[Project Thread/New Construction/Photo du jour/Const. CAMs]

10 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

Right, if they save the main building ( which I think looks cool) then scrap the rest , they can fit a few towers on that property.

The NES building is gorgeous, and beautifully situated, especially when it is catching the light of sunset, it would be a terrible loss if they tore it down.

[Vanderbilt University Tower and West End Dorms, 20 stories/6 stories, 340 units]

Loving the brickwork.

[Inner Loop - CBD, Downtown, East Bank, Germantown, Gulch, Rutledge]

On 8/17/2020 at 7:41 PM, MLBrumby said:

One thing that a single office promotes is the corporate culture. So it's not going away. Yes, there will be more flexibility in hours spent there, but that's something the best of the best firms will always guard jealously. If anything, Nashville is currently still a bit short of what their office space demands will be in a few (3-5) years from now. 

And then there are the macroeconomic factors..[snip]... The next five years will be a quantum step in the evolution in how nearly everyone works. Nashville is well-positioned right now with the amount of residential, as a ratio to office in the core. 

Age of employees is a huge factor here as well, most 50 somethings have an empty bedroom they can use as an office, but a 22 year old may have roommates playing video games while they're sitting on their bed with a laptop trying to work.

[Three Thirty Three, 5 story, 69,000 sq. ft. office/11,000 sq. ft. retail, 11th Ave. South & Pine, The Gulch]

^ nice to see a full size tree in this spot.

[Federal Courthouse, 6 & 8 stories, 276,000 sq. ft.,]

Prior versions had two large medallions on the front which have been deleted, making me sad.  It's okay, in a tasteful, dull kind of way.  Everything seems to tend towards the banal as it reaches actual construction.

[Inside 440 - Berry Hill, Midtown, Vanderbilt, 12S, WeHo, Fairgrounds, etc.]

What is it about lack of trees that gives things that Stalinist vibe?

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

5 hours ago, Sean blackdog said:

For example. 
path for pedestrian parking 

 

So pedestrian paths to parking.  Paths for pedestrian parking would make sense only if pedestrians were going to stand in that path all day. 

[Peabody Union (27 story residential, 354 units, 251,000 sq. ft. office, 50,000 sq. ft. retail), Peabody Plaza (9-story, 280,000 sq. ft. office), & 4 smaller buildings, MDHA Trolley Barn sites]

Weirdly alienating.  Got a kind of Brasilia vibe.

[Vanderbilt University Tower and West End Dorms, 20 stories/6 stories, 340 units]

I love the stone/brick work, it adds an exuberant Victorian feel to what otherwise felt like a dull and timid psuedo-Oxbridge imitation.  I wonder if/hope we're moving back into an era of liberally applied ornamentation-we're definitely seeing some lovely brickwork on several new buildings.  I especially like the irregular veins of stone on the sides. 

[Kenect Nashville, 20 stories, 420 apts, 24,000 sq.ft. retail, garage, 1815 Division Street]

The criss-crossing wires and the tilting pole give a a quaint, developing world aesthetic.

[Alcove/900 Church St., 34 stories/418 ft., 356 apts, $160 million]

Another swimming pool of death!  And this one looks larger and more terrifying than the other.

[Nashville Bits and Pieces]

11 hours ago, markhollin said:

Nashville's Entrepreneur's Organization surveyed its 240 members to get ideas for Mayor Cooper to address pressing issues facing Nashville.  Here is a summary:

To address congestion, the EO members recommended:

- Taking a more regional or state-level approach, as opposed to a local level.

- Encouraging business owners to allow employees to work from home

- Coordinated traffic lights 

- Partnerships with technology-focused, private companies on countering traffic problems.

- "Lean more on the private sector for inspiration and direct consulting to solve public problems," the report said.

 

On education, the members recommended:

- Greater pay for teachers

- Merit pay for teachers

- Greater principal autonomy.

- Some members also called for mayoral appointments on the school board to make it "less dysfunctional" and urged city leaders to "embrace charter schools for more competition and accountability." 

 

On housing, members wanted to:

- Allow alternative structures, currently denied by codes, as well as tiny homes and more efficient communities.

- Developers could look to the city for subsidies on land purchases which would allow them to sell or rent units at below market rates.

- The city could also encourage high-density residential properties near schools for teachers with rent reductions through property tax abatements. 

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/12/18/nashville-housing-inequity-schools-and-traffic-worry-businesses-too/2674202001/

What a bunch of jerks.  Talk about tired, discredited neo-liberal BS.

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

 

Copenhagen, a city comparable in size to Nashville, has just completed the circle line of their Metro.  The system is entirely grade separated, self driving (no operators) and has frequent service 24 hours a day.  

 

[Embassy Suites (30 stories, 500 rooms), 1 Hotel (18 stories, 221 rooms)]

It's not clear to me if you're saying our climate is too hot, too cold, or what, but it's not that different from Paris and they have many examples of far more ambitious greenery incorporated into buildings.   First 2 are Paris, #3 is Madrid.

 

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

I'd like to see Nashville set aside some narrow lanes for ROV's.

[Inside 440 - Berry Hill, Midtown, Vanderbilt, 12S, WeHo, Fairgrounds, etc.]

1 hour ago, 12Mouth said:

...I would also argue that the Buckingham development is far uglier than Vandy grad housing, ...

To each his own, but it is literally incomprehensible to me that anyone could hold this opinion.

[Davidson Southeast: Antioch, Century Farms, East of Brentwood]

On 10/9/2019 at 2:31 PM, markhollin said:

Last night several hundred folks, including Mayor Cooper,  attended a community meeting in regards to Ben Freeload's plans to repurpose the former Hickory Hollow Mall.
 

...

This may be a dumb question but I'm not sure if that's a typo, or if you're editorializing, and if so, about what?

[Nashville Bits and Pieces]

16 hours ago, wes1990 said:

Taken 9/30. Judicial Center update from upper floors of UBS tower. Exterior is seemingly complete and there appear to be solar panels on the roof. 

One of those rare cases where the final building is actually much better looking than the renders.  Hopefully those are full size trees and not dwarf or fastigiate variaties.  There is plenty of room for them and this plaza will be much more pleasant shady in summer/sunny in winter, than as a scorched earth blinding hell contributing to the urban heat island effect.

[5th & Broadway | 501 Commerce | NMAAM | 34 story apt, 26 story office, + 183,000 sq. ft. of Retail]

^I love how narrow 5th Avenue looks.

[The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread]

On 8/23/2019 at 12:27 PM, ruraljuror said:

Let's not forget that some of the opposition to the AMP was that it was too small.  And after that plan was scrapped - when presented with three potential transit master plan outlines - the voters chose the most ambitious proposal.

The referendum results provide good, recent data, but they're not the only data in terms of what the citizens of Nashville and Davidson Co. might support.  Also, 4.5% of registered voters could've swung the referendum the other way, which is certainly within the margin that can be affected through better messaging, a better voter push, and/or (of course) a better plan that is just a little more inspiring or draws a little more consensus.

Plus demographics keep changing and traffic keeps getting worse, so you never know when we'll reach the tipping point.

What killed this plan was the antis were extremely well funded, provided with precise data and able to mobilize their voters-they were out knocking on doors selectively based on voting and demographic data.  The pros were not remotely prepared for what it takes to win an election nowadays.  I don't think there was anything wrong with the plan, only that the organizing and mobilization of voters should have been far more aggressive.  No one once knocked on my door or sent me any literature.  The anti-tunnel people are just misinformed, and unfortunately nowadays it's impossible to educate people if they prefer to believe nonsense.  You have to out-organize them and outspend them.  

The financial plan was also premised on the idea that both the state and federal governments would be stingy, but those governments change every few years, and political players move on or age out, so we'll see what happens there. 

[Nashville Public Art]

I'm not a Stix hater, but I'd swap it for this in a heartbeat.  

It would have to be larger, say 40-50 feet, and up on a pedestal to protect it from drunken vandals and to inspire the fear and awe it should.  Illuminated from below at night.

[Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, 40 stories, 542', $400 million]

On 8/9/2019 at 10:52 AM, NashWellington11 said:

I'm 100% positive they do. Bedrock is not very far down in most of Nashville. If you look at some of the pics of the sheeting & shoring for Asurion or the Amazon towers you can see that the bedrock is most likely no more than 20-30ft down. The bedrock (as well as flooding risk) is the main reason why almost any mass transit that involves tunneling in Nashville would be prohibitively expensive.

Nonsense.  New York's subways are bored through granite below sea level.  The most difficult material to drive a tunnel through is soft, silty soil that collapses into the hole as you go.  Limestone is a perfect tunneling material.

 

Edit:  rereading this, I feel "nonsense" was a rather rude word, I should have said "Not so" or something.  I apologize, it just irritates me how much this particular myth gets spread.

[Nashville Bits and Pieces]

On 8/7/2019 at 1:49 PM, AronG said:

Yeah, the irony behind all the Airbnb pathos is that it's ultimately a reflection of our restrictive zoning. If neighborhoods were allowed to develop based on demand (as they were before the 1950s) most of the land area within  3 miles of downtown would be filling in with townhomes and flats to meet the increasing demand. There would be thousands of airbnb units, but they would be swamped by many more residential units, which would also run the full spectrum of affordability.

Instead we restrict most areas to 4-10 houses per acre or less, creating an enormous artificial scarcity, which Airbnb gives people a way to arbitrage. Pretty self-defeating, but it's not gonna change any time soon. Which is why I'm building an airbnb in my back yard. 

Unfortunately in cities like Houston with few zoning restrictions, people accomplish many of the same results with a huge proliferation of deed restrictions: forbidding rental units, forbidding further subdivision of the property, etc.  This kind of thing is a selling  point to buyers since it forces prices to continue going artificially higher.  It would take a pretty fundamental change to the system to stop it since anybody can put pretty much any restriction in their deed as long as it doesn't discriminate against a protected group.

[Travel observations and new developments of other cities and countries]

I really wish we could bring that red and black terracotta ornamentation back.  I like it a lot more than the glazed white terracotta you see in Chicago.  We have a little in Nashville but it seems no one has built that since.

[Travel observations and new developments of other cities and countries]

9 hours ago, markhollin said:

Was in St. Louis last week.  Will post three installments.

These are from Forest Park, which is the largest urban park in the nation at 1,371 acres (over 500 acres larger than Central Park in NYC) .  It was established in 1876, hosted a World's Fair in 1904, and had many changes over its 143 year existence.  Nearly all of the exhibits and installations are free to the public. 

Planetarium:

The Jewel Box arboretum:

The MUNY (Municipal Opera outdoor amphitheater):

 

 

 

Gazebo on island of reflecting pool:

 

Tennis Center:

Missouri Natural History Museum, front:

Missouri Natural History Museum, back:

Art Museum  and reflecting pool:

Art Museum:

 

New addition to Art Museum:

King Saint Louis statue in front of Art Museum:

 

Looking down the hill from Art Museum to reflecting pool:

Art installation:

 

I remember these places from my childhood in St. Louis, the Planetarium, the Jewel Box, the Muni Opera.  Forest Park.   Nashville needs more of this, the Frist and Centennial Park and Cheekwood are great, but you go to St. Louis and Cleveland and other old Northern cities and there is a huge generational legacy from the robber barons that we don't get from Beamon and whatnot.  I know there are rich people in Nashville, why haven't they invested in this kind of public good?