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

[dReAmWiELdEr]

So does that gives us an indication of who got the TIF?

 

I would make a safe assumption that they are at least one of the front runners... this made me recall an article from earlier this year (link below) that also indicated Swerdling Associates were in private talks with city officials (as they were originally wanting to develop a 350 room hotel on Lower Broadway, but the TIF contigency was a 400 room full-service hotel.)

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2013/02/22/document-giarratanas-hotel-hinges-of.html?page=all

[CandyAisles]

Test borings at Gulch Crossing site...

[Leif]

If this is the little spot next to Station Inn then I am glad, that thing was a total eyesore...

 

Well the building is still there and you can't buy beer/water/aspirin/cigarettes so it seems like a loss. I don't remember the CB Ragland signage being as prominent as it is now (though maybe it always has been) so maybe lease just ran out.  

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

Test borings at Gulch Crossing site...

I suspect this concrete and steel building will go up fast. At the forum meet when I mentioned the stick frame of Velocity and Pine Street Lofts, I in NO WAY meant to infer this building would be stick frame! I think Candy Aisles actually presumed I thought Gulch Crossings would be stick frame, and of course it's not. He assured me Gulch Crossings would stand for along time as a concrete and steel reinforced building.

 

Pine Street Lofts and Velocity have some concrete and steel for the retail  portions of the building, but the residential portions are stick frame. Buildings 6 floors and up are always concrete and steel.

Edited June 6, 2013 by 5th & Main Urbanite

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

In my estimation I am saying with 100% certainty, that Swerdling got the TIF for a variety of reasons:

 

1) They can do they original design, site plan, setbacks, height, and rehab as brought forth in 2006-2007  and not need another long drawn out discussion and debate with the Metro Council.

 

2) Swerdling specializes in Hotels and Tony has never done a hotel which gives Tony the time to focus on his Sobro whether its 30, 33, or 43 stories.

 

3) Marriott has saturated the market with almost too many hotels, and Marriott already has a 4 diamond property in the Renaissance.  Marriott has plans for 4 more properties in downtown and midtown. It's too many as it is. We need another brand.

 

4) If Huntsville, Alabama has a Westin, we should have one.

 

5) If Peabody is the other candidate, they sure have been quiet about it.

 

6) The retail fronting Broadway in the footprint of this project has already started having clearance sales to unload merchandise. One employee told me they have to vacate, and they have been told this several times.

 

7) Premier Parking has stopped some lans they had to better the lot they manage on 2nd and Broadway.

 

So, if it is not Swerdling, I will be shocked. Now, I don't expect construction to start until January 2014 once the tourist season is over.  No earlier than November 2013. They can have the pedestrian buildings fronting Broadway finished by next CMA Music Fest in time for next years CMA Music Fest.

 

Just my thoughts.

[BnaBreaker]

Already doing test borings and still no new rendering yet? 

[bwithers1]

I'm sure that there is a rending, but it's just not been made available to the public yet.

[BnaBreaker]

Hopefully!  I'm anxious to see what the redesign looks like.  To me, the original design set such a high bar. 

[smeagolsfree]

They are drilling a lot of holes for sure. I would bet that parking will be banned very soon and the lot fenced off.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

The design will go through changes as any project does. Some projects never release a rendering, so I am confident we will have a great building. No worries.

Already doing test borings and still no new rendering yet? 

It cannot be worse than the Hyatt Place.

[smeagolsfree]

How about an ice skating rink.  From the NBJ.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2013/06/06/winter-festival-ice-skating-rink-are.html

[TnNative]

Well the building is still there and you can't buy beer/water/aspirin/cigarettes so it seems like a loss. I don't remember the CB Ragland signage being as prominent as it is now (though maybe it always has been) so maybe lease just ran out.  

 

Judging from the beer prices at the Turnip Truck-Gulch last time I visited, this was the only location in Nashville that actually might have needed a discount beer and cigarettes store.

Edited June 7, 2013 by TnNative

[bwithers1]

How about an ice skating rink.  From the NBJ.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2013/06/06/winter-festival-ice-skating-rink-are.html

That could be a neat idea.  In Chicago's Milennium Park, there is (or was when I lived there) a seasonal ice skating rink out in front of the restaurant in the winter months.  In the summer months, it is used for additional seating / beer garden space. 

[smeagolsfree]

River front redevelopment back on track.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130609/NEWS0202/306090077/Nashville-s-riverfront-makeover-shifts-west-bank

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

Judging from the beer prices at the Turnip Truck-Gulch last time I visited, this was the only location in Nashville that actually might have needed a discount beer and cigarettes store.

The crowd that frequents The Gulch are not looking for an discount anything! The median income for The Gulch  is around $75,000 per year I have read somewhere. Come over to the East side if you want discount beer and cigs. Plenty of people over here looking for a discount.

[Rockatansky]

According to the 2007-2011 American Community Survey the Median Household Income for the two block groups which contain the Gulch are $39k and $44k. Please be aware that this is a 5-year estimate which contains data going back to 2007 - so it may not accurately reflect the income levels of new residents. The two block groups in question also cover areas outside the Gulch, including most of the inner-loop south of Broadway and eastern portions of the Music Row - Broadway - West End corridor.

 

5th & Main - do you have a link to the source of the $75k data?

Edited June 10, 2013 by Rockatansky

[dmillsphoto]

Just a quick couple of updates here: The Mondrian/12th & Laurel building is about to start on the second floor. The little boutique hotel has some steel work that has brought it to the sidewalk along 12th. And the Vision Hospitality hotel (can't remember brand) is also fronting the street along Division and should begin second floor work in the next month.

[bigeasy]

I could not imagine how someone making 39-44K could afford to live in one of the buildings in the gulch. I am not sure if any of those cost under 1200 a month to rent.

[UTgrad09]

Just a quick couple of updates here: The Mondrian/12th & Laurel building is about to start on the second floor. The little boutique hotel has some steel work that has brought it to the sidewalk along 12th. And the Vision Hospitality hotel (can't remember brand) is also fronting the street along Division and should begin second floor work in the next month.

Fairfield, IIRC.

[Leif]

I could not imagine how someone making 39-44K could afford to live in one of the buildings in the gulch. I am not sure if any of those cost under 1200 a month to rent.

 

Laurel House is affordable housing and I believe some percentage of Icon units are price controlled for a period.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

Drilling continues. It appears this is underway without a public rendering.

[bwithers1]

Speaking of Gulch retailers catering to a higher end clientele, this article mentions that a jeweler is moving to the Gulch  http://nashvillepost.com/news/2013/6/11/jeweler_vincent_peach_to_open_gulch_retail_shop.  The article mentions the location as being an historic building at the southwest corner of 12th and Laurel, but I think that they actually mean one of the brick buildings at the southeast corner of 12th and Laurel. 

 

I don't know if this is related at all, but when I did my Gulch walk-through during the June Forum meet that I missed, I observed someone putting out some nice patio/garden furniture in the little space between those brick buildings.  It looke really nice for whomever gets to use it. 

[TheRaglander]

Just noticed fencing around the new police precinct location on KVB.  Not sure if that means things are moving forward or something else.

[bwithers1]

I think that things are moving forward with the new Central Precinct, although that doesn't mean that there will be equipment there tomorrow or anything.  The police precinct construction is an add-on project from the existing Convention Center contract.  So that one could get going fairly quickly now that the MCC is done.  I think that the FY2014 capital spending budget that passed last night's council meeting also includes construction of a skin over the adjacent NES power substation.

 

Supposedly the Hume-Fogg Gym, which was approved in last year's capital spending budget, is in the design phase and should start sometime in the not-too-distant future, although we haven't heard anything about that in a while.

[UTgrad09]

I think that things are moving forward with the new Central Precinct, although that doesn't mean that there will be equipment there tomorrow or anything.  The police precinct construction is an add-on project from the existing Convention Center contract.  So that one could get going fairly quickly now that the MCC is done.  I think that the FY2014 capital spending budget that passed last night's council meeting also includes construction of a skin over the adjacent NES power substation.

 

Supposedly the Hume-Fogg Gym, which was approved in last year's capital spending budget, is in the design phase and should start sometime in the not-too-distant future, although we haven't heard anything about that in a while.

 

Amazing that they've been talking about the Hume Fogg gym since my brother was there (he graduated in '99) and they still don't have a design, yet they can get this sardine can police precinct designed, approved, and on its way in what, under a year?