producer2

It's not fire or a background. the model is sitting in front of the flooring material that will be used in the lobby. That is what you see on the wall and it is backlit.

I saw that as well, kinda interesting eh!

Since they are in process of turning old reservations into contracts, it would not make much sense for them to take reservations now. Most people I know who held reservations have now turned those into contracts.

I guess the only way we will know for sure is when it happens. Other than that this is all speculation on everyone's part as this is a private development and as we have seen with other private developments locally, the developer is working on his own time frame and knows what will or won't happen far better than any of us. I am not saying you are right or wrong, just that no one here knows more than the next person. My speculation about a plan B is simply that I am guessing he is trying to think this through as much as possible. I could be wrong. I am sorry I used the phrase "trust me" as I am not a politician.

And trust me he has a plan B for the giant hole if it does not!

He can only report what the subject reveals even if all of those questions are asked. No one is trying to be a deliberate schill for Girantana, but as we have witnessed first hand with Alex Palmer, private developments and developers have their plan and you will know about it when they want you to.

I vote for the regular meet

Before I get flamed, let me say I realize this does not make the building happen, but Tony has signed asn agreement with Kimpton Hotels to manage the hotel and operate the upscale Italian restaurant in the building so from a hotel side there is an agreement and the story has been publised in te papers. As to the July 4th event, Tony was going to try and steal some Thunder from the already large going on's in the downtown area that day.

Maybe the subtractions are reservations being turned into contracts? One can hope...

Here is some insight from a downtown resident. My wife and I bought a unit in the Bennie Dillon almost a year ago and have loved being there ever since. We are both career people in our late 40's with no children. Although we are not what I would call wealthy, we could afford to live in the ST if we wanted to. Instead we have opted to keep our small house in Gallatin on the lake. We have also bought a unit in the Encore and will either rent our Bennie unit or sell it if we must once the Encore opens. We do not fear the market collapsing and if it does, there is nothing we can do about it. . IF we did not already own a great property in Gallatin we would probably just buy at ST and make it a full time residence. We do not fit into the young urban mold or the old money Belle Meade mode, but rather empty nesters who just enjoy being close to everything the city and Green Hills/West end has to offer when we want and the lake on the weekend (unless it's Titans or Preds which we can walk to) My wife works downtown and I am less than 3 miles away. I think there are a number of people like us who are moving downtown to enjoy those benefits. I realize not everyone has the monetary means to buy that type of property and I wish there were more options for a more diverse economic group to buy downtown. I think the most important thing that can happen is we get numbers of responsible people no matter what the economic situation to move into the city and make it a community. IMO it will take some higher priced sucesses before we see more lower cost units in the city.

Just out of curiosity is your statement meant to be factual as I know what the costs are to develop these projects or more Gee that is a lot of money?

I would have to agree with NewTowner ( get up off the floor NT!) The Charrette has been pretty civil to even those like myself who do not have a background in all things archictural. There are any number of elements we can bring to this and other forums to provide insight and knowledge from different perspectives. I hope we continue to do that in bot places.

While there may be some posturing on the council to get this approved, a majority of the other areas you have outlined are already way down the pike. Don't be surprised if it does go to the council before August. If it does go it will pass because te votes will already be counted. Let me also restate the dates that I have heard, 2010 for the Gaylord expansion and July 2011 for the downtown center. I am sorry if I stated those incorrectly previously.

I have been told in conversation that the construction firm and Tony are getiing closer on the numbers. Obviously this does not mean it will be built but it couldn't hurt either.

I think I can walk the 150 yards this Saturday and get a nice cup of joe!

Tower Investments is just waiting to see if the Convention Center goes through before they decide what to put on that property. they have said publicly they want to put a hotel, but would consider residential if the center is not built there.

Dave, All this cannot be happening! Pretty soon downtown will be nothing but a playground for the rich. How dare Nashville grow to untold heights......

Here is another case where you are speaking about something you are uninformed about. The observation elevators and deck were discussed, and discussed ad nauseum. The reason and the only reason they are not there is because the government required so many additional fire escapes (steps) that it would cost a minimum of three units and 5 hotel rooms per floor. I have seen the plans and had the discussion on that very topic with the developer so he did try and could not make it happen.

metro m. Many valid points, but where I take exception is where you become the city planner and explain how Nashville is not building enough units with varying costs in order to be a "real city" this is not true, there are a number of projects that are both affordable and liveable (several coming in the gulch.) You have stated that with this one building Nashville will become an "enclave for the McMansion escapee set". And finally you propose that government should decide how this one man, who owns the property and is not asking for ANY public funding, develops his property. That is why I post on this site, because I believe in less government and more capitalism as it pertains to this particular project. If Tony gets it done then good for him, if not then it was not meant to be. But he has his approvals, hsi property, his plans, his sales office, and his goals. Just like the Westin, West End Summitt and other projects that have both believers and non-believers, in the end the masses will decide

Here is what I do not understand, most on this thread have no problem with the design of the building, it is even gettting press outside of Nashville for it's proposed construction techniques. Now we have essentially boiled it down to what we personally do or do not think is right for others in terms of what they will spend for their residences and how they choose to live their lives. We speculate on whether the developer will or will not be able to convince the Nashville public to buy into this ambitious project. Why don't we just let it play itself out and see which side of the fence this falls on?

[^First, you are a gentlemen for responding to my comments. I recently commented on some things written by WW and, despite continuing to use UP as a source when convenient, he's never even bothered to address my questions. I guess he didn't really have a good answer. As to your comments, I understand you think Tony is too personally invested for his efforts to be unsuccessful. However, several much larger industry titans (Jorge Perez, Donald Trump, etc.) have recently folded projects where they've spent a multiple of Tony's pursuit cost so I don't really buy your premise that it must succeed because he has bet his reputation that is will. But by foregoing the opportunity to educate the buying public and the public at-large how these deals fundamentally piece together, again, I think our media fails in its duty to inform...and the ad nauseum puff pieces (pr disguised as articles) subject you and your peers to fair criticism (I think) that despite 3 years of heavy development activity you're still completely unable to zero in on and report about the key facts and deal points that remain to be accomplished. Again, "done deal" and "as if there was any question" suggests a certainty about the outcome that I don't yet think is warranted. I agree that Tony's reputation hinges on this project succeeding but too much media cheerleading may also diminish your future credibility if things don't go as you apparently think they will. Thanks again for responding. Jeeper12, Just curious, why does it matter how this is reported in the media? It is not a public or taxpayer building. Tony owns the land, has the approvals, etc. so all it becomes is can he pull off the sales and loans. He is not stealing anyone's money so why put out negative press, why not be positive (even if it is fluff) so that peole might be interested and buy and make this thing a reality.

I stand corrected, the deposits are as stated in your post and on the website.

I should not start rumors I can not substantiate so I will rescind my statement about the deposits until I can verify. I will stick with my statement about knowing if your theory is correct in the next 90 days though. Sorry if I misspoke and I will see if I can get further clarification. I am going off of an actual sales meeting I attended rather than any comments Tony made at our forum meeting.

There is an article in today's Nashville Business Journal that has Tony repeating the same things he told us at the forum meet a couple of weeks ago. It explains his sales goals before ground breaking (same thing he told us, 60% "lenders are not good faith based") That he will go to contract with his reservations once the HUD/Federal paperwork is complete in the next few weeks and that he still expects a 4th of July groundbreaking. Now all of you skeptics go have your field day!