Aertson Midtown (Buckingham) | 13 Fl Residential | 17 fl Kimpton Hotel | T/O

[bhibbs]

does anyone know if South Street will survive with this project?

[FrankNash]

South Street and Panera Bread are not part of the Buckingham project.

[NashRugger]

Mellow Mushroom will be the business that abuts the south edge of the development. 

[captainwjm]

What building in Nashville that presently exist has around 800,000 sq ft. I need a building to compare the Buckingham project too.

Cordell Hull is around 900,000

[dmillsphoto]

Dang I do love the drive-thru Panera Bread at this location. Looks like that will be toast.

 

Farther down than this project. The restaurants closing are Wendy's and Ken's Japanese.

[FrankNash]

This is what IMO will make the Buckingham project successful. It's a great bookend project that will be a site line delight. Viewing from West End ave. down 21st the building will fill that entire air space ahead. Coming from the roundabout down Division st. the hotel will look like it's out in the roadway.( Hopefully  they have great signage) A fun walkable alley that will be accessible from behind the building. This will add renters and visitors to a youthful neighborhood with a grocery store no less.

[FrankNash]

Sorry about that earlier post I meant a successful design.

[UTgrad09]

I'm 50/50 on the render (I like the project's mass, but I think the design is just OK...nothing groundbreaking), but I am really excited about the project itself. This is a big time project that further establishes Midtown as an urban neighborhood, and the potential for the grocery store gives Midtown a more complete set of amenities. 

 

This and other developments (such as the roundabout proposal) will help tie the Vanderbilt and Midtown areas to The Gulch and Downtown/SoBro. Division and Demonbreun are seeing tons of action, and it will be really exciting to see how they end up developing in the next 5-10 years.

[Nathan_in_DC]

I know I'm a wet blanket on this place, but I just can't seem to love it like I should. Yes, it will be good infill and add mass, but I just don't like it. The lines are all wrong for me. Juding by the renderings, the height steps just make it look awkwardly huge, giving it a strange depth.  I appreciate the attempt at trying to make it look like an organic street block, but it just falls flat.

 

In my opinion.

[captainwjm]

I agree with Nathan.  As a neighbor, I am excited about the development of these parcels, and very hopeful that the developer will come through with the prospect of a real grocery.  And, something other than another honky-tonk or pizza parlor is a welcome change.  But, this just seems to be an attempt to do too much in what is really an awkward space.

[Paramount747]

Drove by the site this weekend. Did not see any activity.

[captainwjm]

Drove by the site this weekend. Did not see any activity.

Nothing should be happening until May, at the earliest.

[smeagolsfree]

Not many have seen this rendering of Buckingham. This is from Division. Found it the other day and WW will do blog about it.

 

[FrankNash]

Wow, not many city hotels have balconies off the rooms. Looks very W Hotel to me. 

[BnaBreaker]

That really does look like a W hotel.  Let's hope!  I give a thumbs up to the design of the hotel portion.  I still see that 'low end Aspen ski lodge' portion peaking out on the right though. 

[captainwjm]

Wow, not many city hotels have balconies off the rooms. Looks very W Hotel to me.

If. I understand the plans and the rendering correctly, the balconies are on the apartments, not the hotel. The hotel is the shorter portion in the lower left. It is topped by a pool deck.

[dmillsphoto]

If. I understand the plans and the rendering correctly, the balconies are on the apartments, not the hotel. The hotel is the shorter portion in the lower left. It is topped by a pool deck.

 I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. The change in materials is key, as I think the residential portion gets the red brick & gabled roof (shown on the right).

[smeagolsfree]

Here is the post from William.

 

I forgot to mention the project has a new name as well. Buckingham Midtown.

 

http://nashvillepost.com/blogs/postbusiness/2014/2/24/buckingham_project_site_plan_shows_new_image_name

[Paramount747]

Wow, not many city hotels have balconies off the rooms. Looks very W Hotel to me. 

There has been rumors of a W for years. Maybe this is it? Great location for a W. Perfect for the Laura Ashley and Vera Wang crowd.

[Nathan_in_DC]

Not many have seen this rendering of Buckingham. This is from Division. Found it the other day and WW will do blog about it.

 

Well, that image just illustrates even more what I dislike about the design: it looks like they took five different buildings and mashed them all into one in an attempt to create an 'organic' look.

[FrankNash]

That's the point, otherwise it would look like the projects.

[BnaBreaker]

That's the point, otherwise it would look like the projects.

 

Those would be some nice ass projects!!! 

[bhibbs]

That's the point, otherwise it would look like the projects.

  .....really? I mean, I know Franklin has some high standards and all, but, .....really?

[FrankNash]

Sorry, I was having a salty moment. I live in a tiny house in downtown Franklin and hope to move to Nashville if the AMP goes through. I'm not a design snob.

[Neigeville2]

Sorry, I was having a salty moment. I live in a tiny house in downtown Franklin and hope to move to Nashville if the AMP goes through. I'm not a design snob.

 

I'm not a design snob either, but if this whole project were a single unbroken mass it would look like a not too nice 1950s apartment block.  

 

Given the range of different renders we've seen, the final product could range from great to awful, it's all in the details.  I'm optimistic but concerned the colors will be drab-we are living through an era of gray and tan-and the upper southern portion, if stuccoed in yellowish earth tones, could end up like a cheap surburban hotel.

 

The first render showed some vegetation (potted trees) poking up from the amenities terraces above, this small detail alone radically improves the appearance of the building, it has the same effect on the building that comes, in garden design, from having a path disappearing around a corner into another portion of the garden, as opposed to a garden that can all be seen from one vantage point, there's something tantalizing up there that we can't quite see.  Breaking up the mass of the building, for me, has something of the same effect, it means you're going to have to move around the building to take it all in, it gives you something to be curious about, and is very appropriate to the angled streets of the area.