Mid City (1501 Broadway, 8 acres on Broadway, 7 towers of 20-35 stories, 1.3 million sq. ft. office, 1,000 residential units, 150,000 sq. ft. commercial/retail)

[markhollin]

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see the lettering stripped away on structures of the former business at this site:
 

[Rick Dalton]

Agree. It was deeply unserious to have a corny car dealership at this location.

[smeagolsfree]

It was just the way Nashville unfolded at the time. What was unfortunate was that the dealerships stayed at the locations on both sides of the streets for as long as they did. The Subaru Dealer will be gone before long, so that will be the end of the era for dealerships on Broadway. They served their purpose for the time they were there. I think many American cities had dealerships close to their downtown areas back in the day.

[chris holman]

Just now, smeagolsfree said:

It was just the way Nashville unfolded at the time. What was unfortunate was that the dealerships stayed at the locations on both sides of the streets for as long as they did. The Subaru Dealer will be gone before long, so that will be the end of the era for dealerships on Broadway. They served their purpose for the time they were there. I think many American cities had dealerships close to their downtown areas back in the day.

That and alot of Industrial sites. 

[PillowTalk4]

On 4/23/2023 at 11:44 AM, Brichar4 said:

This property is so eerie at night right now. It’s like a several block dark gap when you drive by, really odd going from midtown to downtown. Will be great when it gets moving and eventually completed!

Maybe the property owner should contract with one of those traveling carnival companies to set-up a park.  At least it won't be dark at night and Nashville will get a temporary amusement park...  

The city could fund a sky lift from Bridgestone Arena to the carnival site... 

 

[MLBrumby]

IDK when Beaman's dealership started, but judging from a couple of old neon Pontiac signs that were onsite, I'd guess mid-1900s at the latest. I recall reading that that stretch of Broadway was "auto row" (IDK if it was called that) where the earliest car sales "agencies" first went a hundred years ago. It's how a lot of sunbelt boomtowns developed. I remember car dealerships and repair shops along Peachtree and West Peachtree and a giant Ford dealership on Williams Street well into the 1980s. Those car agencies sprung up on the fringes of much more compact downtowns in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, etc. back in the 1920s and they didn't need a lot of land at the time. A really cool neighborhood in OKC contains old brick buildings originally built for dealerships. In those days, buyers usually ordered their cars and waited a week or so for delivery. Cars were quicker to build with few, if any, options available. Plus, it was before the mega-dealers of today. Most were considered small businesses and didn't have a lot of money to keep hundreds of unsold inventory on their "lots". Only after WW2 did those dealers grow in size and number.  I remember when Beaman didn't take up that whole block with asphalt and looked more like the Reed dealership across Broadway. Beaman just kept knocking down buildings and replaced with a suburban style building. Reed mostly moved into existing buildings. 

[donNdonelson2]

The very first Dodge dealership in the U. S. was at the corner of 16th and Broadway. The building was part of the Beaman Auto empire for the last decades of its Broadway life. 

[Luvemtall]

5 hours ago, PillowTalk4 said:

Maybe the property owner should contract with one of those traveling carnival companies to set-up a park.  At least it won't be dark at night and Nashville will get a temporary amusement park...  

The city could fund a sky lift from Bridgestone Arena to the carnival site... 

 

Really not a bad idea, unless they are ready to utilize this property sooner than later it makes sense to use it for something that would generate income. Level it all and let a carnival operator lease it for a while, kinda a win win for everyone. 

[smeagolsfree]

Looks as if all the core drilling has been complete at the site. I was there today and all of the boring looks to have been done.

[sambo]

This is around the whole site

[markhollin]

More views of barriers just put up along Broadway:

[PaulChinetti]

Looking east at 1501 Broadway.

[Luvemtall]

Hopefully this doesn’t stay like this for too long!

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

15 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

Looking east at 1501 Broadway.

Wow. This really puts into perspective what an absolute PRIME piece of real estate these auto dealerships had--right in the heart of Nashville.

What an absolute incredible tale of urban infill dense development success this will be, once it does get built. 

Seeing it from this angle, just puts into perspective that this is a huge tract of land. Between this and the Reed dealership, this could add what, like 15-20 additional mid-rise and skyscraper development infill to this part of midtown/adjacent to downtown Nashville?

Hoping it gets going  relatively soon, maybe by 2025.

[PillowTalk4]

I can't help but wonder what would be there now if Beaman had sold the property 10 years ago.

[Baronakim]

2 hours ago, PillowTalk4 said:

I can't help but wonder what would be there now if Beaman had sold the property 10 years ago.

I'm glad that didn't happen.  10 years ago  we still had Lake Palmer.  I am sure any development on the carlots would have been disappointingly underwhelming compared to any  current or future proposals.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Baronakim

[rolly]

Any idea when they will remove the buildings on the site?

[smeagolsfree]

I think the demo permits have either been applied for or issued. I do not remember which.

[sambo]

It's double fenced off now. Idk if that's a good or bad sign.

[Bos2Nash]

Not to cause panic or anything (this project was ALWAYS going to be a long range project), but one of the few projects in downtown that did permanent fencing has been Circle South. With the office market the way it is, plus current financing for other project types it is not surprising that this one would be slow walked until we get better financial terms.

[Argo]

2 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

Not to cause panic or anything (this project was ALWAYS going to be a long range project), but one of the few projects in downtown that did permanent fencing has been Circle South. With the office market the way it is, plus current financing for other project types it is not surprising that this one would be slow walked until we get better financial terms.

eeeeeeee yep.

[Argo]

2 hours ago, sambo said:

It's double fenced off now. Idk if that's a good or bad sign.

Well it ain't good.

I'll bet that's why we haven't heard anything about the Reed development.

[samsonh]

12 hours ago, Argo said:

Well it ain't good.

I'll bet that's why we haven't heard anything about the Reed development.

Office space is not in demand because of WFH, and rents are falling across the city currently. When rents begin increasing again you will see increased activity.

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

18 hours ago, Bos2Nash said:

Not to cause panic or anything (this project was ALWAYS going to be a long range project), but one of the few projects in downtown that did permanent fencing has been Circle South. With the office market the way it is, plus current financing for other project types it is not surprising that this one would be slow walked until we get better financial terms.

Yeah, good point.

I wouldn't expect either of the Beaman or Reed developments to actually break ground until the mid 2020s--2025/2026 at the earliest. 

This current interest rate is really high. And for developers to break ground on projects, the high rates are an incentive for them to wait for a while until the rate goes down significantly. 

[Bos2Nash]

5 hours ago, samsonh said:

Office space is not in demand because of WFH, and rents are falling across the city currently. When rents begin increasing again you will see increased activity.

Can folks confirm that rents are actually falling? I know there was an article that came out recently about the incentives like free month(s) and what not, but that tactic has been used for the last 6 years or so to gain tenants. I think rents have hit a plateau, but have they actually begin to fall?