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

[shanky]

NBJ article on the Lifeway to 1st & KVB location:

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/real-estate/2015/05/exclusive-lifeway-plans-to-move-hq-to-sobro-site.html

 

I'm hoping that they put together something that does'ntt resemble their current HQ.  That thing should be razed!

[MLBrumby]

Nashville_bound had mentioned this would be an estimated 9-11 stories from a source he has.

 

Bummer.... and no doubt just as attractive as the box-o-crap Gresham Smith drew up for CHS in Antioch.  Wow!  Nashville's corporate leaders have to be the least inspired of all its peer cities.  No sense of design whatsoever... and frankly, it's getting to be a joke.  Even the suburban office buildings going up around Atlanta have a lot more flair than the last several office towers in Nashville's CBD... just sayin'.  

[Paramount747]

Bummer.... and no doubt just as attractive as the box-o-crap Gresham Smith drew up for CHS in Antioch.  Wow!  Nashville's corporate leaders have to be the least inspired of all its peer cities.  No sense of design whatsoever... and frankly, it's getting to be a joke.  Even the suburban office buildings going up around Atlanta have a lot more flair than the last several office towers in Nashville's CBD... just sayin'.  

Ha!!!! Had I said this, I would have been blasted for being negative. Oh well, different  standards for some and different standards for others!

[Paramount747]

Yes, I drove by there this morning.     It's odd looking, to say the least.    I assume some engineer has gotten comfortable with putting a 5-story building on a platform of loose rock.    

Tightly compacted rock. They said the soil was too soft so they had to build it up with rock or the concrete pad would crack.

[BnaBreaker]

Ha!!!! Had I said this, I would have been blasted for being negative. Oh well, different  standards for some and different standards for others!

 

Well, he only said that like an hour ago, so maybe he still will get blasted.  But he shouldn't be, and neither should you.  It's an accurate statement.  The Buckhead skyline has some absolute architectural GEMS in it, and all we ever get are boxes that look like they were a final school project designed by a student that procrastinated until the last day of class and had to just throw something together at 4AM the night before.

 

 

I mean, look at that.  The streetscape is nothing to brag about, but there are at least four or five individual skyscrapers in that section of the suburban Buckhead skyline alone that would instantly become Nashville's crowning architectural achievement if built here, at least in terms of highrises.  It's getting kind of embarrassing.  And I believe that's an old photo. 

 

Of course there are many who would chime in and say 'well we should be happy we're getting something!'  No, damn it.  I reject that notion.  We are one of the hottest real estate markets in the nation.  We don't have to settle for whatever we can get, like some nervous, awkward boy at prom time.  We deserve much better than what we've been given.  I understand that developers have to make money, but I think many of them see Nashville as an opportunity to cut corners they ordinarily wouldn't to make even more money, and why wouldn't they, with so many people just happy to take whatever they're given. 

 

Rant, over.

Edited May 15, 2015 by BnaBreaker

[nashvillwill]

Tightly compacted rock. They said the soil was too soft so they had to build it up with rock or the concrete pad would crack.

They said, she said. It's not rocket science. It's geology. We live on one of the most dense rock foundations on the planet. With a few feet of topsoil on top of that.

-Option A; spend a few dollars to dig down to that solid rock foundation.

-Option B; let someone pay you to dump their fill, compact it, and call it "solid". Then, when the foundation fails, file a lawsuit. It was the concrete guys! It was the compaction guys! It was the engineer! It is nature!

The same reason we always wonder why there aren't more storm basements in tornado prone Missouri. Because they aren't the cheapest option is the answer.

I'm not a geologist, and I'm not an engineer either, but I pour 25 yards of concrete every day and I'm no putz.

Same b.s. that's happening at 6th & Main.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that we, as Nashvillians, are going through a period where we will have to apologize to our children. The same way we want an apology from our parents for their wholesale demolition of the past, we will have to apologize for building so much worthless b.s.

Edited May 14, 2015 by nashvillwill

[MLBrumby]

Go check out Stacks on Main (the lot next to 5th & Main in East Nashville). As Paramount747 has noted, we have a veritable mountain going up on that site.

 

It is apparent now what it is that's being "stacked"... boulders.

[Vrtigo]

[Vrtigo]

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that we, as Nashvillians, are going through a period where we will have to apologize to our children. The same way we want an apology from our parents for their wholesale demolition of the past, we will have to apologize for building so much worthless b.s.

 

At least the crap, by its very nature, is temporary. Hopefully the lemons of our current bunch will be replaced by something with more self-respect in their next life.

[nashvillwill]

At least the crap, by its very nature, is temporary. Hopefully the lemons of our current bunch will be replaced by something with more self-respect in their next life.

But what makes you think there will be a "next life"? Our economy won't boom forever. We won't be the "It city" forever! This is our chance. And IMO, we are effing blowing it. No offense to anyone, but I'm just ranting.

I hope we can correct these faults, but I'm more afraid that we will end up with wonderfully, dense, walkable, neighborhoods of slum.

[dmillsphoto]

 

 

EDIT: Since you used Buckhead as an example... I'll just leave this here and try not to cry...

[NashRugger]

Metro Atlanta: 5.7mil, Metro Nashville: 1.8mil. Do the math when it comes to economics and spending power banks think exist here. Until they can justify lending for towers like The Sovereign and such it won't happen, or get out of town developers with deep ass pockets and equity. The latter seems to be coming into focus, at least with some announcements so far, fruition is another ballgame.

[BnaBreaker]

 

 

EDIT: Since you used Buckhead as an example... I'll just leave this here and try not to cry...

 

Holy crap what a good shot!  Much better than the photo I found.  I think my favorite one of the lot is the one on the far left that has the angled roof that comes to a point.  I've always had a strange affinity for buildings like that with angled roof lines.  The Citigroup Tower in NYC is probably my favorite skyscraper ever for that reason.

Edited May 15, 2015 by BnaBreaker

[BnaBreaker]

I bow to you, Nashvillewill, for your most recent few posts here.  I could not agree with you any more.

[Guest]

As stated: "the streetscape is nothing to brag about in Buckhead." The obsession on this board with simple triangles at the top of a building or a swoop on a corner makes me barf. No one has even seen a conceptual rendering of this project... Not a single one, and a flurry of total negativity. Why? Because one person stated the building is "only" 10 stories. Do we even know that?

The hight obsession is sickening. Unhealthy. Stupid really. The best city environments on earth are not forests of skyscrapers. No one lauds Dubai for its great urban living conditions. Meanwhile up the street on Rolling Mill Hill they are building a real urban community from 4-6 story buildings.

Paris is a city of six stories. Amazing in every way. The vast majority of London is six to eight stories. Washington DC...

[Guest]

Bummer.... and no doubt just as attractive as the box-o-crap Gresham Smith drew up for CHS in Antioch. Wow! Nashville's corporate leaders have to be the least inspired of all its peer cities. No sense of design whatsoever... and frankly, it's getting to be a joke. Even the suburban office buildings going up around Atlanta have a lot more flair than the last several office towers in Nashville's CBD... just sayin'.

Yes because a corporate HQ in the urban core is the same as a Class B building in the suburbs with a huge surface parking lot. Reasonable assumption. That building in Antioch is a totally different product in every way. Uninspired... yes. Agree. Doesn't mean the other will be.

There is talent moving into this city in droves. That talent is populating these "uninspired companies". Besides, if everyone keeps hiring outside firms to do work in this city then why would people want to continue to move in? Glassy and boxy is stylistically in everywhere no matter the disdain for it on these boards. Just look at the Convention Center Redevelopment. Same firm. Still boxy. Lots of love all over the media for the concepts. The difference???? Glowing professional rendering.

However no matter how boxy or boring something is if it comes with a glowing rendering or is tall or has some swoop everyone swoons.

[Guest]

Zoned for 30 stories! Aw, c'mon Lifeway, get that variance and break the ceiling. Reach for Heaven with 40 stories.

A 1,000 person corporate HQ at 40 stories... So 25 people per floor then.

[Guest]

But what makes you think there will be a "next life"? Our economy won't boom forever. We won't be the "It city" forever! This is our chance. And IMO, we are effing blowing it. No offense to anyone, but I'm just ranting.

I hope we can correct these faults, but I'm more afraid that we will end up with wonderfully, dense, walkable, neighborhoods of slum.

Slum? Hyperbole much?

To the anti-wood folk ya'll realize that most of old town Philly is made of wood right? What about historic London? Wood can last hundreds of years. Now as for the complaining about the horrid exterior building materials... Perfectly valid. EIFS and siding have no business on a commercial building in the core. None of these exterior materials will hold up well over time.

[MLBrumby]

A 1,000 person corporate HQ at 40 stories... So 25 people per floor then.

 

Apparently, you don't understand the concept of multi-tenant office! 

[Guest]

Apparently, you don't understand the concept of multi-tenant office!

Apparently you don't understand what a single user corporate HQ is.

*Edit* Let me clarify: LifeWay being a Christian company is far more concerned about occupying a building with other tenants than the typical company would be.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Guest

[MLBrumby]

Yes because a corporate HQ in the urban core is the same as a Class B building in the suburbs with a huge surface parking lot. Reasonable assumption. That building in Antioch is a totally different product in every way. Uninspired... yes. Agree. Doesn't mean the other will be.

There is talent moving into this city in droves. That talent is populating these "uninspired companies". Besides, if everyone keeps hiring outside firms to do work in this city then why would people want to continue to move in? Glassy and boxy is stylistically in everywhere no matter the disdain for it on these boards. Just look at the Convention Center Redevelopment. Same firm. Still boxy. Lots of love all over the media for the concepts. The difference???? Glowing professional rendering.

However no matter how boxy or boring something is if it comes with a glowing rendering or is tall or has some swoop everyone swoons.

 

Still not sure what it is that you're defending... Crap in the CBD?  Or do you not understand sarcasm?  

 

Back to my point... taking your point that Class B in suburbs is different from an HQ in the CBD... go back and read my point.  Or maybe you have a less angry explanation as to why Nashville (where "talent is moving in droves") is still getting Class B suburban looking office product in the CBD for several high profile HQs.  

 

That picture BNABreaker posted is less than three miles from the house where I grew up.  I know whereof I speak...and the "likes" BNA received speak to his (and my) point.  Now if you want to continue arguing a point that you really haven't made clear, then have at it... I won't play along. 

[BnaBreaker]

It's not even the wood itself I take issue with, really, though I do think there is a significant difference between the hard wood from old growth forests probably used to build London and Philadelphia, and the lumber yard planks that are used today.  I think the use of wood is singled out here because it is so often indicative of a developer who is looking to cut corners and take shortcuts.

[Guest]

Still not sure what it is that you're defending... Crap in the CBD? Or do you not understand sarcasm?

Back to my point... taking your point that Class B in suburbs is different from an HQ in the CBD... go back and read my point. Or maybe you have a less angry explanation as to why Nashville (where "talent is moving in droves") is still getting Class B suburban looking office product in the CBD for several high profile HQs.

That picture BNABreaker posted is less than three miles from the house where I grew up. I know whereof I speak...and the "likes" BNA received speak to his (and my) point. Now if you want to continue arguing a point that you really haven't made clear, then have at it... I won't play along.

That wasn't sarcasm. Who's angry again? Go read your post from earlier. Trashing local businesses. Anger toward our lack of talent in this city and the city leaders.

Where is a Class B building going up in the core is for a corporate HQ? Please clarify. I see far superior stuff going up all over right now then has ever been built in this city before. The next wave will be even better.

Just because you get a like on a message board doesn't mean you are correct. Just means people agree. There is also some heavy group think on here that if it is a box it is crap.

[dmillsphoto]

Slum? Hyperbole much?

To the anti-wood folk ya'll realize that most of old town Philly is made of wood right? What about historic London? Wood can last hundreds of years. Now as for the complaining about the horrid exterior building materials... Perfectly valid. EIFS and siding have no business on a commercial building in the core. None of these exterior materials will hold up well over time.

The wood complaints are valid. That wood that built old-London/Zurich/Philly - that's not the same wood that drives modern projects. There's (a dime a dozen) complaints from all over about the quality these wood structures provide for. Just look at Velocity or Pine St Flats or the new Melrose. All wood structures with paper thin walls and stick frame. 

[Guest]

It's not even the wood itself I take issue with, really, though I do think there is a significant difference between the hard wood from old growth forests probably used to build London and Philadelphia, and the lumber yard planks that are used today. I think the use of wood is singled out here because it is so often indicative of a developer who is looking to cut corners and take shortcuts.

I do agree. Good point.

However... housing historically has been built out of wood so it does kind of fit. There is a higher tolerance for noise, and lower expectation of service. I don't care much for these full city block wood projects because they tend to be repetitive and really flat.