East Bank – I-24 to the Cumberland/I-24 Overpass up to Jefferson – 338 Acres, Nissan Stadium, "Imagine East Bank"

[CandyAisles]

20 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Is Metro even ready to get the job done over here?

No. 

The "East Bank" has to be the answer to everything.  Affordable Housing, Transit, Neighborhood Friendly, an NFL Stadium, TPAC...oh and the infrastructure needs to appear magically for free.  It's too much.  I would not characterize this as a half a$$ job by any stretch.  The expectations are just ridiculously high and the program is too much.

[Luvemtall]

Totally agree!! With Smeags ! It’s time to sh$t or get off the pot! projects like the above mentioned along with Station East , and those few hotels, should have been already well underway. Metro seems to have no plans as to what comes next, and the excuses that it all takes time are just that EXCUSES . 

Edited March 18 by Luvemtall

[MLBrumby]

The counties/cities across the whole state are woefully behind in planning for growth that’s already here. I was just looking at those population estimates released by UT and I’m amazed by the growth in Knox and Hamilton. Yet our county hasn’t connected and widened roads in the fastest growing areas. So you have Publix and Food City massive shopping centers built at crossroads of two-lane county roads. Streets around the regions largest shopping hub are the same as when my family moved here 20 years ago. Just saw an article last week that Ham will have an additional 100k residents by 2045… but no plans to support that growth. And TDOT I’m sure just wants Chattanooga to be clogged up permanently with traffic. I heard recently that TN has $2billion ‘rainy day’ fund and the IMPROVE act was supposed to get dozens of planned projects started. And don’t get me started on the idiotic Pay Go policy of TDOT. 

[Luvemtall]

14 minutes ago, CandyAisles said:

No. 

The "East Bank" has to be the answer to everything.  Affordable Housing, Transit, Neighborhood Friendly, an NFL Stadium, TPAC...oh and the infrastructure needs to appear magically for free.  It's too much.  I would not characterize this as a half a$$ job by any stretch.  The expectations are just ridiculously high and the program is too much.

Again, Metro should have done better at their homework. They should’ve had this all figured out BEFORE they went ahead with this whole process, they all State, Metro etc jumped the gun to get the Stadium deal done throwing in the “Neighborhood “ concept to please the masses , without a clue as to what happens next. They created a mess, and are now crapping their pants trying to find a way out. In the meantime good solid projects are in jeopardy. 

[Bos2Nash]

I think the courts are going to be a mechanism for some developers to recoup some costs from Metro, for sure, because completely pressing the pause button isn't realistic in a growing city. That being said, these specific buyers bought their property five months into a planning process that didn't even take a full year to complete. Even working with them "for months" should have brought up some conversations about the planning effort. I don't know what "material concerns" equates to, but it sounds like a major breakdown in communication. Metro should be more communicative and should be learning throughout this process about how to work with all the developers who are interested in working on the EB.

I agree entirely that the expectations are high and some folks are making them too high in terms of solving all of our problems and/or being built out yesterday. I believe development in Nashville has this high expectation that things can just be proposed and go from Day 1. They can't. In other cities, it takes multiple years to get through what Imagine East Bank did in a matter of months! We are now in the second step where we are figuring out how to get it done. I think it is safe to assume that this is the largest single planning effort Metro Nashville has ever undertaken. The mindset that this effort is going to move at the lightspeed pace that Nashville development has grown accustomed to is a big part of the problem. When do people think the design/pricing/implementation plans were to be put in place? The multi-use facility is what expediated everything, and that was approved just under a year ago. Imagine East Bank is a planning effort that was going to be pushed forwards whether the new multi-use facility occurred or not - that last part is moot now though because we getting the new facility.

Folks complain that we don't have infrastructure to support our growth, I actually agree with them for the East Bank. The only infrastructure in place on the East Bank is that for the current Nissan Stadium and its associated parking. Not residential. Not office. Not hotel. Not to mention transit. We talk about improving transit for our city, building out the East Bank the right way can be a great stepping stone to that. But building what is essentially a new road network takes an abundance of time. Not to mention we have no dedicated funding for transit, so how on earth do folks think a dedicated bus lane is going to be built without transit funding?? History has proven that the road can't be built with the intent of converting a traffic lane to buses later on. People will have a conniption. So this all takes time. 

The area surrounding this development is going to take even more time too. Bob Mendes mentioned at the East Bank committee that the re-build of James Robertson Parkway is 2030, in a best case scenario. He mentioned that this means extending the EB Boulevard from the termination of Phase 1 at Victory Ave to James Robertson will not happen until then. There is no logic then in building out the Boulevard between James Robertson and Jefferson until then either. The RangeWater and RevPar projects are sitting at a very crucial connection point for the boulevard as a whole between JRP and Jefferson. Maybe Metro's design team is working around the proposals, maybe they are not. Maybe the Boulevard will cut through the proposed Stillwater property and work around these properties. Maybe not. 

Time is money for developers, so I understand their lawsuit and desire to recoup some finances from Metro. To me though Metro's flaw right now is communication, not execution. We know the design team is working on the boulevard, we also know they are working on the JRP rebuild. We know the design team is working on the multi-use facility and we know Fallon is working through their designs. The project is executing as we speak. Executing very quickly too when compared to its size. It is critical to the success of the East Bank for all parties to be in communication with everyone. Metro > Developers > Citizens and round and round the circle goes. 

[smeagolsfree]

My next question is why has not any of the infrastructure started for Oracle?  You would think by this time that Metro would at least be working on some of the water/sewer and beginnings of the Spine Road up there but is this another one they are undecided about?

This has been on the radar a lot longer than the Titans project and we are not seeing anything happen as far as infrastructure. You would think Metro would be very excited to get this underway and finished or has this hit a snag as well?

Or is this a case of Metro again not knowing what it is going to do? 

 

[Luvemtall]

If the Blvd and JRP redo are not in the foreseeable future, then they expect RMR, RangeWater, RevPar , Oracle to hold their hands on their asses till then? That’s obviously wrong and needs attention now. Those developers already spent millions on property, and are expecting a ROI sooner rather then later. Plus get them built will start adding to the tax rolls. 

[samsonh]

40 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

My next question is why has not any of the infrastructure started for Oracle?  You would think by this time that Metro would at least be working on some of the water/sewer and beginnings of the Spine Road up there but is this another one they are undecided about?

This has been on the radar a lot longer than the Titans project and we are not seeing anything happen as far as infrastructure. You would think Metro would be very excited to get this underway and finished or has this hit a snag as well?

Or is this a case of Metro again not knowing what it is going to do? 

 

I would venture it is more likely that Oracle does not pursue a large campus.

[Luvemtall]

Doesn’t Oracle lose its incentives if it don’t provide the amount of employees they committed to? Wasn’t it north of 5000 ? That would require a sizable amount of space , therefore I would expect that they build something substantial on that property 

Edited March 18 by Luvemtall

[MLBrumby]

They would but I think they're actually ahead of schedule in hiring.  Office space is abundant in the core. 

[markhollin]

Metro procurement has selected the Franklin office of California-based AECOM Technical Services to lead development of a future multi-modal North South Boulevard along the East Bank.

The future street will run from the Cleveland Street extension on the north to a planned southern terminus of the area. The firm will provide surveying and engineering services to construct the boulevard, work that may include roadway and bridge design with pedestrians and public transit in mind.

Burch Transportation, Civil Infrastructure Associates, Pillars Development and Borra Consulting are tapped as subcontractors. Pillars has also been selected by the Fallon Company as a subcontractor on its East Bank master developer agreement with Metro which is awaiting council approval (read here).

AECOM will manage preliminary plans and documents for the early phase of the project, including compliance with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The Nashville Department of Transportation will manage the boulevard project along with the East Bank Program Management Team, which was awarded to HDR Engineering in August.
 

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/politics/metro/metro-taps-engineer-for-east-bank-boulevard-work/article_ad0b70be-e77c-11ee-95fb-7fa1a4d2b4f6.html


And at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/03/22/metro-engineer-east-bank-boulevard-aecom.html

[markhollin]

Meet Brian Awe of Fallon Co, who will be spearheading the initial phase of development on the East Bank:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/03/21/east-bank-boston-developer-fallon-brian-awe.html

[markhollin]

NBJ has another summary piece on the first phase of the East Bank development:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/03/21/east-bank-fallon-co-development-plans-break-down.html

[nashvylle]

What is this area here with the concrete roofs... I know it's schematic, but if that's just parking lots and not park space, missed opportunity for sure. 

[Rick Dalton]

I trust the Fallon Co

[chris holman]

20 hours ago, markhollin said:

Meet Brian Awe of Fallon Co, who will be spearheading the initial phase of development on the East Bank:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2024/03/21/east-bank-boston-developer-fallon-brian-awe.html

A link to Fallon Co and portfolio of their work

https://www.falloncompany.com/portfolio

[Bos2Nash]

1 hour ago, nashvylle said:

What is this area here with the concrete roofs... I know it's schematic, but if that's just parking lots and not park space, missed opportunity for sure. 

I believe this was an early placeholder (only) for TPAC.

[lmc123]

Which section is being developed by the Titans - other than the stadium? Wasn't there a Titans village of some sort?

[Bos2Nash]

4 hours ago, lmc123 said:

Which section is being developed by the Titans - other than the stadium? Wasn't there a Titans village of some sort?

I don't believe the Titans themselves are playing developer anywhere outside of the multi-use facility. As far as I know, the "village" is essentially this first 30 acres. They will have a seat at the table with Fallon, but I do not believe they are the ones orchestrating anything beyond the multi-use facility.

[markhollin]

A deal to redevelop the first 30 acres of Nashville's East Bank advanced, with a few changes, on Tuesday toward what could be a final vote later this month.

Here are the specs as they stand now on various parcels:

Parcel C

- Hotels. A maximum of three hotels are permitted within Metro's initial 30 acres, with the exception of a potential hotel located on Parcel B to the left of the new Nissan Stadium.

- Open-air plaza. The plaza space adjoining the new stadium will be built, furnished and maintained by the Titans.

- Parking. Metro could build a city-financed parking garage for Titans use on this parcel, though Metro Cheif Development Officer Bob Mendes said the city will likely hold off, relying on surface parking to fulfill Metro's 2,000-space commitment to the Titans in the deal to build a new stadium.

Parcel B

- Hotel. Hotel development on Parcel B will not count toward the 3-hotel limit for the 30-acre initial development zone (if all residential building milestones are met).

- Parking. The Titans will develop parking on land to the left of the stadium and will receive all revenue from this parking. Metro will have the option to build structured parking on the parcel at Metro's cost.
 

Parcel G

- Affordable Housing. A 300-unit income-restricted building would be part of the first phase of construction, estimated to begin in 2026. Of the 300-unit total, 200 would be reserved for tenants at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and under. The remaining 100 units would be reserved for tenants between 60% and 80% AMI. Affordability levels are locked in for the duration of the 99-year ground lease. The building must also include space for a day care center.

- Office space. Fallon would have 10 years to find a market-rate office tenant for Parcel G (or another piece of Metro-owned property). If no tenant can be found, the space could be developed for other uses, including a hotel that would not be counted toward the hotel limit.

Parcel E

- TPAC. A new Tennessee Performing Arts Center will be the main feature of Parcel E. TPAC will cover the cost of utilities not already being installed as part of Metro's agreements with the Titans or Fallon, storm water management and improvements to Waterside Drive and Victory Avenue.

- Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge extension. TPAC and Fallon will shoulder most of the cost of extending and redesigning the East Bank landing of the bridge to "enhance pedestrian and bicycle access." Contract agreements would ensure no private party could completely shut down access to the bridge, a major link between the East Bank and downtown. A pedestrian and bicycle path called "Cumberland Walk" would stretch from Shelby Avenue and Interstate Drive to the Cumberland River.

- Another unspecified structure. Fallon would have room to develop another structure near the East Bank Boulevard.


Parcels D and F

Hotels and housing. Fallon may build hotels and housing on these parcels. The agreement would require Fallon to build a total 1,550 units (including 695 income-restricted units) across five residential buildings on the 30-acre development. That includes two fully affordable housing developments, one of which would be located on Parcel G and another on Parcel A. Market rate residential buildings would include 95 income-restricted units.

Parcel A

- East Bank Transit Hub. A hub for WeGo bus transit and multimodal options (think scooters and bicycles) is envisioned for Parcel A, which sits on what will be a new East Bank Boulevard.

- Affordable housing. Fallon would build 300 income-restricted units atop the transit hub.
 

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2024/04/03/east-bank-plan-advances-toward-final-nashville-council-consideration/73169195007/
 

[Bos2Nash]

18 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcel C

- Parking. Metro could build a city-financed parking garage for Titans use on this parcel, though Metro Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes said the city will likely hold off, relying on surface parking to fulfill Metro's 2,000-space commitment to the Titans in the deal to build a new stadium.

Ummmm, short term solution I hope... We have seen (and are now ripping out) the last time we relied on surface parking.

18 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcel B

- Parking. The Titans will develop parking on land to the left of the stadium and will receive all revenue from this parking. Metro will have the option to build structured parking on the parcel at Metro's cost.

My understanding from the Titans Lease Agreement is they are entitled to a surface parking lot of ±100,000 SF (±400 spaces?) to allow for event staging and stadium/team staff. One can only hope that we would not run into lease issues if/when this option would come up.

18 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcel G

- Affordable Housing. A 300-unit income-restricted building would be part of the first phase of construction, estimated to begin in 2026. Of the 300-unit total, 200 would be reserved for tenants at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and under. The remaining 100 units would be reserved for tenants between 60% and 80% AMI. Affordability levels are locked in for the duration of the 99-year ground lease. The building must also include space for a day care center.

- Office space. Fallon would have 10 years to find a market-rate office tenant for Parcel G (or another piece of Metro-owned property). If no tenant can be found, the space could be developed for other uses, including a hotel that would not be counted toward the hotel limit.

The residential facing PSC Metals is an interesting/hot-button conversation piece. We talk alot about the clean up/remediation of PSC Metals, yet now we are saying our low income folks (ones that live here at least) would live next to and be exposed to those same pollutants that the scrapyard produces. Speaks volumes at the social thought that goes into our location choices. Put one of the hotels here and place the affordable housing (or housing in general) elsewhere. At least the hotel guests would only be exposed to it for the short period of their stay. I know there are market implications of hotel looking at PSC versus Residential, but at what point does the social costs become a real implication?

I will be interested to see if office becomes a real possibility. I think having some Office space on the EB will be critical to our diversity of use, but the market for it right now (guess that is why they are given 10 years) is a bit tough.

19 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcel E

- TPAC. A new Tennessee Performing Arts Center will be the main feature of Parcel E. TPAC will cover the cost of utilities not already being installed as part of Metro's agreements with the Titans or Fallon, storm water management and improvements to Waterside Drive and Victory Avenue.

- Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge extension. TPAC and Fallon will shoulder most of the cost of extending and redesigning the East Bank landing of the bridge to "enhance pedestrian and bicycle access." Contract agreements would ensure no private party could completely shut down access to the bridge, a major link between the East Bank and downtown. A pedestrian and bicycle path called "Cumberland Walk" would stretch from Shelby Avenue and Interstate Drive to the Cumberland River.

- Another unspecified structure. Fallon would have room to develop another structure near the East Bank Boulevard.

This is a win all around. Now bring on the pretty pictures for TPAC!

The connection to the Bridge between Parcel E and E1 will be crucial to be executed properly though.

19 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcels D and F

Hotels and housing. Fallon may build hotels and housing on these parcels. The agreement would require Fallon to build a total 1,550 units (including 695 income-restricted units) across five residential buildings on the 30-acre development. That includes two fully affordable housing developments, one of which would be located on Parcel G and another on Parcel A. Market rate residential buildings would include 95 income-restricted units.

These are going to probably be the two trickiest parcels to develop. Hopefully they will activate along the Pedestrian Bridge extension, but the frontage along Shelby will be a defining feature. I do not believe there is much of a plan to improve Shelby at this point, but for any ground floor activation to survive, something is going to have to be done. Oversize sidewalks, building carve outs to pull people away from the street will go a long way to successful projects on these parcels.

19 hours ago, markhollin said:

Parcel A

- East Bank Transit Hub. A hub for WeGo bus transit and multimodal options (think scooters and bicycles) is envisioned for Parcel A, which sits on what will be a new East Bank Boulevard.

- Affordable housing. Fallon would build 300 income-restricted units atop the transit hub.

This is what Bob Mendes referenced as a 2030 best case scenario due to the requirement of grounding the JRP viaduct for the transit hub to work. Hopefully this also has very large sidewalks and ample bike storage (Nashville's first dedicated bike garage?)

[Luvemtall]

1 hour ago, Bos2Nash said:

The residential facing PSC Metals is an interesting/hot-button conversation piece. We talk alot about the clean up/remediation of PSC Metals, yet now we are saying our low income folks (ones that live here at least) would live next to and be exposed to those same pollutants that the scrapyard produces. Speaks volumes at the social thought that goes into our location choices. Put one of the hotels here and place the affordable housing (or housing in general) elsewhere. At least the hotel guests would only be exposed to it for the short period of their stay. I know there are market implications of hotel looking at PSC versus Residential, but at what point does the social costs become a real implication?

Glad you brought this up, and yes it can become a very interesting and hot topic quickly! Because there’s no way that certain politics can’t be ignored. With that said, I agree with you that there’s an injustice being committed and in all seriousness needs to be addressed. In all likelihood, it will get swept under the rug by some account and go down as planned. 

[WebberThomas4]

1 hour ago, Bos2Nash said:

The residential facing PSC Metals is an interesting/hot-button conversation piece. We talk alot about the clean up/remediation of PSC Metals, yet now we are saying our low income folks (ones that live here at least) would live next to and be exposed to those same pollutants that the scrapyard produces. Speaks volumes at the social thought that goes into our location choices. Put one of the hotels here and place the affordable housing (or housing in general) elsewhere. At least the hotel guests would only be exposed to it for the short period of their stay. I know there are market implications of hotel looking at PSC versus Residential, but at what point does the social costs become a real implication?

I get what you’re saying here, but the hotels will need to be successful (and in a good location) in order to offset the cost of all the affordable housing that Fallon is building.  I’ve been in the affordable housing industry for 20 years now and there’s a saying in the industry: the only thing affordable about affordable housing are the rents on the back end. They are expensive to build AND maintain/manage, and rarely, if ever, break even.  

As for the air quality, these AH developments will all have some form of government subsidy (LIHTC, PILOT, Section 8 - project based subsidy, etc). Each of these subsidies will require the developer to perform an environmental assessment before any dirt is moved.   They will have to remediate any issues found (including air quality) in the assessment before moving forward.  The views may not be of downtown, but the buildings will be safe to live in. I’d much rather live in a new AH development overlooking a scrapyard that is close to downtown than an older AH development where they paint over the lead paint and encapsulate the asbestos. 

[subkyle]

1 hour ago, Luvemtall said:

Glad you brought this up, and yes it can become a very interesting and hot topic quickly! Because there’s no way that certain politics can’t be ignored. With that said, I agree with you that there’s an injustice being committed and in all seriousness needs to be addressed. In all likelihood, it will get swept under the rug by some account and go down as planned. 

Personally I don’t see the injustice by placing the affordable homes here. No one has a right to live in the area they want and get a fat discount at the same time. I am all for affordable housing like every other decent person, but I don’t think developers should carve out the best portions of developments for it

[Luvemtall]

2 hours ago, subkyle said:

Personally I don’t see the injustice by placing the affordable homes here. No one has a right to live in the area they want and get a fat discount at the same time. I am all for affordable housing like every other decent person, but I don’t think developers should carve out the best portions of developments for it

Fair enough, and any AH is welcome. IMO I believe the days are numbered for PSC at that location anyway, as things get rolling on these East Bank projects there will come the right development team to make the “offer “ that will finally make the deal