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

[BnaBreaker]

gulch crossing?  before a rendering has even been released?

[dmillsphoto]

gulch crossing?  before a rendering has even been released?

 

No, for 12th & Laurel/Mondrian or whatever it is...

Edited April 21, 2013 by dmillsphoto

[BnaBreaker]

ohhhh right right...certainly good news

[dmillsphoto]

Indeed. I hope they're able to get an Ox cam up on Icon to watch it. Watching it on the CC/Omni cam won't cut it, and it won't be up for much longer.

[timmay143]

Yeah, the Omni and MCC are really not that bad, especially in person.  Maybe not the best, but can live with it.  I just hope the infill around KVB will "synergize" that whole area.

[MLBrumby]

Yes... I agree... the MCC and Omni are not great architecture, but they're solid for the attempts (and overall success) in being open to the street (to activate).  Poor marks however for the grotesquely empty sides along Demonbreun and most of KVB.  Shame to think (though) of all the money spent on the MCC and it's not anything stunning to look at.  BIG! yes... but not especially appealing to the eye.  The Omni is nothing special either... even a bit tacky.  However, I am so glad that they did not put up a suburban style, mirror-glass eyesore like they put next to the Dallas convention center.  So it all could have been much worse.

[UTgrad09]

Yes... I agree... the MCC and Omni are not great architecture, but they're solid for the attempts (and overall success) in being open to the street (to activate).  Poor marks however for the grotesquely empty sides along Demonbreun and most of KVB.  Shame to think (though) of all the money spent on the MCC and it's not anything stunning to look at.  BIG! yes... but not especially appealing to the eye.  The Omni is nothing special either... even a bit tacky.  However, I am so glad that they did not put up a suburban style, mirror-glass eyesore like they put next to the Dallas convention center.  So it all could have been much worse.

 

I think 3 sides of the MCC are very appealing for any type of building. The KVB side could be a lot better, but even that is very nice looking compared to most convention centers in this country. Overall, I have very few complaints about the design of the MCC...really, I think its only failing is not utilizing the KVB side as a retail strip, as originally intended. Convention centers are meant to be functional buildings. Very few address the design element at all. We (Nashville) probably could've spent half the money and gotten a convention center of around the same size...I think this is one we should call a victory because we (at least most of us) would generally assume that the city would've gone that route.

 

For the Omni. It's nothing awe-inspiring. I think the front is decent. I think the side on 5th will be decent. I'm less than impressed with the side on 4th...I think more glass would've made it look nicer. I'm not a big fan of the corners of the building being undecorated concrete walls. But other than that, it's still probably one of the nicest looking hotels in town that was actually designed as a hotel (with the exception of The Hermitage Hotel).

 

I would love for us to have a gorgeous hotel design downtown...a big hotel, not a boutique. I think that will come, eventually. The problem is that by nature, most hotels are rather utilitarian in design. I think it will take us getting a high high end 4 star, or a 5 star hotel to get it.

[BnaBreaker]

I'd have to disagree about the MCC.  I am certainly disappointed that they decided not to have retail along KVB, but I personally, think the design is absolutely gorgeous, especially along Demonbreun.

[franktown]

With NABRICO building and Cumberland Park open, does anyone know the next step for riverfront redevelopment?

[smeagolsfree]

I think it is delayed for a while. The person that was heading up the project has retired and not real sure about Metros timetable now.

[CandyAisles]

Programmatically, I'm predicting a similar sized building that functions much the same way the rendering suggests.  MarketStreet has a lot of the pieces to this building figured out already...at least functionally.

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

I thought the Eakin Tower had started, but not so.  Eakin told William the building is NOT under construction and won't be any time soon. The rendering is strictly for advertisement purposes. The Laurel/Mondarin will have two tower cranes. A crane and equipment may be on the Eakin side, but no construction is underway for Eakin's Proposed 18 story Building.

[CandyAisles]

I thought the Eakin Tower had started, but not so.  Eakin told William the building is NOT under construction and won't be any time soon. The rendering is strictly for advertisement purposes. The Laurel/Mondarin will have two tower cranes. A crane and equipment may be on the Eakin side, but no construction is underway for Eakin's Proposed 18 story Building.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  That is my understanding as well.

[bwithers1]

The next phases of the Cumberland River redevelopment plan do seem to be delayed.  Note that the Cumberland Riverfront park development stuff is handled by MDHA, not by Metro Parks.  We will see what, if any, next phases of the plan are funded in this year's capital budget.   Based on the tone of the mayor's office, I'm not optimistic.  The council will not take up the budget until later in May.

With NABRICO building and Cumberland Park open, does anyone know the next step for riverfront redevelopment?

[Guest 5th & Main Urbanite]

With NABRICO building and Cumberland Park open, does anyone know the next step for riverfront redevelopment?

It's actually underway. They have had heavy equipment on site for awhile filling in the riverbank with stone. On the KVB side, there are several tons of rock that have been placed to increase the bank. There is even a crane on site.

[nashvillwill]

It's actually underway. They have had heavy equipment on site for awhile filling in the riverbank with stone. On the KVB side, there are several tons of rock that have been placed to increase the bank. There is even a crane on site.

I'm not familiar with the next phase. What is the rock for? What is this leading up to?

[East Side Urbanite]

Next phase is on indefinite hold. I got this from a Metro official who knows. The work 5th & Main Urbanite references, though of importance, is not a key part of Phase II.

 

WW

[East Side Urbanite]

Friends,

 

At quick glance, and if you're in your car driving along Demonbreun, the Eakin site looks to be under  construction. But I walked up to it yesterday and gave a close look. Nothing. Equipment and vehicles are stored on the Eakin portion of the overall land mass, but there is no work being done on Eakin's proposed tower.

 

WW

Edited April 25, 2013 by East Side Urbanite

[BnaBreaker]

Damn. 

[MLBrumby]

Such a shame that Nashville cannot get going on its waterfront the way Chattanooga has... my family gets down to Coolidge Park as often as possible.

[volsfanwill]

I have a question, maybe someone can educate me, I really have no idea.  why is there a suburban office park (metrocenter) basically in downtown?  I have always wondered this even back in the 90's growing up in Franklin.  It looks like it belongs in a surrounding county, not downtown.  I say downtown because to us in Franklin, downtown Nashville was basically everything within I-440.

[drewbert]

Sorry if this is well known - I searched briefly and didn't see anything... what's the big hole in the ground on 6th between Church and Union? Used to be a surface lot.

[MLBrumby]

Because when Metrocenter was planned and developed in the late 1960s, it was a wide expanse of floodplain, suburban style developments were all the rage, and Nashville didn't yet have an urban identity.  Plus, I'm guessing the whole metro area was a third of today's population.

[UTgrad09]

Because when Metrocenter was planned and developed in the late 1960s, it was a wide expanse of floodplain, suburban style developments were all the rage, and Nashville didn't yet have an urban identity.  Plus, I'm guessing the whole metro area was a third of today's population.

 

This. Back then, Metrocenter was probably considered a plan for the future. Most every city was expanding out, not up (while many skyscrapers were built, I would argue that the growth per high rise built was much, much lower from the 60s-90s than it was previously, nationwide). 

 

 

On that subject, last time I was in Metrocenter (last Thursday), I thought about ways that the city could revamp it into a more urban center. Of course, we're not going to rid ourselves of low rise office buildings and parking lots overnight...but I think there is definitely room on some of the street corridors for urban development to enhance the area.

[volsfanwill]

thanks, Now that leads me to wonder myself if it could eventually be redeveloped into a more urban area, or at least more density.