ariesjow

It was posted by one of the Austin posters on SSP. I just shared it since we've all been waiting to see the updated renderings. I'm very impressed with the changes.

New renderings have been released for the former Convention Center site. http://www.olivermcmillan.com/places/projects/47/nashville

It would be amazing if they could at least preserve the outside walls of the Market Street apartments. My uneducated guess is that the parking garage would make that a difficult task. This is sort of bittersweet. I hate losing another historic structure, but this project sounds massive in scope.

I'm pretty sure I read that IKEA was in the process of tweaking their model and entering smaller markets with slightly smaller stores around the time of Memphis announcement. Regardless, it is a bit disappointing that we continue to be overlooked for smaller markets. It seems like it's primarily a matter of IKEA having difficulty finding the right location in the Nashville area for the right price.

This is certainly disappointing. It would have been amazing for Nashville to have pulled off one of the first Virgin Hotels. Hopefully something else will swiftly materialize on the site. I agree that we're seeing the loss of entirely too many historic structures for projects that either do not materialize or are of less significance than what they replace.

I completely agree. That said, we must also figure out a way to make downtown more appealing to visitors and residents alike who have absolutely no interest in the country music tourism industry. Since downtown is the face of Nashville, I believe figuring this out will be a critical part of Nashville's evolution and our ability to lure people from all demographics that will make us a competitive Southern city for decades to come. I'm already seeing outsiders complain that Nashville doesn't have much appeal for anyone not into country music or White millennial hipster-types. Of course, I feel different as a native who has a must different perspective growing up inside this city, leaving for a bit, then watching it evolve. However, I fear that this is the perception of many who are not well-acquainted with Nashville. I also do not feel that the city is currently doing quite enough to project a more inclusive image since it's really just recently figured out how to truly use its heritage as an asset within this last decade or so. We can keep Lower Broadway authentic, have a booming tourism industry and still have a downtown that more representative of all of Nashvillians. We're slowly seeing an evolution on Fifth Avenue and I'm very intrigued by the potential there and elsewhere once we reclaim some of the older buildings that have been under-utilized for decades. What I don't want to see happen is an obsessive focus on propelling the country music tourism industry downtown to the exclusion of everything else. I think we're already seeing that a bit on Second Avenue which feels more like an extension of Lower Broadway than it did a decade ago to me with less diversity of interests despite more activity. This is another reason why I think the redevelopment of the old Nashville convention center will be crucial and I have my fingers crossed it happens as planned.

Someone told me that the Trail West building could have been preserved using a steel support system similar to what was done with the Acme building. Is this true? If so, it would make me very sad.

I think the uniform architecture there makes for a nice, "postcard" skyline, but it creates a somewhat sterile-feeling environment at street-level, IMO. Even though we currently lack the same number of tall office and residential buildings, I much prefer the way Nashville is developing with our mixture of revitalized historic warehouses and alleyways with newer structures sprinkled throughout. I'm generally not a fan of city cores that lack that "lived-in" feeling, but I would prefer that to a blighted, historic downtown. I think we're very fortunate here in Nashville to have a nice balance.

Here's another article regarding the Buckingham tower from the NBJ. It sounds like the focus may be on the quality of the materials for the Metro planning department. http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/real-estate/2015/09/38-story-gulch-tower-could-hinge-on-swimming-pool.html

I must respectfully disagree with you here, John. Those cities are ahead of Nashville in terms of their development and transit investments, but they're still much more like Nashville than Denver and especially Seattle. I think you're being overly pessimistic without a good reason here. Nashville is already competing with those cities.

I'll reserve judgment until we have a color photo and can better see the design elements, but this looks pretty damn nice even if it's another glass box. We're definitely elevating our glass box game!

Doesn't it only need about a 60-foot crown to officially become the new tallest?

I also hope the office tower is built in a later phase. Given the proximity to the remainder of downtown, the MCC, Bridgestone, the Gulch and the JW Marriott, it seems like a nearly perfect location to pitch to a major corporation considering a relocation to Nashville.

The first comment I read about this on social media was a lady hoping this turns out to be a Walmart with gas pumps. Are we growing enough now to start choosing certain Nashvillians to ship to Hickman County?!

As long as the arena entrance opening into Lower Broadway is left intact, I think a well-executed hotel along that portion with a bit of curvature could look nice. It will also help fill in the gap in the skyline along Lower Broadway.

Pano from Love Circle that I came across in a Nashville photo thread by a SSC poster. Nashville by Travis Estell, on Flickr

Happy Belated Birthday to Kevin!

The illuminated benches are pretty bad ass too!

I don't think it's finished either, but I'm glad to see that the bright pink I thought I saw is red at night.

Some of the new lights for the Gateway Bridge are on! The bridge's arch is lined with bright pink lighting at the moment.

I'm still trying to visualize how our overall skyline will look when most of these projects are complete. Despite our complaints about lack of height, I think we will still have an impressive skyline for a city of our size in a couple of years. I think it will just look linear and long instead of tall.

My shirt came the other day as well.

I'm going to try my best to make it this time around since I have missed the last few.

Absolutely agree. I remember being slightly saddened that the original design was tweaked, but I think I like the current design much better now especially with the beautiful night lighting.