North Gulch Gateway, (Tennessean site) Phase II: Gulch Central (41 story residential/hotel, 28 story office, 6 story mixed-use); Phase I: Asurion HQ (10 & 11 stories)

[nashville born]

If this one somehow rises from the ashes...

[markhollin]

The former Tennessean site is empty now that TDOT has finished utilizing it as staging for the Broadway Viaduct rebuild.

Looking NE from intersection of Broadway and 12th Ave. North:

[nashville born]

^^^Once the development climate trends back, delicious opportunity.

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

4 hours ago, nashville born said:

^^^Once the development climate trends back, delicious opportunity.

Yeah, talk about a red hot prime piece of real estate. 

Does the current owner plan on developing it?  

I'd love to see a 600-700 footer anchor 2 or 3 other 300-500 footers, ideally. 

 

[markhollin]

Two years after landing Metro Planning Department Downtown Code Design Review Committee approval, work has yet to start on mixed-use project Gulch Central and the status of the project is uncertain.

After having secured Metro approval in late 2021, Brian Reames, then a senior vice president in the Nashville Highwoods office, announced in February 2022 he would leave the company.

Alex Chambers, Highwoods senior vice president and Nashville market leader, emailed the Post that the company has no update to provide.

As originally envisioned, the development could feature the following elements:

• A 28-story office building located at 1100 Broadway (the ex-address of the morning daily) with about 747,900 square feet. It likely would be called 1100 Broadway and rise about 445 feet.

• A 41-story, 350-unit residential tower, sharing the 1100 Broadway address with the office tower. Reames told the Post the building could offer either apartments or for-purchase condominiums. No name has been finalized. The document noted it will offer about 440,300 square feet.

To mainly address Porter Street, the 230,000-square-foot hotel space would be part of the 41-story tower, which is designed for about 475 feet.

• A six-story, 150,000-square-foot building with office and retail space. With an address of 1010 Broadway, the building would mainly front 11th Avenue and connect to an existing greenway and likely will be called 1010 Broadway.

• Parking garages with a collective 1,986 spaces.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/work-delayed-on-project-at-ex-tennessean-site/article_1d316b26-7dad-11ee-bc05-6ff54f64c886.html
 

[Rick Dalton]

Sell the property then 

[MLBrumby]

That was a really cool proposal. Maybe something nice will eventually rise there. 

[nashville born]

Just now, MLBrumby said:

That was a really cool proposal. Maybe something nice will eventually rise there. 

Agreed.  I considered this one a lynchpin project that would help connect downtown to the Gulch and really solidify downtown's expansion westward to 40.   Was so hopeful for this one. 

[Luvemtall]

1 hour ago, Rick Dalton said:

Sell the property then 

Exactly! Tony G has a few awesome designs tucked away in his closet. 

[smeagolsfree]

23 hours ago, Rick Dalton said:

Sell the property then 

Right now, the market is not very good for buying and selling. Frankly speaking there are not a lot of buyers out there as there have been few larger land transactions over the past 6 or 8 months. I think the test will be to see how long the Cummins Station property and the surrounding land sits on the market and what price they get for it. Two words sum up the commercial real estate market in Nashville right now.... Nothing's happening! That comes from multiple sources in the Nashville real estate industry. Some of these companies like Highwoods, Hines, Lincoln, and a few others can just afford to hold on to what they have rather than sell to another less experienced company like a Roers that has no experience in the high-rise market. That is your choice. You already have some of the biggest players holding the land.

Even the housing market is showing signs of cracking.  My neighborhood had two homes taken off the market and another has had 7 reductions in the past 6 months and is still sitting there. I am not saying that is indicative of all places but is pointing to trouble.

Next year is going to be a tough year and the 8 ball is blank, black, and fuzzy. There may be a few bright spots like the East Bank, but those projects still need to be financed,

[Argo]

56 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Two words sum up the commercial real estate market in Nashville right now.... Nothing's happening! That comes from multiple sources in the Nashville real estate industry. 

Even the housing market is showing signs of cracking.  My neighborhood had two homes taken off the market and another has had 7 reductions in the past 6 months and is still sitting there. I am not saying that is indicative of all places but is pointing to trouble.

Next year is going to be a tough year and the 8 ball is blank, black, and fuzzy. There may be a few bright spots like the East Bank, but those projects still need to be financed,

Exxxxagedtedly.

For some reason it's hard for some persons to understand the current collapsing of the economy.

[smeagolsfree]

7 minutes ago, Argo said:

Exxxxagedtedly.

For some reason it's hard for some persons to understand the current collapsing of the economy.

This also does not mean the collapse of the market. It is a cooling off until things improve. I do not hear gloom and doom from these people either. They are riding the storm out and not in panic mode as you would have folks to think. Some projects seem to be moving forward from all indication I am seeing. If it was a collapse, then some folks like yourself would be throwing themselves from the 40th floor of the tallest skyscraper ending it all like the crash of the 20's and we are not seeing that. These interest rates are not much more than they were around 20 years ago. Folks were spoiled by the Fed having rates around zero which was a huge mistake. That was foolish and anyone wanting rates there was not very smart and not good for the economy. We now see the results of that disaster.

[ruraljuror]

53 minutes ago, Argo said:

Exxxxagedtedly.

For some reason it's hard for some persons to understand the current collapsing of the economy.

 

The dollar hit a two-decade high against other major currencies last month (October 2023).

Unemployment rates have been under 4% for the entirely of 2023 so far, and have twice registered at 3.4% - which is the lowest US unemployment average recorded since the 1960s.

US GDP figures posted 2 days ago came in at an annualized rate  of 4.9%, which is better than we've seen since the mid 1980s with the exception of the quick pandemic rebound when the lockdown economy was jump started in 2021. 

 

Further, by 2025, it's forecast that about 25 million more people will work from home than did in 2020, which will affect new office construction. 

Further, the interest-rate hiking campaign that Trump appointee Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has implemented over the past 20 months in response to global inflation (which I think have been largely effective) puts US commercial construction rates at almost double what they were prior to the pandemic, which will affect new hotel, office, and residential construction across the board.

 

All that to say, I actually agree with you that the economy is likely to soften somewhat in 2024, for one because the economy is so hot right now that cooling down is all but inevitable, but to say that the economy is currently collapsing seems to me like a pretty big misunderstanding of the big picture here, to say the least. 

Please do check my facts, though. One of us is sure to learn something.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by ruraljuror

[markhollin]

Gulch Central update: Fresh fencing and signage for Brassfield & Gorrie Contractors is up around some of the site.

Looking south from intersection of 12th Ave. North and Porter St:

[Luvemtall]

Could this possibly be a staging area for the Edition Hotel ? 

Edited November 28, 2023 by Luvemtall

[nashville born]

23 hours ago, markhollin said:

Gulch Central update: Fresh fencing and signage for Brassfield & Gorrie Contractors is up around some of the site.

Looking south from intersection of 12th Ave. North and Porter St:

We need the magic eight ball to spring into action!

[Bos2Nash]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:35 AM, Luvemtall said:

Could this possibly be a staging area for the Edition Hotel ? 

This would be my guess (correction though noted in bold). Highwoods is probably looking for partners on the Gulch Central project so in the meantime, leasing the land for construction staging is probably a great money maker.

[Luvemtall]

Edition Hotel , my bad. 

[smeagolsfree]

From the TN this morning:

Former Tennessean offices will be luxury towers when economy picks up

The takeaways: It is still delayed!

Chambers said the company is "waiting patiently for the capital markets to stabilize" before finalizing anchor tenants and completing construction plans.

"Highwoods is in the work-placemaking business and believe that when we create exceptional workplace experiences, the best and brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart," Chambers said. "We are committed to developing long-term solutions to meet the needs of our customers to return, retain and recruit talent back to the office.

"Amenity-rich environments describe the office of the future."

Chambers said despite the delay, the company remains bullish on development plans because of Nashville's continued economic growth.

"It has been, and remains, our vision to develop and create one of the most dynamic neighborhoods Nashville has to offer," Chambers said. "If anything has changed since our initial vision, it has been the tremendous growth that has occurred, and is planned, around our sites that we hope to continue to improve upon."

[nashville born]

^^^Yes!

That project would tie so many segments of downtown together, IMO.

[henburg]

And a few new spiffy renderings as well 

[markhollin]

A few old views of The Tennessean site from 1937:
 

[markhollin]

The Gulch Central site has definitely become home for a staging area for construction.  Not sure which project(s), though.

Looking NE from intersection of Broadway and 12th Ave:

[nashville born]

hope it's for the Edition and/or the residential tower on 11th.