predators were on the brink of relocation not that long ago, but look at them now! They're one of the great success stories of sports because they worked their asses off to bring fans in and make games worth going to. The perennial playoff-caliber teams help a lot too, but the point still stands. 

[NashWellington11]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:44 PM, henburg said:

I'm confident in declaring Nissan Stadium as the worst stadium in the league, and I don't even think it's even that close.

FedEx Field  was built around the same time and is 1,000x worse. It is in the middle of nowhere in the Maryland suburbs and is not kept up at all. It still has trough urinals and the stadium's color scheme combines the Redskins' maroon & yellow with FedEx's purple, green, and orange (it is even worse than it sounds). 

Both stadiums are victims of the same weird 90s stadium era. In the 90s lots of teams were building new stadiums and moving out of stadiums from the 60s/70s that were beyond their useful life. Stadiums like Nissan and FedEx Field were built relatively cheaply, are very utilitarian, and have few frills. The 90s stadiums that didn't go the retro Camden Yards/Lucas Oil Stadium  route now look very dated and barebones BUT they are also just new enough that a complete overhaul or teardown seems wasteful.

Nissan Stadium, FedEx Field, and others like them lack both (i) the history and character of an older stadium (many of which have been massively renovated recently, e.g. Kansas City and Chicago) AND (ii) the wow factor of the statement stadiums and architectural marvels that have been built over the past couple of decades (e.g. LA, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Atlanta).

With Nissan's prominent place downtown and how much it is used for non-NFL events (unlike many stadiums), Nashville really should have a statement stadium. Unfortunately, the tide has turned pretty hard against public funding around the country and we don't have Stan Kroenke to personally foot the $4 billion price tag. 

[nashvylle]

With the technological advances of construction today, a lot can be added to Nissan Stadium to mix in some new wowness and keep the current structure of the stadium and not spend $4BN. Let’s pray that happens. The location is the best in the country, and could support any event. 

[markhollin]

AllianceBernstein is taking over Thompson Hotel in the Gulch for the next 3 days by booking nearly all of the rooms for an AB National Entrepreneur Summit for 40 key clients.

The summit is designed to bring together entrepreneurs from across the country to promote idea sharing, while offering a firsthand look at what Nashville has to offer. The gathering will include: meals at two trendy restaurants, Kayne Prime and the Downtown Sporting Club; a running tour of Nashville; kayaking on the Cumberland River; a visit to The Nashville Gun Club and more.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/09/24/why-alliancebernstein-is-taking-over-a-gulch.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[bigeasy]

I know it sounds crazy, but the stadium is pretty old when you look at the rest of the NFL. Of the 31 stadiums, 18 have been built since Nissan opened, 2 (Raiders & Rams) teams have new stadiums under construction, and 6 have received substantial upgrades  (Miami, Chicago, Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, & New Orleans)

[chris holman]

 

 

[NashWellington11]

1 hour ago, bigeasy said:

I know it sounds crazy, but the stadium is pretty old when you look at the rest of the NFL. Of the 31 stadiums, 18 have been built since Nissan opened, 2 (Raiders & Rams) teams have new stadiums under construction, and 6 have received substantial upgrades  (Miami, Chicago, Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, & New Orleans)

The club level especially at Arrowhead feels like the lobby of a Ritz with 50 foot tall fireplaces, custom artwork, etc.  I remember walking into Arrowhead with my dad right after they had renovated it in 2010.  My dad said "Well, after spending $400 million to renovate an EXISTING stadium, the urinals had better be GOLD!"  

Also, the KC renovation was $400 million in 2007-2010 dollars with very few structural changes and practically no changes to the seating bowl itself. Nashville would be looking at a price tag well north of that to make any substantial renovations to Nissan Stadium in 2019 dollars.

[NashWellington11]

2 hours ago, chris holman said:

 

 

The "tiny house" looking buildings in the end zones KILL me. I was hoping those would go when the LP building products naming rights ended. You can add all the intimidating music you want,  but unfortunately it is still not an impressive stadium.

[PaulChinetti]

If they would just lean into the grecian thing it could really be a unique stadium. Columns everywhere!

[ZestyEd]

You know what stadium is 90% identical to Nissan and no one ever talks about... Gillette Stadium. It had the Architect firm (HOK Sports) and broke ground a year after Nissan was opened.  Gillette has done some upgrading since opening to include  the Optum Field Lounge in the south End zone and the  Encore Boston Harbor Terrace (Union Point in video) in the 300 section South end zone.  In video forward to the 1:18 min mark.

https://footballstadiumdigest.com/2017/03/gillette-stadium-upgrades-taking-shape/

https://www.patriots.com/video/2019-gillette-stadium-improvements

 

 

[MidTenn1]

^^^They upgraded their quarterback in the early 2000's which made the stadium a whole lot nicer.

[MLBrumby]

Overall yes... and I believe the Pittsburgh stadium is also quite similar. I don't think Nissan has a concourse that joins the upper levels on both sides like Gillette, which is closed at one end.  I recall going to a Titans game and trying to meet some friends who sat on the opposite side. We had to go all the way down and meet up with them at those stupid little houses. And IMHO that industrial look has not aged well. 

[NashWellington11]

50 minutes ago, PHofKS said:

^^^They upgraded their quarterback in the early 2000's which made the stadium a whole lot nicer.

They also apparently added lounges and terraces. The Titans added... tiny houses.