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“Architectural value” is probably best arbitrated by architects, and Metro commissioners who are architects have argued for saving the building for its architectural value. Dr. Learotha Williams provided information about the historic significance of the structure during last Friday’s joint Metro Council committee meeting about this structure. That information is available in the video along with the presentation from Metro Parks about how this site can relate to and enhance Wharf Park and future greenway connections. The discussion about Wharf Park’s riverfront access is described in good detail in the committee meeting video footage We do need housing downtown along corridors to support bus service and this is a key location to do that. If Metro did not buy this property, private developers would likely have bought the property, demolished the historic structure and put housing there. As things stand, now that Metro owns it we can work with MDHA, who has an adjacent parcel, to program the entire site comprehensively for better designed affordable housing and a better designed Wharf Park entrance while we explore future uses of the building, which is not in as bad of shape as I had feared. I have attached some of my photos from the Metro Council tour last Friday.

East Bank events this week: -Monday, 12:00: WPLN This Is Nashville broadcast -Tuesday, 8:30: Urban Land Institute event, “Touchdown: The Future Of The East Bank” at Bass, Berry & Simms -Wednesday, 4:00: Metro Council joint committee meeting on East Bank Capital Improvements Budget items

This is a good location steps from Hunter’s Station. This is one of those long-vacant parcels that has needed something for a long time. This design is also a big improvement over what was approved next door. Having a sixth floor will make this project be the tallest building to date in that vicinity of East Nashville., so it should stand out in a good way.

Yes, Powell did a really nice job with that building. They also designed the apartment building that is being constructed across the street. That apartment building has a shared parking agreement with this building for some of the spaces in that rear lot. I am really impressed by the level of care that went into landscaping along the alley since it carries a fairly high amount of pedestrian activity. There is also a BZA case next week for the parcel that has Lakeside Lounge (formerly Edgefield Sports Bar) upstairs and Pfeffer Torode Architecture downstairs at the alley level. The request is to construct an outbuilding at the alley that would contain a small restaurant incubator space. The mixed use zoning has a 20-foot rear setback requirement and this request is to construct the outbuilding there within that rear setback directly next to the alley. If approved and constructed, that restaurant space could further activate the alley there alongside Attaboy, etc.

I agree that Assembly Food Hall is very well done. Shopping/dining centers in urban centers that are open air or enclosed go back thousands of years in human history. The downtown Arcade is a mall. Covent Garden in London is a mall. Etc.

@smeagolsfreeThis is at the northeast corner of 6th/Dew. The building was designed by Smith Gee Studio to leave room around the Nashville Tree Foundation Big Old Tree contest champion cherry bark oak tree. That is one of a small number of trees on the campus that are older than the public housing development itself. This one could conceivably date back to the Boscobel College days, and the Cayce housing blocks that were constructed on this initial block in the late 1930s were built around it. Lockeland Springs resident Mona Hodge at SGS was the lead architect on this project which is being named Cherry Oak Apartments in honor of the tree.. My favorite feature of this particular building is the interesting stairwell that will have open views facing the tree as if one were climbing a tree house. I anticipate that Smith Gee Studio will also complete design work on the rest of this block face along the north side of Dew Street between South 6th and South 7th Streets soon and that if things go well we will see those units break ground next calendar year. Meanwhile, the Martha O’Bryan Center expansion is underway at the northeast corner of 7th/Dew. When these projects are completed not only will Dew Street have been reconnected across the campus but everything along both sides will be either new or renovated with the exception of the MDHA maintenance building at 7th/Lenore, which backs up to Dew Street. MDHA may eventually be able to relocate those operations to another site in order to build housing on that corner.

I haven’t received any recent updates about plans for that parcel.

The Gallatin Road SP that would have required buildings be constructed to the sidewalk was thrown out by the court. The Gallatin Road UDO which makes even many base zoning requirements optional was put in place instead. That was during the 2011-2015 term before I was elected, so I’m not certain what all went into that process.

Status Dough has locations in Knoxville in addition to this one in East Nashville. I am not familiar enough with Knoxville to know whether or not those locations are close to chain stores as competition. My guess is that a Dunkin Donuts would be packed, particularly with traffic from in-bound morning commuters, but that the local shops would still be fine. Similar to the Starbucks. To date, I haven’t heard of any local East Nashville coffee shops closing. Donut Distillery has raised its profile with a diversity of offerings and events inside the building and in the parking lot. Five Daughters Bakery and East Park Donuts are located in different mini-submarkets and should be fine. My prediction is also that native East Nashvillians will continue to lament the long-gone Krispy Kreme at Greenwood/Gallatin as though that had been a local independent shop. Nostalgia can be powerful. It is regrettable that the Gallatin Road UDO that replaced the SP strips out all of the urban placement requirements of even the base zoning on Gallatin. The 7-Eleven is built to the sidewalk and includes a greatly widened sidewalk but is in no way pedestrian focused. Despite its placement that building does the opposite of activating the street. The same would have been true of the original plan for the Publix circa 2007. That block of Gallatin from Petway to Granada is in need of some new energy in addition to Hearts. Well, it really needs a 5-story mixed use building lining the block, but assembling enough parcels to do that would be difficult. While it does not advance the desire to make Gallatin more walkable, this project doesn’t necessarily make things worse. Even most of the local restaurants that have popped up on Gallatin still have the pull-in parking lots that were grandfathered in with the existing buildings that were repurposed. I’m sure that NDOT will be taking a close look at this site plan.

When this project was presented to the MDHA Design Review Committee the architect from Powell stated that these would be residential apartments and not STRs. Of course, STRs are permitted in the base zoning and the East Bank Redevelopment District was written so long ago that nobody thought that there would be hotel room demand in East Nashville beyond what a handful of traditional historic bed and breakfasts could offer. But while the base zoning permits STRa and the redevelopment district is silent on them, the architect stated to the DRC that these would be apartments and would share the parking lot with the office building that Powell also designed across McFerrin.

The tax base increase on future mixed-use development was originally conceived to pay Metro’s portion of the cost of a stadium renovation. That redirected tax base, the hotel occupancy tax rate increase, and the $500M state bonds predicated upon a dome are all in addition to what Titans would contribute. The real question then becomes how much of a gap would remain, who would pay for that and how. That information is not yet available.

There was a commercial building on that corner originally that was owned by a notorious slumlord. Then-District 6 Council Member Mike Jameson held countless community meetings with the Lockeland Springs Neighborhood Association to codify the Specific Plan zoning for this site based upon community concerns and feedback. The SP even limited the candle power of any potential signage. That puts the "specific" in Specific Plan zoning. Those meetings all took place over a couple of years and the SP zoning was passed in 2009, I believe. Since that time, several passes have been made at building this project within the SP zoning requirements with final design reviews from the Metro Historic Zoning Commission. This one is the most sensitive to the neighborhood and removed the rooftop deck access from the plans that were approved. I'm pretty happy with it, and Powell's construction team has been a joy to work with. I wish that all construction project management teams were that sympathetic to the neighbors. Most historic commercial buildings on these corners in East Nashville were pretty utilitarian. Mad Donna's and Lipstick had almost no detailing. Even the historic Woodland Studios building is quite utilitarian. Some of the original H.G. Hill grocery store buildings had a little bit of architectural detailing in the brick work or masonry or had tiled faux-roof along the pediment but that's about it. Simple and elegant. I'm with you that I am glad that the painted brick fad hasn't grabbed this one.

This looks great and would be a fantastic upgrade to the Main Street corridor. We need more housing density to fill in some of the vacant parcels to support walkability, transit ridership and nearby businesses.

A local East Nashville team has been working on that acquisition for a while now. Stay tuned.

Architect Tracey Ford at EOA really hit a home run with these designs, both at the Red Oak Flats but especially here at the Red Oak Townhomes. I like the way that the vertical architectural elements help these townhome units visually ambulate over the hillside topography of this site. Cayce residents had input into color choices and some of those kinds of details as well. The playground under the branches of one of the Nashville Tree Foundation "Big Old Tree Context" champion shade trees is stellar.

The present functioning of the DTC is that a height modification can be considered in consultation with Metro Planning's Design Studio. This means that the height modification must be justified by green space or architectural quality, etc. This process seems to work well to direct projects to preserve historic structures or context, to provide public amenities, or to provide for design that improves upon mere "glass boxes," which is what we get in areas such as Midtown where a bulk zoning regulations allow buildings of a certain size by right. I can see the argument that the height modifications involve subjectivity. But at the same time the height modifications do have a public hearing opportunity at the Planning Commission which helps to maintain transparency about the decisions.

The Mayor appoints most Board and Commission members but they are approved by Council. This does not always mean that the Board and Commission members do whatever the Mayor or Council propose. The Mayor’s Office can contact Board and Commission members directly on upcoming agenda items. I’m not sure how often Mayor Cooper or any other mayor dies that. For the Planning Commission, eight members are mayoral appointees with one member being the mayor’s representative. In this case that is former CM Mina Johnson. The 9th Planning Commission member is elected by the Metro Council directly. I was elected to fill that role for the second half of this term. I voted in support of this height modification request.

I recently rezoned the two parcels to MUG-A zoning, which prohibits some of the industrial/warehouse uses, allows housing by right, and permits 5-7 stories depending on parcel size. This parcel size would meet requirements for 7 stories exclusive of parking decks. I had hoped that this rezone to mixed use might trigger a domino effect away from industrial uses and the market appears to be responding to that signal. The MUG-A is a good baseline for the community plan policy for this area, but with the sensitivity of the riverfront sites SPs could be more effective at balancing height, use and access needs and opportunities.

The permanent supportive housing is going to break ground in north capital north of the courthouses. This had originally been proposed by Mayor Briley, but Mayor Cooper has been reworking that with a better design and an accompanying park space. The proposed Wharf Park may also include a permanent supportive housing component. And the historic school building would be renovated into a community center space. But that planning phase is dependent upon acquiring the site from the State and doing something like a land swap with MDHA here in Rolling Mill Hill.

While this was by-right construction, I had asked Powell to design these units as townhome condos. The property owners have continued to express interest in converting them to condos when the financing-required “hold” period is through. I haven’t been inside the units, but that was and has been my understanding of the long-term goals of the property owner. As for utility placements, that was to have been approved by the MDHA Design Review Committee before the Five Points Redevelopment District expired. Some of those details had not been uniformly addressed by MDHA on a few projects in the area, which was another factor supporting my statement at the time of the redevelopment district expiration that the redevelopment district had outlived its usefulness to the neighborhood, particularly as an enforcement tool to provide consistent expectations. It sort of became another layer of review among departments that did not always talk to each other or check back in with each other and as a result, things were falling through the cracks with the neighborhood’s built environment and other conditions usually suffering as a result of oversights. You are correct that 5 Spot is insulated and should be good to go. This building’s use as a hotel will if anything help to bring customers there seeking out live music. Another poster had commented on the lane and sidewalk closures. This project’s sidewalk pours are nearing completion. There had previously been cars parking on the sidewalk/curb cut apron when this was a car sales lot. This project actually formalized that on-street parking arrangement by widening the streets and installing a parking aisle in between the new sidewalk bulb-outs. Cars are already parking on the Main Street drive aisle for other surrounding businesses. The sidewalk pours are being delayed a bit now waiting for some of the telecom utilities to move their lines from the old poles to the new utility poles. The street trees at 10th/Main are also grossly overgrown which may present some issues. I have asked Metro to trim the Main Street trees this fall to clean up some street lighting and visibility issues.

The notion that neighborhoods originally developed density only gradually in the early 20th Century as populations gradually increased and that it was relatively affordable for most people to build or buy houses or add commercial buildings serving the neighborhoods is a fantasy that is not supported by historical research. Most housing in the urban historic neighborhoods was built by investor landlords on spec close to the streetcar lines. The population was relatively dense because few people could afford to own property themselves, few owned cars, and in the pre-Nuclear Family era extended families tended to live together all in a 2- or maybe 3-bedroom house or apartment and they were lucky if there was indoor plumbing. Even Ross Elementary School on Ordway had outhouses, for instance. Women in most cases could not own property in their own name. And with significant barriers to employment and income, many widows took in boarders into their homes to help pay bills and survive. It is far too easy to paint rosy pictures of what life was like in the past when urban population densities were at their peaks. While it may not always be the case, Council District 5 is a prime example of gentrification leading to larger houses with fewer occupants, That is literally what is happening there. Only small areas of the Maxwell and Greenwood neighborhoods have Conservation Overlays that prevent demolition of historic houses. so there aren’t any zoning restrictions on any sizable portion of the area that require renovation rather than building new. Instead, property owners are free to tear down the overwhelming majority of housing units in District 5. And in the last ten years they have torn down smaller houses that had sheltered larger, extended families and replaced them with much larger houses that shelter a single person or a couple maybe with one child. The Census data shows the effect of gentrification on District 5, which is much more pronounced than in District 7, for instance. District 7 has had a more stable overall population density even while home values have increased significantly. But District 5 has seen a more dramatic population decline, even as new construction has increased and even as the 2011-2019 District 5 Council Member supported a record number of zone changes to increase housing supply opportunities there. Almost the entire District 5 area was downzoned to single-family not by some effort to stop integration early in the 20th Century, but fairly recently by then-District 5 Council Member Pam Murray. The purpose of this downzoning was to stop the perceived social and property devaluation issues that occurred in multifamily or what was called at the time “boarding house zoning” when houses were divided up into multiple apartments that mostly served as SROs or where landlords allowed deferred maintenance to occur to a point that housing conditions were substandard and where in many cases tenants with criminal activity issues affected safety and quality of life for the majority African American neighborhoods that she represented. Drug dealing, prostitution and gun violence plagued parts of District 5 until fairly recently through majority African American neighborhood groups working with the East Precinct to address safety concerns.. When those issues were brought under better control, then suddenly the young professionals started moving in. Zoning was not a major factor in the gentrification in District 5 - the area has had multiple overlapping subsequent upzonings over the last decade. The issue was a newfound and sudden desirability of East Nashville caused by significant reductions in crime, particularly gun violence, paired with significant openings of restaurants, bars and amenities in neighborhoods that were relatively affordable through prior devaluations and that had relatively complete existing sidewalk networks to support walkability. I do not argue that multifamily zoning necessarily leads to property standards issues and crime. It is that in East Nashville several overlapping issues exerted themselves to make a once desirable area undesirable, and therefore affordable. Actually, we read that the construction of the railroads in East Nashville was fought by property owners because they were concerned that it would bring noise and air pollution to their properties, and when they lost the lawsuits and the railroads were built anyway, many of those property owners subdivided their properties for sale and left the area. Another factor was that in the days before mortgages people had to pay cash for houses, and so with no subsequent mortgage payment to deal with many owners of older houses moved away and either divided up their houses into apartments, subdivided them for platted street blocks or simply sold them for development (as happened with the houses along Gallatin where also, a Kroger, etc are located). The widening of Main/Gallatin and Dickerson caused many buildings that had been constructed to the street to be demolished. Interstate and Ellington construction. Lack of Codes at all or enforcement of what may have existed led to poor building maintenance and proliferation of businesses that degraded quality of life. In some cases, property owners or the city itself demolished large portions of neighborhoods as part of Urban Renewal efforts that disrupted intact neighborhoods. In other cases, property owners or the city itself used areas of urban neighborhoods as construction and demolition landfills, etc. More ink has been spilled about redlining, racism and white flight than I could repeat here. This is all to say that historic urban neighborhoods in the early 20th Century Nashville did not become dense, walkable and complete mixed-use communities through the supposed benevolent forces of an efficient market until zoning got in the way and ruined everything. And it is not necessarily the case that simply rezoning everything to multifamily or mixed use solves all housing supply and social issues. Most of lower East Nashville actually had multifamily zoning that coincided with (but was not the cause of) declining property standards and community quality of life. Then efforts were made to downzone and increase the specificity of zoning to create the conditions that would attract people to choose to live here again and to make it possible to obtain a mortgage on a home here. Today there is a need for more housing supply and the Metro Council has passed a large number of zone changes to increase density throughout District 5 in particular. But the real estate market is not efficient and there will be lag times until that supply-demand balance catches up. Who knows when the housing market may achieve balance. Then subsequent external factors could cause that housing supply to become oversupply, which would lead to affordability again. Repeat.

it is EOA: East Nashville resident Tracey Ford. I am glad to see this one starting. This apartment building will share the parking lot with the new two-story office building across McFerrin where DualTone had been located. This design from Powell represents a good “save” because the future of the former Molly Green Salon that stood on this corner was undecided after the building was literally exploded by the tornado. So when that corner parcel was added in to the project after the building next door was already under construction, this design maintains floor heights and some degree of symmetry. I will be glad when both. Yielding some are completed and the extended lane closure on Main Street opens to new sidewalks built to current standards wrapping this entire corner.

The reality is that that area simply isn’t all that walkable and doesn’t have great transit access, either. Just look at the huge amount of parking that East Nashville Beer Works generates. Nashvillians are still very much in the mindset that if four friends meet for a meal or drinks, there are four cars in the parking lot. Granted, there might be some rideshares. It is difficult for business owners, particularly bar or restaurant owners, to push back on that because they risk having empty bar or dining rooms. But this location in particular is one that isn’t going to be particularly walkable any time soon. And actually, I was surprised to see the 2020 Census data about the lack of growth or even population decline in some of these parts of East Nashville. Maybe when more of these townhouse projects are occupied those growth numbers will change for the 2030 Census. But otherwise the assumption that gentrification leads to larger houses with fewer occupants appears to have been borne out so far in some of these areas.

Please report that to the Metro Public Health Department with any specific information that you can provide.

Do you mean demolished? I can see that happening. The building was reportedly pretty gross. You might want to contact the Health Department about the rat population, especially if it is extending all the way to hour house three blocks in from Gallatin.