mundiejc

I have a question.... Why doesn't TDOT require that all through traffic take 840 or Briley? You can change to any interstate that way, and even 840 from Dickson to Lebanon only adds what, 15 minutes when Downtown congestion is taken into account? It would especially help by getting 18 wheelers off the road. That would alleviate a good bit of traffic through the core.

Glad to see more folks moving into North Nashville. My wife and I have been on Saint Louis St since September 2013. Got a really cool transitional victorian bungalow that we remodeled To my knowledge, there isn't an official neighborhood group in Elizabeth Park. I know there's one in North Fisk, and they've been pretty involved with the RM 40 A zoning change for the large parcel on Heiman adjacent to the railroad tracks. Thanks to their involvement, it appears the developers will be getting an SP instead of a wholesale base zoning change. There have been a lot of artists moving in on Heiman, and there have been several remodels done in the "jones-Buena vista" area. I have a listing on 11th Ave N that's under contract currently. And I'm pretty excited about whatever is going on at 9th and Buchanan. Someone is clearly putting some money into the old Jones Super Saver - they've sandblasted the entire building and brought out the Art Deco brick work, a new roof has been put on, and it appears some work has started on the commercial property across the street. The investor that I work with has been focusing exclusively on North Nashville, doing remodels as well as doing high quality section 8 rentals as both of us are interested in trying to maintain quality affordable housing in the urban core as well as revitalizing depressed neighborhoods. Im hoping North Nashville can break the trend of revitalization leading to full scale gentrification. I would like to make some money on my house, but I also think a hallmark of healthy neighborhoods is a diversity of income ranges.

Agreed from these parts that we have to figure something out that doesn't just involve moving poor people further away from services. I love the design of Cheatham Place - I think its the most architecturally interesting public housing that we've got in Nashville. If the worry is concentrated poverty, remodel them and make them available for mixed income. I also think we need intentional policy on creating quality affordable housing throughout the urban core. I think it should probably be a bit more spread out than the way housing projects have been for the last 75 years - but turning the core into an unaffordable haven for wealthy folks while the poor people who rely on our substandard public transit system for survival don't need to be pushed out to places where buses are few and far between and the agencies that help them survive are not accessible. Affordable does not have to equal ghetto. And I feel like those of us who do work toward and like to see revitalization and new urban principles have a greater responsibility to think about how to truly revitalize rather than gentrify neighborhoods.

Thanks for the info on the RS-40A zoning stuff ya'll. I know the neighborhood association over there is not wild about the rezoning... mainly due to density. But its 2 blocks off Jefferson and 2 blocks from TSU... several larger apartment complexes and some light retail in that area. Plus - I believe long term the adjacent railroad track is supposed to be some sort of commuter rail. It seems like it makes sense. I will be attending the zoning hearing and will probably bring up an SP. Hopefully that will get the neighborhood on board if they have more of a say in the process. As for Arthur and Elizabeth Park - remodels are starting to pop on multiple streets. I closed on on 17th Ave N last month for 180,900 and the investor I'm working with is finishing up rehabbing a folk victorian bungalow on 11th just north of Buchanan that will be listed in the mid 200s (2100 sq ft, 4 bed 3 bath). It seems most everything over there is along and south of Cockrill and East of 14th Ave N. Also - something is going on at the old abandoned grocery store at 9th Ave N and Buchanan. Lots of permits pulled and significant work being done. I'm really excited for anything at this juncture that will bring some stability to the Buchanan corridor. Too many vacant commercial properties right now. Additionally - a permit was pulled at I believe 1411 Buchanan for rehab for Alex Lockwood's new gallery (he has been at 100 Taylor). BTW - here's the rehab on 11th - if you know anyone who might be interested, shoot me a PM.

So - I was driving by vacant land at the railroad tracks and Heiman Street, near the 2500 block and noticed a sign for a zoning hearing to change zoning to RM40. I can't find any information about the hearing online and thought some of ya'll might know something about it, or know where I could find out about it (besides calling in, which I plan to do Monday if no info) Also - RM 40 seems to be zoning that goes a bit beyond normal apartments - the language says something about structured parking and walkable community. I highly doubt someone is getting that ambitious in North Nashville (remodeled houses are really starting to move, but that area is quite a ways away from the spillover areas from Germantown and Buena Vista) to do something imminently, but this has been the best place to come for info on this sort of thing. Thanks!

Bwithers Yes - the parking lot is being built on three adjacent lots on the north side of heiman at dbtodd. The church is on 6 parcels on dbtodd between heiman and scovel.

I have yet to receive an email back from the councilmember regarding the Lee Chapel AME project..... I called zoning today and got bumped around to the person who is reviewing the parking lot. They sent it back to have impervious pavers instead of asphalt. I guess that's a plus. I couldn't get anyone in planning about the actual new church being built but I sent an email to the planning commission. I know most of y'all aren't up in this neighborhood - but I can't express how ridiculously out of scale this thug is compared to what's around it. If they built the church up to the street, Id feel a bit better. I'd love it if some of y'all with more experience could help point me in the right directions to make sure this thing doesn't just get rubber stamped.

I just looked at the tax records - they own like everything over there and have been buying properties since the early 90s. Both of the 2.5 story four squares on scovel are owned by them. I'm gonna have my investors contact them about purchasing. It will be terrible if they end up razing the entire two blocks they own.

Edith Langster is the rep for that district. What's an ROD?

So - I was driving home the other day and Lee Chapel AME was being demoed as well as several adjacent properties. I got excited as this area of DB Todd Scovel as Heiman has great potential (though I did love the old church building) Turns out - the church is rebuilding a suburban style building on six parcels and then adding surface parking on 3 parcels. This is absolutely maddening. Are there not any zoning things that have to change to turn single family lots into one parcel, or into parking lots? How is this in line with the north nashville plan? I emailed the council person but I'm skeptical I'll get a response. Here are the renderings https://m.facebook.com/theleechapel?_rdr

The north nashville development in the post is at 26th and Clarksville pike, which is currently a large, abandoned apartment complex. This will be huge for this area - my house is just 3 blocks from this development. Things are about to explode up here as it's the only truly affordable area left close to downtown.

Yeah - the distance isn't bad, the infrastructure is just a little weird and makes the walk feel further than it is. My wife and I went to Ben Folds at the symphony back in March. We ate in the gulch and rode the circuit to the symphony. The circuit was super late to take us back, so we just walked back over to the gulch and it wasn't nearly as long as I imagined it would have been.

Since I'm the resident northwest of 65 north Nashville poster - thought I'd add some information. Currently 5 properties in osage/north fisk and Elizabeth Park that are under contract for over 100k. One of those is a remodeled cottage on 22nd Ave N that's was listed at 140k. A remodeled art deco on Underwood just closed at 175k. 9 months ago, when I purchased my house and started work on it, I think only 5 houses had closed over 100k since 2006. There's just not enough housing in this city for the number of people trying to move here. Absolutely insane things going on right now.

Possible new residential price point in Buena Vista? Remodeled shotgun house just went on the market. 976 square feet. 200k list. That's like 205 per square foot.

They are only protected by the constitution on public property. Unfortunately, that includes roads, parks, sidewalks, etc. The consequences of becoming the "it city" I guess.

There's currently a renovation/remodel almost completed on Arthur just north of 65 on the east side of Arthur that looks like it will be pretty well done. Shake shingles in the front eve, new fence, railing, landscaping. don't know if it will go up for sale or if it was done for someone who had all ready purchased the home. Kudzu Homes has broken ground on a new construction on the west side of Arthur just south of Elizabeth Park and is about to begin a remodel on 14th N in Elizabeth Park. Arthur rendering http://kudzuhomes.com/4/post/2014/04/1633-arthur-avenue.html 14th N house http://kudzuhomes.com/4/post/2014/04/1707-14th-avenue-north.html

I have a source that's pretty high up at Sarah Cannon and she says it will be a Whole Foods. I'm ok with that, though I'd prefer Publix or Trader Joes. Just cause I can't afford to do all my shopping at Whole Foods.

I am hopeful that this project will be better than a normal suburban strip mall... though I hate that its losing the residential component. I loved the streets of brentwood idea/design. There is the development just south of there that will have a town center vibe to it where they are redeveloping the office complex south of harris teeter. Not to mention the condos/flats being built between franklin road and the interstate in that general vicinity as well. It seems developers and the city are trying - but folks who moved to an area with large mandatory lot sizes aren't super keen on density. And as someone who works in Maryland Farms... there has got to be a transit solution in the future. I do all sorts of illegal parking lot cut throughs to get out to 65 every day because using actual roads, even at 4;30, takes nearly 20 minutes just to go maybe 2 miles. Once these new projects are completed - the traffic volume will increase significantly. BRT lite has got to come down franklin pike from downtown and there needs to be spoke service off of that line through Maryland Farms. I will gladly stop driving and by a year pass for the bus if that occurs.

It will be a fight for sure. Though I think most of that change is in the neighborhoods east of the 65 loop. I think area realtors should focus on bringing the professors from TSU/Fisk/Meharry into the neighborhood. Regardless of color - for any neighborhood to be healthy, it needs folks who can support local businesses and as few vacant homes as possible. I'm hoping to start a neighborhood association and listserv for the area to try and organize the community a bit so that the community itself can have a say in how the inevitable gentrification occurs.

You should totally venture over. It's got higher than average crime, but it's not "keep driving if you get a flat tire" dangerous. I grew up in Memphis though, so I recognize my perspective may be a bit skewed. The neighborhood is definitely not Bordeaux. Bordeaux is a suburban area across the river that mainly developed in the 40s-60s. My house, which is kinda on the NW quadrant and is a mile from Rolf and Daughters, 2 miles from the farmers market, not quite 2 miles to Charlotte.

PH I am right with you. There are so many abandoned properties in this area (which my dad is focusing on right now). He's buying properties, rehabbing them to section 8 standards and being an involved landlord that partners with his tenants, who, interestingly enough, are familes that are leaving Antioch because of the crime and gang activity going on there. He's also doing a couple flips a year. I think out of the roughly 20 properties he owns now, all but 2 were vacant when he purchased them. Neither I nor he are interested in displacement - but this community needs more mixed income in order to thrive, and more than anything, it needs fewer abandoned properties. Its absolutely astounding how many vacant houses are in North Nashville. I also hope to help organize folks to fight any renaming of streets/neighborhoods. There is so much civil rights history in this neighborhood - I hope it can keep the moniker "North Nashville" rather than having realtors come in with some funky new name ie "Historic West Town" trying to replace "The Nations". What would be great is if middle class African Americans could once again call this neighborhood home so that it truly is a diverse place, rather than solely yuppie, upper middle class white folks. The housing stock is a bit smaller on average than 12south, East Nashville, Sylvan Park, so I think having more diversity in incomes in this neighborhood is maybe more likely than, for instance, where I used to be on N 2nd in McFerrin Park. The rate of displacement going on over there was/is stunning.

Long time lurker here - finally decided to register and post. Just wanted to let ya'll know it may be wise to add, or start a new forum for the historic north Nashville area bounded by charlotte, 28th ave n, metro center and 65) as some residential projects have started over here. My wife and I just moved into a bungalow that we are in the process of restoring in the 2300 block of st Louis. Two houses to our south (on Knowles and Underwood) have sold for 149k and 175k respectively - there are about 10 remodels in progress right now that I'm aware of in this zone - and kudzu homes is building a new construction, 3 story modern rooftop deck house on Arthur right by Elizabeth Park. Plus a nice all brick townhome development just finished contstruction on DB Todd at Knowles, and the surrounding property has been sold and cleared, presumably for a larger forthcoming development. Investors are all over the neighborhood now, trying to pick up houses before things get really crazy. My dad has been purchasing property and remodeling for rental purposes for over a year now - and he's getting calls from all sorts of investors looking to get in. He's going to be remodeling a great late 30s bungalow on 22nd later this year - that he almost didn't get as it went under contract 8 hours after hitting the market. Its my belief that the potential for this neighborhood, especially once you have a diverse income mix and some of the abandoned houses are remodeled or torn down as needed. Buchanan and Jefferson are really great commercial corridors that remind me of 12south when I first moved here in 2003. Great old commercial space, sidewalks, on streets with more of a residential/walkable feel. We cashed out of McFerrin Park last September to get our new house, and I'm glad we did. 5 years from now, I'm convinced Jones, Elizabeth Park, Fisk/Osage, and Cumberland Gardens are going to have a completely different feel.