Belle Meade Village (nine buildings of 12, 11, 10, 8, 2, and 1 stories, 388 residential units, 78 room hotel, 80,000 sq. ft. of retail, underground garages, and creekside park)

[Luvemtall]

this is a list of the largest U.S cities. Just within its limits. From the current census, Nashville ranks #20 and Atlanta is #37 . Just a FYI to confirm yes Nashville is A major city 

[markhollin]

NBJ's coverage of the community meeting last night:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/02/16/belle-meade-community-meeting-aj-capital-kroger.html

New renderings of the greenway:

[FrankNash]

I gave up on Green Hills and Belle Meade during the AMP days.  I could care less what happens to these entitled people.  Like what was said before just let the old shopping center melt into the ground.  They certainly don't care about anyone else in the city.  Just getting the help back and forth to their home for crap they are to good to do for themselves.

[smeagolsfree]

22 hours ago, downtownresident said:

Banning apartments at the old Stein Mart site is SO short sited it’s not even funny. Thank god Councilmember Murphy is term-limited. 

It is not Murphy that is the problem here but the Nimbys in the neighborhood. I do not think it will matter who the council person is going to be in this district, the neighborhood is going to bitch. On that note, I was in favor of reducing the council to 20 seats but only through a Metro vote, not by a state mandate. When you have less representation through larger districts, would these voices be less loud. You would also have a full-time council member instead of part time members and that is the advantage of a 20-person council.

Trust me when I say they are going to get more traffic with the Raisin Cains Restaurant than they would have with the apartment building at Lions Head, but you can't tell a fool their house is on fire. They would have had a signal at that entrance and a nice building with Greenway enhancements with many of those folks walking to the services in the shopping center. If they do not accept this deal, they may also lose Greenway enhancements and end up with the same parking and traffic issues they have now.

I said it before, and I will say it again and that is for a neighborhood of supposedly well-educated folks, this is about the most ignorant group of folks in Nashville because they will not listen to facts and reason because their emotions are all out there for Nashville to see and we see how silly it makes them look. 

 

[markhollin]

AJ Capital Partners have again adjusted design plans:

- The company has again slashed building heights. Original plans, unveiled in January, called for four buildings of 212 feet (12 stories), 140 feet (11 stories), 160 feet (14 stories) and 170 feet (15 stories). A subsequent Feb. 15 revision lowered those heights to 109.6 feet, 138 feet, 141 feet and 149 feet. This final revision before the Metro meeting outlines new maximum heights of 100 feet, 131 feet, 141 feet and 149 feet. 

- There’s slightly less parking than was outlined in an earlier revision. Original plans called for 664 parking spots, and a Feb. 15 revision pitched 950 parking spots. The company’s final plans call for 920 spots.

- There’s the same amount of retail square footage that was outlined in an earlier revision. Original plans called for 60,000 square feet of retail space. A Feb. 15 revision outlined 80,000 square feet — and that number stayed the same in this latest version.

- Proposed density is the same amount that was outlined in a previous revision. Original plans called for 500 residential units and 120 hotel rooms. A Feb. 15 revision slashed that number to 388 units and 78 units. There are no changes to those latest numbers in AJ Capital’s final iteration before its commission meeting.

- Green space is still a key part of plans. The amount of green space has remained the same throughout every iteration of the project: AJ Capital says it will dedicate 60% of the 10.5 acres to pedestrian outdoor areas.

The next Metro Planning Commission meeting will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 23, at 700 President Ronald Reagan Way, between Lindsley Avenue and Middleton Street. The location is the Howard Office Building’s Sonny West Conference Center on the first floor.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/03/21/aj-capital-belle-meade-plaza-planning-commission.html


And behind The Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/metro-to-vote-on-belle-meade-plaza-site-rezoning/article_650668c6-c82b-11ed-8b8a-5faa6401ef77.html


And behind The Tennessean paywall here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2023/03/23/nashville-belle-meade-plaza-redevelopment-proposal-to-be-reviewed-by-metro-planning/70013929007/

[dmillsphoto]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

AJ Capital Partners have again adjusted design plans:

- The company has again slashed building heights. Original plans, unveiled in January, called for four buildings of 212 feet (12 stories), 140 feet (11 stories), 160 feet (14 stories) and 170 feet (15 stories). A subsequent Feb. 15 revision lowered those heights to 109.6 feet, 138 feet, 141 feet and 149 feet. This final revision before the Metro meeting outlines new maximum heights of 100 feet, 131 feet, 141 feet and 149 feet. 

- There’s slightly less parking than was outlined in an earlier revision. Original plans called for 664 parking spots, and a Feb. 15 revision pitched 950 parking spots. The company’s final plans call for 920 spots.

- There’s the same amount of retail square footage that was outlined in an earlier revision. Original plans called for 60,000 square feet of retail space. A Feb. 15 revision outlined 80,000 square feet — and that number stayed the same in this latest version.

 

Residents will still hem and haw, but this is honestly probably more scaled for that area anyway? Not mad at it, at all.

[Bos2Nash]

I like the removal of the “ring road” that was adjacent to Harding Pike. Not a fan of the head in parking along the new road though. Stinks that we lost so many units while adding so much parking, but it is still a solid development. 

[Bos2Nash]

This passed Planning commission UNANIMOUSLY tonight. Lots of people in support (myself included) and against spoke at the meeting. They started talking about the project around 7-ish and rounded it out at 11:30pm. 

[markhollin]

Here are highlights of the story from The Nashville Post on the Metro Planning Commission meeting last evening:

The Metro Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday night — after about five hours of debate and citizen feedback — to approve a specific plan rezoning request related to a high-profile development proposed for the Belle Meade Plaza shopping center.

Nashville-based Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners plans to acquire the property, which includes a retail and office building hugging the White Bridge Road viaduct and recognized as the home of Agave’s Mexican Restaurant and Belle Meade Premium Cigars, among other businesses and the Kroger structure. The address is 4544 Harding Pike.

The Metro Council will now need to vote to approve the rezoning to allow the multi-building project to materialize. The property sits within Metro Councilmember Kathleen Murphy’s District 24, with Murphy having previously noted the project proposal offers numerous positive elements. With planning commission approval, a simple majority vote approval is needed from the council.

Thursday night's meeting drew both proponents and opponents of the plan. Many of the people who have concerns about the future project live in Belle Meade, with the property to be reinvented not located within that satellite city.

"Thank you to the planning commission for hearing our proposal and helping this project get to the next step," Pablo David, AJ Capital vice president for government relations and community relations, emailed the Post. "We look forward to continue working with Councilwoman Murphy, her council colleagues and the community as this process continues.

As the Post recently reported, and according to multi-page Metro Planning Department document, the heights of all the planned buildings have been reduced. In addition, a Nashville Department of Transportation study shows multiple findings that AJ Capital said it plans to incorporate. These include the widening of a portion of Harding Pike and the alteration of signal light placements (to improve traffic flow).

The document shows maximum building heights of approximately 100 feet, 130 feet, 140 feet and 150 feet. Previously as envisioned, the buildings could have stood of 210 feet (12 stories), 140 feet (11 stories), 160 feet (14 stories) and 170 feet (15 stories).

Each building planned for the site would stand fewer feet than the nearby 1 Belle Meade Place, which rises more than 150 feet and sits at 4400 Harding Pike.

More behind The Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/planning-commission-approves-belle-meade-plaza-site-rezoning/article_1477d828-c9b5-11ed-b241-17e3c53d8847.html


Also more at NBJ:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/03/24/belle-meade-plaza-ok-west-nashville.html

[samsonh]

The anti transit, Bellevue strong, NIMBY crowd is quite upset at this passing the planning commission. Should be easy to get half of council to support I imagine. 

[smeagolsfree]

I think you meant Belle Meade. BTW, I think a lot of the opposition is coming from the residents of the city of Belle Meade who are not residents of Metro. Too bad as they have no hound to run in the race. I was not at the meeting, but I will bet Craig can shed some light as to where the majority of the opposition was coming from.

If there were a lot of folks that had Belle Meade Blvd addresses, then that will explain some of the issue of why.

[samsonh]

11 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

I think you meant Belle Meade. BTW, I think a lot of the opposition is coming from the residents of the city of Belle Meade who are not residents of Metro. Too bad as they have no hound to run in the race. I was not at the meeting, but I will bet Craig can shed some light as to where the majority of the opposition was coming from.

If there were a lot of folks that had Belle Meade Blvd addresses, then that will explain some of the issue of why.

I did mean Bellevue. The same people against apartment buildings like Ariza are against this development.  Its interesting to follow on twitter

[andywildman]

55 minutes ago, samsonh said:

I did mean Bellevue. The same people against apartment buildings like Ariza are against this development.  Its interesting to follow on twitter

The Bellevue crowd would have significantly less demand to develop in their neighborhood if more of Nashville's city center was upzoned and allowed far more construction like Belle Meade Plaza.

The irony is that because 1.) development is restricted to too few parcels and 2.) these Bellevue people see BMP's approval as a sign that Bellevue projects are going to get approved, folks who would actually gain from BMP are in arms opposed to it.

[Bos2Nash]

A few of us ended up going over to The Goat at LC SoBro for drinks while the opposition spoke. Someone had an headphone listening for sound bites. One per was very concerned about ADA accessibility and traffic regarding ambulances. This project ultimately helps traffic, but folks are still concerned. There was also somebody who claimed that this development would create 7,000 (!!) new daily trips. Lots of misinformation and plain out fearmongering. I didn't hear what they had to say, but there were even some parents there that had their children speak in opposition. Prior to me getting in line (I was coming from the NCDC's PechaKucha) someone brought up the term NIMBY and I guess that really riled up the crowd and the chair person had to gavel it and talk about respect. I definitely took my fair share talking about the rural, non-commercial folks giving opinions on urban planning developments. 

Overall was a great night. The meeting concluded at 11:36pm. It was quite a long one.

[Nash_12South]

I have no idea what the Bellevue folks said last night, but as a former resident of out that way, I can imagine the fear is over traffic slowdowns. For close to 20 years I came into town that way, from Bellevue, and traffic did slow through there, as it did about every 1/4" mile into town. This will be much better traffic wise but the misinformation that is out there hurts. 

[smeagolsfree]

That is interesting. Bellevue needs denser developments instead of more sprawl. But of course, nothing will help without mass transit. It will just get more traffic regardless of what kind of development happens.

[chc3]

Belle Meade is lovely and all that, but I get a very “exclusivist” vibe every time I’m over there or riding my bike down anti-pedestrian Belle Meade Blvd. I’ll never forget how snooty the crowd was at a post-Bolt on the Boulevard breakfast I was invited to on Thanksgiving 2014. It was all “what do you do?”, to which I answered “I’m presently unemployed”.

[Rick Dalton]

I’m somewhat sympathetic to their mindset. If you paid a lot of money to live in a place which is objectively nice (Belle Meade), then you would be skeptical about changes to the community that could make the area less nice. I think any concerns about this particular project are misguided, because this just seems like an overt improvement.

What I’m not sympathetic to is the City Lights fiasco. They paid money to live near an urban core. When you do that, you accept all the good and bad, and should expect new and larger developments. 

[markhollin]

The Metro Council Tuesday night voted to advance a specific plan rezoning request related to a high-profile development proposed for the Belle Meade Plaza shopping center.

The vote on second reading came after about three hours of debate and citizen feedback, with the project having previously spurred significant community opinion — both positive and negative. 

The vote follows the Metro Planning Commission having voted unanimously (8-0) in late March to approve the rezoning. With the commission having approved, a simple majority vote of approval from council was needed. The body will need to finalize approval on third reading.

The document shows maximum building heights of approximately 100 feet, 130 feet, 140 feet and 150 feet. Previously as envisioned, the buildings could have stood of 210 feet (12 stories), 140 feet (11 stories), 160 feet (14 stories) and 170 feet (15 stories).

Each building planned for the site would stand shorter than the nearby 1 Belle Meade Place, which rises more than 150 feet and sits at 4400 Harding Pike.

The original concept considered 60,000 square feet of retail space, with the proposal now at 80,000 square feet. The number of parking spaces, originally about 680, was upped to 950 and then reduced to 920. One of the proposed buildings will include 78 hotel rooms (down from 120) and 388 residential units (down from 500).

As previously reported, extensive landscaping and full incorporation of Richland Creek as a water feature and river walk are planned. The plan will involve a partial rerouting and restoration of the creek, with flood mitigation to be undertaken. A platform rising above Richland Creek will be part of the effort. About 60 percent of the site's 10.5 acres will be devoted to green and open space.

More behind theNashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/council-advances-rezoning-for-belle-meade-plaza-project/article_2abffa24-e91e-11ed-a3bd-bf0eef50374c.html

[go_outside]

Metro Council passed the Belle Meade Plaza SP rezoning on third reading tonight, capping a contentious, months-long rezoning process.

The vote was 28-1-3. CM Druffel, who represents the adjacent district, tried and overwhelmingly failed to pass amendments requiring unlimited free parking forever and a developer-funded sidewalk into Belle Meade. He was ultimately the sole no vote. CMs Suara, Hurt, and Johnson abstained.

[markhollin]

More details on the Metro Council approval of the Belle Meade Plaza project.

The council added several changes to the rezoning bill — in addition to several other conditions added at the May 2 Council meeting — before its passage Tuesday, including:

- The developer will provide a minimum of 90 minutes of free parking for retail and restaurant customers within the project prior to the opening of 75% of the project's restaurant and retail offerings and for 10 years after that threshold is met.

- The developer will contribute $250,000 before the project's first use and occupancy permit is granted toward greenway improvements in the project's vicinity.

- Access to greenways cannot be restricted by the property owner and greenway hours remain set by Metro Parks.

- Half of the developer's $1 million contribution to various Nashville Department of Transportation projects must be provided at least three months before the final site plan is approved to allow NDOT to conduct a regional mobility study.

- All required developer contributions must be placed in escrow before final site plans can be approved.

- The developer will contribute $375,000 toward upgrading traffic signals on Harding Pike from Belle Meade Boulevard to the Saint Thomas Central Driveway (NDOT estimates the total project cost will be $750,000, with other funding to be collected from other nearby developments).

- The developer will contribute $250,000 toward "area monitoring" for traffic calming in the area (out of an estimated $500,000 total cost).

- The developer will contribute $250,000 toward implementation of a large-area transportation study (out of an estimated $500,000 total cost).

- The developer will contribute $125,000 toward a feasibility study and preliminary design for improvements to Harding Road and the Harding Road-Woodmont Boulevard-White Bridge Road intersection (out of an estimated $250,000 total cost).

More at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/davidson/2023/05/16/nashvilles-belle-meade-plaza-development-clears-final-hurdle/70225118007/

And behind the NashvillePost paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/council-finalizes-rezoning-for-belle-meade-plaza-project/article_ed6ccc6c-f424-11ed-83a3-ff7140c877d7.html

[GregH]

Metro Council: Parking maximums in the urban core!

Also Metro Council: statutory "free" parking at this project for...some reason 

Edited May 18, 2023 by GregH

[markhollin]

A new rendering of the retail/office space area:

[Bos2Nash]

27 minutes ago, GregH said:

Metro Council: Parking maximums in the urban core!

Also Metro Council: statutory "free" parking at this project for...some reason 

If we are being honest, the folks who were pushing for the free parking (and also claimed they never imagined they would have to pay for parking here) were also against the parking maximums. The 90 minute free was a negotiation that got pushed up to 90 minutes to ensure enough support for the project. 

[markhollin]

CityNowNext with coverage of Metro Council's approved Belle Meade Plaza plans, including some new renderings:

https://citynownext.com/2023/05/22/belle-meade-plaza-gets-key-approval-for-775000-sf-mixed-use-project-in-nashville/