Rebuilding Second Avenue

[MontanaGuy]

11 hours ago, Argo said:

I do too. I like to dine outdoors wearing a sweater tied over my back.

So does Licec!  What a coincidence! 

[Rick Dalton]

Lol eating outside is too yuppie for you? Give me a break

[smeagolsfree]

3 hours ago, MontanaGuy said:

So does Licec!  What a coincidence! 

No more talking about the dearly departed please.

[markhollin]

2nd Ave. North is closed off for streetscape improvements between Church St. and Union St:

Looking north from 2nd Ave. North at Church St:

[markhollin]

2nd Ave. North streetscape improvements update between Church St. and Union St:

Looking north from 2nd Ave. North at Church St:

[yontu2]

The large surface lot just to the east of that stretch of 2nd Ave is one of downtown Nashville's most glaring tooth gaps. Any chance it will be developed alongside the rebuilding of the damaged stretch of 2nd Ave?

[MorganRehnberg]

This is going to be a great upgrade, but it’s really a bummer that we’re not taking the chance to create a pedestrian mall. A 2nd Ave walking zone adjacent to Broadway would be outrageously successful. 
 

I’m in Stockholm this week and they have a bunch of roads that are pedestrian-only, with an allowance for delivery vehicles early in the morning. It’s fabulous. 

[BnaBreaker]

7 hours ago, MorganRehnberg said:

This is going to be a great upgrade, but it’s really a bummer that we’re not taking the chance to create a pedestrian mall. A 2nd Ave walking zone adjacent to Broadway would be outrageously successful. 
 

I’m in Stockholm this week and they have a bunch of roads that are pedestrian-only, with an allowance for delivery vehicles early in the morning. It’s fabulous. 

Agreed completely.  I mean there is (under normal circumstances anyway) so much foot traffic on 2nd Ave. anyway.  Imagine if the street itself was filled in with outdoor dining spots and street performers and musicians... it'd be such a big draw, and such a nice counterpoint to the craziness of Broadway, just right around the corner.  But, knowing Nashville, business owners would cause a big stink over it (without ever really giving it any proper thought of course) and the city would give in and scrap the plans.  

Edited July 21, 2023 by BnaBreaker

[markhollin]

Artwork on AT&T Switching Building.

[VSRJ]

5 hours ago, markhollin said:

Artwork on AT&T Switching Building.

This thing is a swing and a miss from top to bottom.

[Rick Dalton]

Beautiful. A modern Guernica.

[Luvemtall]

40 minutes ago, VSRJ said:

This thing is a swing and a miss from top to bottom.

Yep, you just can’t fix ugly! 

It’s a tie with Haven , as the ugliest building in the city

[smeagolsfree]

18 hours ago, Rick Dalton said:

Beautiful. A modern Guernica.

Only if you like Picasso and this is no Picasso! I had my doubts from the start and after seeing this it is boring, lifeless. colorless, bland, and a total disaster. AT&T owes Nashville a lot more than this.

[BnaBreaker]

20 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

Yep, you just can’t fix ugly! 

It’s a tie with Haven , as the ugliest building in the city

Nobody is even going to notice that those aren't real buildings!  They're just so life like.  It's just like those old road runner cartoons where he'd paint a tunnel entrance onto a rock wall and Wiley Coyote would just run right into it head first!  

[go_outside]

On 8/5/2023 at 7:01 AM, markhollin said:

Artwork on AT&T Switching Building.

It would have been much nicer to just commission a giant mural. Something colorful and lively, celebrating Nashville's resilience. Make the blank wall an asset rather than a liability to hide.

Instead, we got this. About as interesting as stock images in a quarterly sales PowerPoint.

[VSRJ]

5 hours ago, go_outside said:

It would have been much nicer to just commission a giant mural. Something colorful and lively, celebrating Nashville's resilience. Make the blank wall an asset rather than a liability to hide.

Instead, we got this. About as interesting as stock images in a quarterly sales PowerPoint.

Plus it sticks out like a sore thumb in "classic" angles of the skyline. When the light hits it just right, it looks like a block of dead pixels on a screen.

[markhollin]

One of the structures on the west side of 2nd Ave. North just south of Church St. is undergoing some work.

Looking NE from 2nd Ave. North, 1/4 block south of Church St:

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:37 PM, MorganRehnberg said:

This is going to be a great upgrade, but it’s really a bummer that we’re not taking the chance to create a pedestrian mall. A 2nd Ave walking zone adjacent to Broadway would be outrageously successful. 
 

I’m in Stockholm this week and they have a bunch of roads that are pedestrian-only, with an allowance for delivery vehicles early in the morning. It’s fabulous. 

Completely agree! A missed opportunity, I think.

Here in Manhattan, the street closures and reconstructions to accomodate only pedestrians, bikers and add benches and tables have been outrageously successful. Drivers hate it, but a city is not for an automobile, really. 

Nashville will hopefully invest in these more in the future.  With the sheer number of shoulder to shoulder people daily in downtown Nashville, any pedestrian-only street would be unbelievably successful.

[markhollin]

AT&T Switching Building update: cladding complete on all sides.

Looking north from 2nd Ave. North at Commerce St:

Looking NW from 2nd Ave. North, 1/2 block north of Commerce St:

Looking SE from intersection of 3rd Ave. North and Church St:

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

8 hours ago, markhollin said:

AT&T Switching Building update: cladding complete on all sides.

Looking north from 2nd Ave. North at Commerce St:

Looking NW from 2nd Ave. North, 1/2 block north of Commerce St:

Looking SE from intersection of 3rd Ave. North and Church St:

Looks better than before. 

Still though, appears pretty dang meh.

[Luvemtall]

4 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Looks better than before. 

Still though, appears pretty dang meh.

Agreed, there had to be better options available. And although it is an improvement, still just a few notches above Haven. 

[markhollin]

Upper facade and window work of the 178 2nd Ave. North building  continues after scaffolding taken down.

Looking NE from 2nd Ave. North, 1/4 block south of Church St:

[markhollin]

The owners of four Second Avenue buildings heavily damaged during the Christmas morning 2020 bombing are offering the properties for sale as they seek to resolve lingering issues related to the buildings and their conservation protections.

According to a document filed with the Davidson County Chancery Court, the two ownership entities are asking the court to rule that the nonprofit Historic Nashville, Inc. has “no rights, titles or interests” in the buildings, which offer addresses of 170, 172, 174 and 176 Second Ave. N.

HNI has held conservation easements related to the facade of the buildings since the 1980s.

Relatedly, the LLC that owns the three damaged buildings located at 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. S. is offering the properties for sale, with the local office of Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield seeking offers, according to marketing materials.

The court document notes 170, 172, and 174 Second Ave. N. were covered by a single policy of insurance valued at $7 million, which has been collected. Pinnacle Bank had a first lien on the three buildings and was named as an additional insured entity. The bank has been paid $779,529.39 to satisfy its lien.

Additionally, and according to the court document, the owner of the 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. N. buildings has paid $883,559.16 to its architects, engineers and contractors related to the stabilization of the buildings. That payment leaves net insurance proceeds of $5,386,911.45 available for the reconstruction of the buildings.

The 176 Second Ave. N. building had insurance valued at $2 million, which also has been collected. Pinnacle Bank had a lien on the building and has been paid $394,927.28 to satisfy that lien. 176 Second Avenue N.’s share of professional services expenses to date total $304,862.90, leaving $1,300,209.82 available for reconstruction.

According to the court document, the owner of 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. N. has concluded that the extent of the damage to those buildings renders it “impossible or not feasible to repair or reconstruct the buildings using all the remaining insurance proceeds” and that its architect and engineer have agreed. Because of this, the 170-172 easement and the 174 easement terms have lapsed, the plaintiff contends.

Similarly, the owner of the 176 Second Ave. N. property has concluded likewise.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/bomb-damaged-downtown-buildings-listed-for-sale/article_0e7572f2-7dbd-11ee-a4b6-6f603fe60dd6.html

[Luvemtall]

Somehow the burden that has been placed upon these individuals and these structures has to be ironed out. They had absolutely nothing to do with the unfortunate event that occurred and seemingly have their hands tied as to what they are “allowed “ to do. These buildings are way pass saving , and it’s probably in the city’s best interest to look at other alternatives to this situation. Let the buildings be torn down and hopefully replaced with a similar project as in the Printers & Bank proposal, that’s a well thought out plan and would blend nicely with the rest of the area

[Baronakim]

15 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

Somehow the burden that has been placed upon these individuals and these structures has to be ironed out. They had absolutely nothing to do with the unfortunate event that occurred and seemingly have their hands tied as to what they are “allowed “ to do. These buildings are way pass saving , and it’s probably in the city’s best interest to look at other alternatives to this situation. Let the buildings be torn down and hopefully replaced with a similar project as in the Printers & Bank proposal, that’s a well thought out plan and would blend nicely with the rest of the area

I am doubtful that these buildings are if fact  "way past saving".  They are past saving IMO with the financial resources and abilities of the current owners more likely.  Buildings in far worse plight were totally restored all over Europe after WW2 and I personally have rebuilt some on the Square in Columbia in about as bad a condition and elsewhere.  The facades on First Avenue at the minimum should be preseserved intact and fully restored.  It appears to me that the structural masonry common walls have been demolished back to a safe extent.  If the entire two facades of Chief's can be saved, these buildings can be rebuilt profitably.  One important criteria is that the interior floor levels may be totally gutted and rebuilt at the same floor level on adjacent buildings.  If total rebuilding as you suggest is such a good solution, I would think the vacant parking lot up the street would have been rebuilt decades ago.  No, IMO your total demolition suggestion would just result into another long tem vacant lot.   My two cents.