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

[downtownresident]

4 minutes ago, CenterHill said:

I assumed @BnaBreaker was talking about the grassy areas between the buildings and the sidewalk.    You don't really want the sidewalk right up against the curb.     The small right of way between the sidewalk and the curb acts as a buffer between walkers and traffic, car doors, etc.      I don't know this neighborhood and am guessing the developer did not want to go through a rezoning process to change the existing setbacks.     In this instance, the lack of any landscaping in front of the units exacerbates the length of the setback and makes for a sad, bleak streetscape.      

 

Agreed, this would look a million times better with even minimal landscaping. 

[21jump]

3 hours ago, Nash_12South said:

I get the arguments against the grassy areas, but as a dog owner, I appreciate what grass is available.

That was my thought exactly. I used to live in a complex very similar to this in Franklin and it was very convenient to just take my dog out front and let him do his business. HOA fees paid for the landscaping upkeep so I didn't have to worry about that either.

[smeagolsfree]

But the dog pee is what kills the grass!

[Bos2Nash]

5 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Nashville's obsession with tiny useless plots of grass will be something I never understand.   JUST MOVE IT UP TO THE SIDEWALK!   It's like we are so close to doing urbanism properly, but we just can't quite yet give up that suburban comfort blanket that drove us into doing things like mandating parking be placed in front of all buildings in Midtown up until not that long ago.  Perhaps it's just a bit of a learning process... I should be happy that we're moving in the right direction in the first place.  

While I 100% agree that if we want to activate the sidewalk it would be good to move the buildings right up to the sidewalk, studies have shown that the Front Yard or the Front Porch are still major players in developing community and comfortable neighborhoods. Having a form of buffer between the very public sidewalk and the semi public front yard to the privacy of the home is a very important (albiet neglecteed) human interaction. In my thesis studies, I originally thought to move homes right up to sidewalks (or at least remove the street setbacks), but after digging into the subject matter, the front yards are too important to elminate entirely in residential areas. 

Now if every road was a safe zone for pedestrians - ie woonerfs - then you could make a better argument to move the structures right up to the street, because the street becomes the front yard. Unfortunately because we have such an addicition to cars, the streets will never be safe enough for that to happen. As such, the front yard will remain imperative to the residential world for a long time coming.

[BnaBreaker]

8 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

While I 100% agree that if we want to activate the sidewalk it would be good to move the buildings right up to the sidewalk, studies have shown that the Front Yard or the Front Porch are still major players in developing community and comfortable neighborhoods. Having a form of buffer between the very public sidewalk and the semi public front yard to the privacy of the home is a very important (albiet neglecteed) human interaction. In my thesis studies, I originally thought to move homes right up to sidewalks (or at least remove the street setbacks), but after digging into the subject matter, the front yards are too important to elminate entirely in residential areas. 

Now if every road was a safe zone for pedestrians - ie woonerfs - then you could make a better argument to move the structures right up to the street, because the street becomes the front yard. Unfortunately because we have such an addicition to cars, the streets will never be safe enough for that to happen. As such, the front yard will remain imperative to the residential world for a long time coming.

Although there are numerous urban neighborhoods where this is the case and it is no determent to the quality of life, I wasn't necessarily implying that everyone's front door should dump directly out onto the sidewalk.  I did a poor job of communicating that, so that's my fault.  To be honest, I've got no problem with buffers whatsoever.  Front porches, or a staircase leading up to a stoop, make a fine option to help connect the public and private realms while maintaining a sense of privacy.  I don't even have an issue with front yards in most neighborhoods... so long as... and this is they key here... the front yard is functional.  I guess I feel like if you want a large front yard you should go with the single family home option.  These urban style walk-ups that try to provide people with an opportunity to have their cake and eat it too just usually wind up being weird hybrids that give you the worst of both worlds.  They try to be urban housing while also providing a pseudo yard in front and it just don't work in my opinion, and just winds up creating dead space used by nobody while also being a relatively inefficient usage of space.

A good example of a model that might be a good fit for urban neighborhoods in Nashville might be this street (posted below) that I used to live on in Chicago (Logan Square.)  I think most people would agree that this is relatively dense urban housing that utilizes space efficiently.  Yet at the same time, you still have a diversity of architecture.  You still have the grass buffer between the sidewalk and street.  You still have porches, and gates, and even small front yards in some cases, but it's all functional space, which is where you get the very vital sense of community you referenced.  I'd all the time have people shouting hello at me from their window, or talk to them while they sat on their porch and drank a beer, or observe people barbecuing or relaxing playing music on the front steps etc. etc.... Personally, I can't see anyone actually utilizing the space in front of the project in question.  And for the record, I know it's not an urban paradise and there are weeds growing and unkempt siding on homes and whatnot.  It's not perfect, and I'm not saying Nashville or any other place should look exactly like this.  But the general template is what I want folks to pay attention to...  This photo below is just a one block walk from an EL station by the way:

https://goo.gl/maps/78CcLJm2qx1VtcQ39

Edited February 4, 2021 by BnaBreaker

[GregH]

22 hours ago, CenterHill said:

I assumed @BnaBreaker was talking about the grassy areas between the buildings and the sidewalk.    You don't really want the sidewalk right up against the curb.     The small right of way between the sidewalk and the curb acts as a buffer between walkers and traffic, car doors, etc.      I don't know this neighborhood and am guessing the developer did not want to go through a rezoning process to change the existing setbacks.     In this instance, the lack of any landscaping in front of the units exacerbates the length of the setback and makes for a sad, bleak streetscape.      

 

I believe this particular development is a pretty quiet dead-end (at least for now) so there's not much traffic in the area.

 

[markhollin]

Solar farm north of Skyline Medical Center.

 

[nashville born]

Lord willing and the creek doesn't rise, can't wait to see this shot a decade from now.  

[markhollin]

Water Tower Condos (5 stories,  37 units) update: windows being set.

Looking north from 1st Ave. North, 1/2 block north of Gay St:
 

Looking NE from 1st Ave. North, underneath CSX tracks overpass:




Looking SE from 1st Ave. North, 1/2 block north of CSX tracks overpass:

[markhollin]

Westvue  Townhomes (3 stories, 26 units) update: complete and open.

Looking SW from West Trinity Lane and Youngs Lane:

Looking NW from Youngs Lane, 1/2 block south of West Trinity Lane:

[markhollin]

Hume Street Residences (rehab of 2 story, 26 unit  apartment complex) update:  new siding, windows, balcony railing, etc.

Looking NW from Hume St., 1/2 bock of 5th Ave. North:

Looking NE from Hume St., 1/2 bock of 5th Ave. North:

[markhollin]

A mixed-use project featuring 4 threes tory townhomes and a 1,900 sq. ft. single floor retail space is being proposed for the .28 acre site at 1803 5th Ave. North in Salemtown.  It will involve demolition of an existing garage and the adaptive reuse of an existing free-standing single-family home. Jeff Zeitlin of Martin Construction is the developer, Preston Quirk Architects is handling design, and Dale and Assoc. is in charge of land-planning/engineering. 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/article/21145868/salemtown-mixeduse-project-planned
 

This screen shot from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map shows the site highlighted in teal at the center of the frame:

[markhollin]

The 7 story mixed-use structure (100 residential units, ground level retail, underground garage) on .95 acre at 1414 3rd Ave. North has been granted a $29,300 permit for demo of existing 1 story, non-historical building on site. FrontFour Nashville is the developer.  Still no renderings for the project, but some diagrams are available. 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/construction/article/21145876/permit-patrol-1-february-2021

 

This screen shot from Smeagolsfree's excellent development map shows the site highlighted in teal at the center of the frame:

[smeagolsfree]

This project was to have been up for a 3rd reading last Tuesday but was deferred by Freddie O'Connell pending another community meeting. It should be up for 3rd reading in March.

It will be concrete construction, no stick frame construction for this one. There are a lot of details in the docs if you have time to go through them and sit through meetings.

[markhollin]

Hermitage Hotel will have a major face-lift of its two main eateries:

The restaurant will undergo a modern design update that will include a brand new, state-of-the-art kitchen visible from the dining room. It will also have a new, expanded entrance that will be accessible from Sixth Avenue.

The new cafe will be housed in an adjacent space of the hotel. The space will offer indoor and outdoor seating, with the cafe transitioning throughout the day. The cafe will serve as a coffee bar with pastries in the morning, more casual take-away fare midday and a wine bar with small bites and cocktails in the evening.

No names for either yet.  Construction is already underway. They will debut in the fall of 2021.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2021/02/09/hermitage-hotel-jean-georges-vongerichten-culinary.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_34&cx_artPos=3#cxrecs_s

And at The Tennessean here:
https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/dining/2021/02/08/hermitage-hotel-partner-jean-georges-vongerichten-capitol-grille/4403544001/

And behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/food-business/article/21145939/hermitage-hotel-restaurant-space-lands-update

Renderings of new restaurant and coffee shop:
 

[Skyscrapergeek]

I disapprove. I find the fine dinning and construction noise to be inconsiderate and too disruptive to the homeless currently living in the pocket par...oh...wait. 

[downtownresident]

13 minutes ago, Skyscrapergeek said:

I disapprove. I find the fine dinning and construction noise to be inconsiderate and too disruptive to the homeless currently living in the pocket par...oh...wait. 

They’re not living there anymore, the Hermi...err I mean, Historic Capitol Corridor Foundation has had it fenced off since July so they can plant some new grass. 

[Skyscrapergeek]

That was kind of point.

[CenterHill]

I'm going to guess that the "adjacent space" for the new cafe will be this first floor space fronting 6th Ave.     If the restaurant is to have its own entrance, it could be accessed from this space, but then what will become of the existing marble staircase that leads from the main front doors directly down to the restaurant?    In any event, I've long thought that outdoor dining here needs to happen and very much look forward to that.      Just don't mess with the Oak Bar!         

 

[nashville born]

Thanks to whoever the Wikipedia person is for putting photos in for the missing buildings on the tallest buildings page.

[smeagolsfree]

I have no clue who this person is. I wish I did. I actually put a post out there for them to identify themselves with no luck.

 

Glad they are doing it and not me. I have enough to do.

[markhollin]

First Baptist Church expansion (3 stories) update: Front entrance stairs being set along Broadway.

Looking west from intersection of Broadway and 6th Ave. South:
 

[East Side Urbanite]

Agree with Smeags. The person doing the NashTallBldg wiki page is nailing it. Great work.

 

[markhollin]

New Alice Street homes along the Cumberland River, south of West Trinity Lane.
 

[markhollin]

Rutledge Flats (8 stories, 174 micro units) is underway with fencing up, excavation, and core drilling.  Additionally, the small structure immediately to the south has been razed.  Not sure if that is going to be part of Rutledge Flats, or perhaps will be prepping for the west side of Lord & Liberty Hotel.

Looking SE from 3rd Ave. South,  1/2 block north of Elm St:

 

Looking east from 3rd Ave. South,  1/4 block north of Elm St: