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

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

I heard Tony would do the Hyatt and Swerdling would do the Westin, but Swerdling is not going to do the facade rehab on the buildings along Broadway that the previous developer was going to do.

 

The former developer was to rehab the facade of the buildings from the Trail West Building all the way to Second Avenue. The Bootlegger's Inn which is cinderblock would come down, and the buildings would be extended to Second Avenue. The Bootlegger's Inn would be replaced. I had a friend play there when it was called The Bat Bar. The existing parking lot in the rear of the parcel was to be the parking garage and the Pilliponis Building along with The Richard's and Richard's Building would come down, and the hotel was to be 16-23 stories depending on height variances. I think the height was to be 190-220 feet, because of the short set back from Lower Broadway, But Anne Robert's of the Historical Commission, and the former MDHA chief were as upset with the prospect of the Richard's and Richard's Building coming down as I am with the Cordell Hull Building coming down.

 

I could be wrong about this, but my understanding is if Swerdling does their project, it will be 16-19 stories and about 175-190 feet not much taller than the Hyatt Place.

 

If Tony built his hotel, I am thinking in the 20-25 story range, again nothing very tall. The only tall proposal I remember was the 42 story Peabody and the 40 story Marriott.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

In your estimation, how tall would a hotel be to cover 300-400 rooms?

 

The 10 story Doubletree has 343 rooms on nine floors. The first floor is the lobby etc. The 11 story Loews Vanderbilt Plaza has 340 on 9 floors. No rooms on floor 1. The meeting rooms are on floor 2. The Renaissance Hotel has 673 rooms in 20 floors, floors 5-25. The Sheraton with the open atrium has 476 rooms. The sleeping rooms are on floors  3 through 25 with no 13th floor. So that is 476 rooms on 21 floors. (Floor 26 is the sun deck, and it's closed, 27 is storage which is only accessible by service elevators, and 28 is the restaurant now closed.)

Edited April 10, 2013 by 5th & Main Urbanite

[TheRaglander]

Wow thanks!

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

I seriously doubt we would get a tower for a hotel, but I could be wrong. When the proposals came out for the 40 story Marriott and the 42 Peabody, the anchor hotel was to be 1000 rooms, but then was reduced to 800 for the Omni which has 800 rooms on floors 5-21. A I recall, the first 4 floors are meeting rooms, and 22 is the maintenance floor.  The outdoor deck is on 23,  and both are not full floors, but smaller "caps" if you will. In any case, they built 800 rooms in a building 280 feet.

 

Hotels are utilitarian in nature, and built to exact cost considerations. They want little or no wasted space. Every square foot has to be accounted for because of profitability considerations. Rentable square feet is the key. No wasted square footage.

 

So I doubt we see a tower here, especially on the 2nd Avenue site. Any height we get in the CBD, Gulch, or Midtown would be office, apartments or condos, and note that WES is not the 400+ foot behemoths they once were in original renderings. Eakin's new tower rendering is 18 stories, and I imagine around 220 feet.

 

Hensler is only going up 23 floors and 270 feet for his Laurel project, so Nashville getting a 400+ foot tower will in most cases be rare in the future. It's just to expensive.

[FromParkAveToTN]

WOW! I really hope they have a Bloomingdales attached to this new hotel. I’m excited.

YAY!

[UTgrad09]

WOW! I really hope they have a Bloomingdales attached to this new hotel. I’m excited.

YAY!

 

It's on the 13th floor.

[MLBrumby]

I heard Tony would do the Hyatt and Swerdling would do the Westin, but Swerdling is not going to do the facade rehab on the buildings along Broadway that the previous developer was going to do.

 

The former developer was to rehab the facade of the buildings from the Trail West Building all the way to Second Avenue. The Bootlegger's Inn which is cinderblock would come down, and the buildings would be extended to Second Avenue. The Bootlegger's Inn would be replaced. I had a friend play there when it was called The Bat Bar. The existing parking lot in the rear of the parcel was to be the parking garage and the Pilliponis Building along with The Richard's and Richard's Building would come down, and the hotel was to be 16-23 stories depending on height variances. I think the height was to be 190-220 feet, because of the short set back from Lower Broadway, But Anne Robert's of the Historical Commission, and the former MDHA chief were as upset with the prospect of the Richard's and Richard's Building coming down as I am with the Cordell Hull Building coming down.

 

I could be wrong about this, but my understanding is if Swerdling does their project, it will be 16-19 stories and about 175-190 feet not much taller than the Hyatt Place.

 

If Tony built his hotel, I am thinking in the 20-25 story range, again nothing very tall. The only tall proposal I remember was the 42 story Peabody and the 40 story Marriott.

 Makes a lot of sense... I'm afraid you're right that any new hotel of the size reported will not be taller than 20 stories... 200 or so feet tall.

 

NBJ has a piece today about the Crowne Plaza (Holiday Inn's mid-lux brand) wants to put a hotel downtown.  My family stayed in a CP in London (the City location) last summer and it was very very nice.  Rooms were far better than I expected.  That is the only CP I've stayed at, and it was reasonably priced (had to be with five of us and 2 rooms).  So that's the only gauge I have... overall, it left me with quite a favorable impression.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2013/04/crowne-plaza-wants-to-build-brand-in.html

Edited April 10, 2013 by MLBrumby

[smeagolsfree]

The article states there will be a Crown Plaza in Nashville. I am hearing other rumors as well if barakat wants to share. I dont know if we can handle four possibly more full service higher end hotels not yet under construction. That would be one that barakat has heard about and Tonys project, the swerdling project and a CP, not to metion a hotel at the Buckingham site. So that would be five.

 

Too much to think about

[franktown]

Wasn't the Sheraton a Crowne Plaza for a while?

[barakat]

I'll see if I can get more info.  The one I've heard about would be in the gulch, on one of the lots near 12th and Grundy.

[donNdonelson2]

Wasn't the Sheraton a Crowne Plaza for a while?

The hotel that now bears the Sheraton name was built as a Hyatt Regency, next became a Crowne Plaza, then Sheraton...at least, that is the best of my recollection.

 

In my U.S. travels in the last ten years, Crowne Plaza hotels have NOT been at the top of my list of favorites, but maybe a newly built one would be superior to my last stay at one a few miles north of downtown Austin!

[TheRaglander]

Has 12th & Laurel started yet?  The latest articles I read talked about a February start.  If it has started, what's the progress?  I could drive by tomorrow on the way to work but everyone here is in the know.  

[samsonh]

So if you guys have never seen a building bubble, this is one. Room rates will come down a lot over the next few years IMO. I know most will disagree, but this is simple supply and demand.

[smeagolsfree]

Meeks/Lincoln project to break ground by end of the summer.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130411/BUSINESS02/304110058/2095/BUSINESS02

[smeagolsfree]

Has 12th & Laurel started yet?  The latest articles I read talked about a February start.  If it has started, what's the progress?  I could drive by tomorrow on the way to work but everyone here is in the know.  

Yes, and a lot of equipment on site too.

[smeagolsfree]

Juice Nashville coming to Icon in the Gulch

 

http://nashvillepost.com/news/2013/4/10/juice_nashville_to_open_gulch_shop

[MLBrumby]

Their timing should be very good.  We're seeing several large apartment blocks similar to this in downtown Chattanooga.  

 

Has work at the Faison (Demobreun) lofts resumed.  I was in Nashville two weeks ago and drove past the site and was very surprised to see no equipment there (site was excavated though).  It was raining that day, but I'd expected at least a couple of large earthmoving vehicles and the usual workshed.  But I didn't see any of that, as if the project had been abandoned.  Anyone been past there lately? 

Edited April 11, 2013 by MLBrumby

[MLBrumby]

Could be... but the great unknown is the MCC.  Certainly there will be a ceiling on demand at some point, but no one really knows what/when that will be as the behemoth MCC will generate XX in additional business.  I do think that the trendiness of Nashville as a destination is at a (temporary?) spike at the moment... but I saw something similar in Atlanta before the expansion of the GWCC and then (to a lesser extent) before the GA dome opened.  At the time GA dome opened we didn't have nearly as many prospects for future national events, although discussions had considered the (possibility at the time it was voted on) of the Olympics.  Point being that lots of hotels built up just after these announcements.  The bubble wasn't so big that it wasn't digested within 3-4 years ex-post.

[samsonh]

Drive by and thought I saw concrete being poured. But I wasn't paying really close attention

[jdavidf]

Nashville Glass / Miller Distributing buildings are coming down today at 11th N and Nelson Merry..   also, they have some heavy equipment grinding up the piles of rock and concrete on the newly empty lots around there.. 

 

DAvid

[fieldmarshaldj]

^Maybe the mafia was burying some snitches.

[Griz83]

Nashville Glass / Miller Distributing buildings are coming down today at 11th N and Nelson Merry..   also, they have some heavy equipment grinding up the piles of rock and concrete on the newly empty lots around there.. 

 

DAvid

 

I can see them from my office; and they are still standing.  Perhaps the rain delayed the demo?

[smeagolsfree]

They are just waiting on a few permits and they will be full steam ahead from what I understand.

[East Side Urbanite]

I seriously doubt we would get a tower for a hotel, but I could be wrong. When the proposals came out for the 40 story Marriott and the 42 Peabody, the anchor hotel was to be 1000 rooms, but then was reduced to 800 for the Omni which has 800 rooms on floors 5-21. A I recall, the first 4 floors are meeting rooms, and 22 is the maintenance floor.  The outdoor deck is on 23,  and both are not full floors, but smaller "caps" if you will. In any case, they built 800 rooms in a building 280 feet.

 

Hotels are utilitarian in nature, and built to exact cost considerations. They want little or no wasted space. Every square foot has to be accounted for because of profitability considerations. Rentable square feet is the key. No wasted square footage.

 

So I doubt we see a tower here, especially on the 2nd Avenue site. Any height we get in the CBD, Gulch, or Midtown would be office, apartments or condos, and note that WES is not the 400+ foot behemoths they once were in original renderings. Eakin's new tower rendering is 18 stories, and I imagine around 220 feet.

 

Hensler is only going up 23 floors and 270 feet for his Laurel project, so Nashville getting a 400+ foot tower will in most cases be rare in the future. It's just to expensive.

Agree fully.

 

WW

[jdavidf]

I can see them from my office; and they are still standing.  Perhaps the rain delayed the demo?

 

Could be   ...   a part of the Miller Distr building that you can't see well from 11th is down and they were on site this morning with the heavy equipment..   Nashville Glass building is still standing but I'm guessing it's just a matter of time..

 

There were also 2-3 big dump trucks and another big shovel at the site where the Korean market was..  it looked this morning like they were basically cleaning up the pile of concrete.. 

 

Maybe you could put up a web cam!

Edited April 12, 2013 by jdavidf