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)

[chc3]

17 hours ago, tragenvol said:

And what of the Starbucks...embedded within the new Kroger?

With all of our superb local roasters, why do people even in upscale areas still patronize that insipid corporate brand with burnt coffee and pre-made additives?

Edited January 4, 2023 by chc3

[bnacincy]

Perhaps they ought to tear down the little office buildings across Harding Rd from Belle Meade Plaza and put the Kroger there. Then the folks in the new development and in the apartments behind could just walk to Kroger.

Parking I think there would be a lot easier too.

Edited January 4, 2023 by bnacincy

[markhollin]

NashvilleNowNext with coverage of the project announcement:

https://nashvillenownext.com/2023/01/04/belle-meade-plaza-shopping-center-eyed-for-mixed-use-development-in-nashville/

[Azarat]

20 hours ago, samsonh said:

Agreed. For older residents in this area this could be a good option to stay close to an area they are familiar with, but downsizing from a home/yard. Combined with potential redevelopment by HG Hill up the street and the proposed development further up White Bridge and you have the makings of a real walkable neighborhood.

The Geriatric set would support this development if they brought back the Belle Meade Cafeteria.  

[Rlooper]

1 hour ago, bnacincy said:

Perhaps they ought to tear down the little office buildings across Harding Rd from Belle Meade Plaza and put the Kroger there. Then the folks in the new development and in the apartments behind could just walk to Kroger.

Parking I think there would be a lot easier too.

I spoke with a couple of older residents at the Starbucks this morning, apparently Kroger has a new location they missed the community meeting but heard from others.

[tragenvol]

8 hours ago, chc3 said:

With all of our superb local roasters, why do people even in upscale areas still patronize that insipid corporate brand with burnt coffee and pre-made additives?

I should have increased the sarcasm level; however, I made sure to tread lightly as not to offend.

Edited January 5, 2023 by tragenvol

[AsianintheNations]

7 hours ago, bnacincy said:

Perhaps they ought to tear down the little office buildings across Harding Rd from Belle Meade Plaza and put the Kroger there. Then the folks in the new development and in the apartments behind could just walk to Kroger.

Parking I think there would be a lot easier too.

There's a very walkable Publix that would be even closer, just under White Bridge and thus avoiding having to walk across either White Bridge or Harding Pike (red route). Even if the Kroger were say where Flower Mart is now rather than the Belle Meade Theater that it is set to relocate to (blue arrow), I'd still find the Publix location more appealing from the standpoint of being a pedestrian carrying/pushing a bunch of groceries. But super bonus points if anyone would be up for taking the Richland Creek Greenway all the way around to Trader Joe's!

Edited January 5, 2023 by AsianintheNations

[Armacing]

On 1/4/2023 at 9:48 AM, sambo said:

It's impossible to take a left out of the Trader Joe's parking lot already.

I don't get why people act like they are entitled to make a left just because there is a turn lane.  Personally I plan my route so I can make only right turns.  It's very frustrating when people block the exits to businesses in a futile effort to turn left when it would be much faster for them to turn right and make a left further down the road.

[GregH]

There's also stop lights at Post Road and in front of Target that are accessible from TJ's

[DMilner]

3 hours ago, GregH said:

There's also stop lights at Post Road and in front of Target that are accessible from TJ's

I take a left from Post every time I go to TJs because of the light. Never understood why folks sit at the shopping center entrance and try to turn left; it takes forever. 

[UTgrad09]

1) What a nice surprise. This is about as good as you could expect for a semi-suburban highrise cluster here. I'd like to see a cluster like this in Green Hills as well.

2) Does this count towards my 2023 prediction shared at the last forum meet? I feel like maybe half credit. (The prediction was that there would be 10+ story proposals outside of the core areas and areas that have been seeing such proposals (I think I excluded Green Hills and maybe Donelson from being included).

3) RIP Belle Meade Kroger, where one of the last Beastie Boys videos was filmed.

[AsianintheNations]

7 hours ago, DMilner said:

I take a left from Post every time I go to TJs because of the light. Never understood why folks sit at the shopping center entrance and try to turn left; it takes forever. 

Yeah, I have seen too many nasty accidents from people trying to turn left from the TJ entrance. I usually use the Target entrance for the same reason, even if turning right. Once, I was trying to turn right from the TJ entrance and ended up in a very complicated U-turn shuffle as all cars had to turn around because the exit was blocked by a crash.

I'm glad that the Belle Meade plan removes one point of entry from Harding (albeit one that was decently safe to begin with since it was one-way). There are just way too many entrances/exits to all of the strip malls in the area.

Anyway, returning to the topic at hand, the discourse on Facebook in response to local news coverage of this plan is predictably 95% about traffic at White Bridge and Harding. Would probably be wise for the developers to have some hard numbers ready about projected net traffic effect for the community meetings. I still vote for the through lanes on Harding Pike to go underneath the intersection to keep traffic moving during rush hour. Which isn't caused by development at this intersection but by the car-dependent sprawl of Belle Meade and the paucity of alternate east-west roads thanks to the positioning of the golf courses and breakdown of the street grid west of Richland Creek...

[go_outside]

I attended last night's community meeting for this project. The meeting took place in the Montgomery Bell Academy dining hall, and—although it's an enormous room—it was completely full.

Councilmember Kathleen Murphy led the meeting, and councilmembers Thom Druffel and Freddie O'Connell were also in attendance. William Hastings (of Hastings Architecture) led the presentation for the development team, although representatives from AJ Capital, the civil engineering firm, and the landscape architecture firm also jumped in at various points.

As you know, "think of the traffic!" is the forever cry of the pro-parking lot/anti-development crowd, and—anticipating a deluge of traffic complaints—councilmember Kathleen Murphy wisely scheduled a traffic-specific meeting for January 21. That meeting will include representatives from NDOT, WeGo (maybe), and the traffic engineers responsible for the developer-commissioned traffic study. Councilmember Murphy instructed everyone to save their traffic questions for the January 21st meeting, although several traffic complaints snuck through anyway.

After the developer's presentation—in which they highlighted the creek restoration, the shopping village, the reduced curb cuts, and the building heights relative to the towers across White Bridge—we launched into a lively Q/A session.

The first few questions came from people who were generally supportive of the development. The positive vibes were short-lived, however, and roughly 90% of the comments came from people opposed to the project in one way or another. The below comments and questions are paraphrased from memory.

POSITIVE-LEANING COMMENTS

• Several people asked about connecting the proposed creek boardwalk to the Richland Creek greenway. One guy was very excited about the prospect of walking his dog to this development. The developers said that they're having discussions with the in-between property owners but nothing firm yet.
• Someone asked about including a playground in the development so kids could play while their parents shopped/dined/etc.
• Several people were happy about uncovering the creek.
• Several people acknowledged that the current strip mall is ugly.
• Someone asked about the timeline. The developers said they don't expect everything to be approved until '24 and, at the very earliest, they'd expect things to start opening in '27.
• Someone asked about bus stops and transit.

NEGATIVE-LEANING COMMENTS (it's a long list)

• Parking questions
  • Where are we going to park?
    • Developer answer: 80 surface parallel parking spaces or big underground garage)
  • How can there only be 80 surface parking spaces for all this retail?
    • Developer answer: You can park in the big underground garage.
  • Will we have to park in the big underground garage all the way in the corner of the property? That's far away!
    • Developer answer: It's not in the corner of the property. The entrance to the garage is right next to the retail.
  • What if the garage floods?
    • Developer answer: We're still figuring out exactly where the garage will go relative to the slope of the property.
  • How will you stop the garage from flooding if it's underground though? (Editor's note: People are deeply concerned about a flooded parking garage.)
    • Developer answer: See previous answer.
  • Do you even know how many people will live here? Four people—each with their own car—could live in a 2-bedroom unit.  Where will they park?
    • Developer answer: The residences will be a mix of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom units. We haven't determined the final mix yet. We anticipate that the apartments will have less parking demand than the condos.
  • What if someone wants to invite their friends over for a party? Where will they park?
    • Developer answer: We're still determining the exact parking needs, but we feel comfortable with our projections so far. It's ultimately market-driven.
  • Several schools use this parking lot for rideshares. What are you going to do about that? Can they keep using your parking lot? Have you even discussed that?
    • Developer answer: I was not aware and, no, we haven't discussed that.
• Traffic questions
  • It takes me an hour to travel from [some location] to [other location]. This will make it worse!
    • No developer answer.
  • Will this project impede TDOT's future ability to build a giant flyover at the White Bridge /Harding intersection?
    • No one seemed to know what the questioner was talking about.
  • It is insulting for you to suggest that this project won't substantially increase traffic! Please spare us your biased traffic studies and get real. At our next meeting, you better come back with a study showing traffic increasing by 50 or 100 percent. We all know that traffic will be much worse; don't lie to us! (Editor's note: This was the angriest comment of the evening.)
    • No developer response.
• Creek Restoration Questions
  • Are you leaving parts of the Kroger podium in place to preserve your future rights to build a huge building over the creek? It's a weird idea and I don't see any other reason why you'd propose something like that.
    • Developer answer: No, that's not our plan. We definitely wouldn't be allowed to build something there even if we wanted to and we're happy to write that restriction into the SP zoning.
  • How wide is the creek? You make it sound like some beautiful riverwalk but that's misleading.
    • Developer answer: The creek is between 10 and 20 feet wide depending on where you are.
  • How many people will actually walk back to this small boardwalk area? You're depicting it as some great amenity but I bet it will be used mostly by people who live there!
    • No developer response. (Editor's note: It is a free country, and ultimately, it's up to you whether you walk to the creek or not. The developers can't make you use it.)
  • Won't this project increase flooding?
    • Developer answer: We're ensuring that we don't add to downstream flooding.
• Building Size Questions
  • I live behind this development. I don't want to be able to see big buildings from my backyard, nor do I want to lose my privacy. Do you have any renderings of what the project will look like from the back?
    • Developer answer: We are currently working on a rendering from that angle. We will post it on our website.
  • How does your proposal compare to what's currently allowed? (Editor's note: This question was asked and answered several times).
    • Developer answer: We're basically asking to double the density. Currently the FAR is 1; we're asking for a 2, even though our current plan does not use up that entire area.
  • (Editor's note: This question was asked by a representative from Belle Meade) A few years ago, we worked with our community to create a Belle Meade city plan. And—during that process—our residents were clear that they wanted natural, low-density development. You need to spend some time looking at that plan. Also, Cheekwood is expanding their parking lot so there is already a lot of extra density being added around here.
    • No developer response.
• Retail Mix Questions
  • When the Belle Meade Theater was redeveloped across the street, we were promised boutiques and cafes. Instead we got a mattress store and other junk. How do we know that's not going to happen again? Can you make commitments?
    • Councilmember Murphy jumped in to say that she could limit certain retail uses in the SP, although there was a limit to how granular she could get.
    • Developer answer: We have high-quality tenants across our portfolio and that's certainly what we're aiming for here.
  • Can you commit to giving the current tenants first priority?
    • Developer answer: They will be the first ones we talk to. (Editor's note: Kind of a non-answer.)
  • This proposal contains less retail space than the current strip mall. Why?
    • Developer answer: There are a number of factors. Traffic is one; retail generates more traffic than the hotel or condos, so—to make sure we don't overwhelm the site—there's a limit to how much retail we include. Also, we're constrained because we needed to get out of the creek. This means that we need to build tall rather than wide, and tall buildings mean more hotel + condo and less retail.
  • A lot of us go to the strip mall every day to shop. It's where we get our Starbucks. What will we do?
    • Developer answer: We understand how important these businesses are to the community.
  • (Editor's note: This question was asked by a current tenant and restaurant-owner in Belle Meade Plaza).  My roof leaks. The building is old and needs to be refurbished or replaced. However, I am worried about my 20+ employees and what they are going to do if we are forced out. I am also worried about parking because, on the weekends, my customers take up half the parking lot! I think it's outrageous that no one contacted the current tenants about this meeting. The Hallmark person is the only one who knew about it. I found out from the news. The current owner doesn't tell us anything.
    • Councilmember Murphy instructed the developers to make sure that all the current tenants were on the invite list next time.
  • What's up with the barn-shaped building?
    • Councilmember Murphy jumped in to note that she was also skeptical about the barn shape.
    • Developer answer: We'll take that under advisement.
• Kroger-Specific Questions (A Kroger representative was present)
  • Will Kroger be open throughout the moving process?
    • Kroger rep answer: There may be a gap between when our lease ends in 2024 and when we reopen in the old Harris Teeter spot. We'd like to extend our current lease to bridge that gap.
  • Does Kroger have enough parking currently?
    • Kroger rep answer: No way. We are way underparked and we need more parking spaces.
• Construction Questions
  • I work downtown across from the Four Seasons and that construction process was really loud.  Is that going to happen here?
    • No developer answer.
  • I live across the street and was here during some other constructions projects. Will this construction start early in the morning?
    • No developer answer.
  • There will be a lot of dump trucks.
    • No developer answer.

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite negative question of the night went as follows:

I'm a native West Nashvillian. And I lived in New York for a while. And then I moved back here because I didn't want to live in New York. I live here because I don't want to live in New York, or the Gulch, or Midtown. I want to live in West Nashville! And I don't think this development represents West Nashville at all. Belle Meade Plaza is where I go out to dinner; it's where I shop; it's where my friends hang out. This development does not represent West Nashville and is NOT what this community wants!

This comment got a big applause from most of the room; the biggest applause of the night.

Personally, I felt like I'd entered the Twilight Zone. I don't understand how an ugly strip mall built on top of a creek represents West Nashville. It certainly doesn't represent the West Nashville that I want to see.

Edited January 6, 2023 by go_outside

[colemangaines]

17 minutes ago, go_outside said:

It is insulting for you to suggest that this project won't substantially increase traffic! Please spare us your biased traffic studies and get real. At our next meeting, you better come back with a study showing traffic increasing by 50 or 100 percent. We all know that traffic will be much worse; don't lie to us! (Editor's note: This was the angriest comment of the evening.)

• No developer response.

 

I think I lost a few brain cells reading this

"I don't like the results of your study, so it must be biased! Bring back results that I like, because then they will clearly be unbiased."

[dmillsphoto]

Just now, colemangaines said:

I think I lost a few brain cells reading this

"I don't like the results of your study, so it must be biased! Bring back results that I like, because then they will clearly be unbiased."

I only had a couple brain cells before reading this and I already can't afford to lose them, but here we are.

Fact of the matter is, the NIMBY folks are always the loudest, if most illogical, among everyone. Thankfully, they more often than not lose.

[markhollin]

Thanks for the comprehensive report, go_outside.  : )

[Nash_12South]

If I were the developer, I'd consider putting together a version of what he could do to the site, sticking entirely to what is allowed, what  would need no special permissions/exceptions, as comparison. I'd surely make it unflattering to a degree, a sort of "here is your other option".  

Edited January 6, 2023 by Nash_12South

[go_outside]

22 minutes ago, Nash_12South said:

If I were the developer, I'd consider putting together a version of what he could do to the site, sticking entirely to what is allowed, what  would need no special permissions/exceptions, as comparison. I'd surely make it unflattering to a degree, a sort of "here is your other option".  

Unfortunately, I think the developer could propose an Olive Garden surrounded by a sea of parking, and many people at last night’s meeting would choose it over the high-rise, mixed use development.

Edited January 6, 2023 by go_outside

[smeagolsfree]

4 hours ago, go_outside said:

I attended last night's community meeting for this project. The meeting took place in the Montgomery Bell Academy dining hall, and—although it's an enormous room—it was completely full.

Councilmember Kathleen Murphy led the meeting, and councilmembers Thom Druffel and Freddie O'Connell were also in attendance. William Hastings (of Hastings Architecture) led the presentation for the development team, although representatives from AJ Capital, the civil engineering firm, and the landscape architecture firm also jumped in at various points.

As you know, "think of the traffic!" is the forever cry of the pro-parking lot/anti-development crowd, and—anticipating a deluge of traffic complaints—councilmember Kathleen Murphy wisely scheduled a traffic-specific meeting for January 21. That meeting will include representatives from NDOT, WeGo (maybe), and the traffic engineers responsible for the developer-commissioned traffic study. Councilmember Murphy instructed everyone to save their traffic questions for the January 21st meeting, although several traffic complaints snuck through anyway.

After the developer's presentation—in which they highlighted the creek restoration, the shopping village, the reduced curb cuts, and the building heights relative to the towers across White Bridge—we launched into a lively Q/A session.

The first few questions came from people who were generally supportive of the development. The positive vibes were short-lived, however, and roughly 90% of the comments came from people opposed to the project in one way or another. The below comments and questions are paraphrased from memory.

POSITIVE-LEANING COMMENTS

• Several people asked about connecting the proposed creek boardwalk to the Richland Creek greenway. One guy was very excited about the prospect of walking his dog to this development. The developers said that they're having discussions with the in-between property owners but nothing firm yet.
• Someone asked about including a playground in the development so kids could play while their parents shopped/dined/etc.
• Several people were happy about uncovering the creek.
• Several people acknowledged that the current strip mall is ugly.
• Someone asked about the timeline. The developers said they don't expect everything to be approved until '24 and, at the very earliest, they'd expect things to start opening in '27.
• Someone asked about bus stops and transit.

NEGATIVE-LEANING COMMENTS (it's a long list)

• Parking questions
  • Where are we going to park?
    • Developer answer: 80 surface parallel parking spaces or big underground garage)
  • How can there only be 80 surface parking spaces for all this retail?
    • Developer answer: You can park in the big underground garage.
  • Will we have to park in the big underground garage all the way in the corner of the property? That's far away!
    • Developer answer: It's not in the corner of the property. The entrance to the garage is right next to the retail.
  • What if the garage floods?
    • Developer answer: We're still figuring out exactly where the garage will go relative to the slope of the property.
  • How will you stop the garage from flooding if it's underground though? (Editor's note: People are deeply concerned about a flooded parking garage.)
    • Developer answer: See previous answer.
  • Do you even know how many people will live here? Four people—each with their own car—could live in a 2-bedroom unit.  Where will they park?
    • Developer answer: The residences will be a mix of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom units. We haven't determined the final mix yet. We anticipate that the apartments will have less parking demand than the condos.
  • What if someone wants to invite their friends over for a party? Where will they park?
    • Developer answer: We're still determining the exact parking needs, but we feel comfortable with our projections so far. It's ultimately market-driven.
  • Several schools use this parking lot for rideshares. What are you going to do about that? Can they keep using your parking lot? Have you even discussed that?
    • Developer answer: I was not aware and, no, we haven't discussed that.
• Traffic questions
  • It takes me an hour to travel from [some location] to [other location]. This will make it worse!
    • No developer answer.
  • Will this project impede TDOT's future ability to build a giant flyover at the White Bridge /Harding intersection?
    • No one seemed to know what the questioner was talking about.
  • It is insulting for you to suggest that this project won't substantially increase traffic! Please spare us your biased traffic studies and get real. At our next meeting, you better come back with a study showing traffic increasing by 50 or 100 percent. We all know that traffic will be much worse; don't lie to us! (Editor's note: This was the angriest comment of the evening.)
    • No developer response.
• Creek Restoration Questions
  • Are you leaving parts of the Kroger podium in place to preserve your future rights to build a huge building over the creek? It's a weird idea and I don't see any other reason why you'd propose something like that.
    • Developer answer: No, that's not our plan. We definitely wouldn't be allowed to build something there even if we wanted to and we're happy to write that restriction into the SP zoning.
  • How wide is the creek? You make it sound like some beautiful riverwalk but that's misleading.
    • Developer answer: The creek is between 10 and 20 feet wide depending on where you are.
  • How many people will actually walk back to this small boardwalk area? You're depicting it as some great amenity but I bet it will be used mostly by people who live there!
    • No developer response. (Editor's note: It is a free country, and ultimately, it's up to you whether you walk to the creek or not. The developers can't make you use it.)
  • Won't this project increase flooding?
    • Developer answer: We're ensuring that we don't add to downstream flooding.
• Building Size Questions
  • I live behind this development. I don't want to be able to see big buildings from my backyard, nor do I want to lose my privacy. Do you have any renderings of what the project will look like from the back?
    • Developer answer: We are currently working on a rendering from that angle. We will post it on our website.
  • How does your proposal compare to what's currently allowed? (Editor's note: This question was asked and answered several times).
    • Developer answer: We're basically asking to double the density. Currently the FAR is 1; we're asking for a 2, even though our current plan does not use up that entire area.
  • (Editor's note: This question was asked by a representative from Belle Meade) A few years ago, we worked with our community to create a Belle Meade city plan. And—during that process—our residents were clear that they wanted natural, low-density development. You need to spend some time looking at that plan. Also, Cheekwood is expanding their parking lot so there is already a lot of extra density being added around here.
    • No developer response.
• Retail Mix Questions
  • When the Belle Meade Theater was redeveloped across the street, we were promised boutiques and cafes. Instead we got a mattress store and other junk. How do we know that's not going to happen again? Can you make commitments?
    • Councilmember Murphy jumped in to say that she could limit certain retail uses in the SP, although there was a limit to how granular she could get.
    • Developer answer: We have high-quality tenants across our portfolio and that's certainly what we're aiming for here.
  • Can you commit to giving the current tenants first priority?
    • Developer answer: They will be the first ones we talk to. (Editor's note: Kind of a non-answer.)
  • This proposal contains less retail space than the current strip mall. Why?
    • Developer answer: There are a number of factors. Traffic is one; retail generates more traffic than the hotel or condos, so—to make sure we don't overwhelm the site—there's a limit to how much retail we include. Also, we're constrained because we needed to get out of the creek. This means that we need to build tall rather than wide, and tall buildings mean more hotel + condo and less retail.
  • A lot of us go to the strip mall every day to shop. It's where we get our Starbucks. What will we do?
    • Developer answer: We understand how important these businesses are to the community.
  • (Editor's note: This question was asked by a current tenant and restaurant-owner in Belle Meade Plaza).  My roof leaks. The building is old and needs to be refurbished or replaced. However, I am worried about my 20+ employees and what they are going to do if we are forced out. I am also worried about parking because, on the weekends, my customers take up half the parking lot! I think it's outrageous that no one contacted the current tenants about this meeting. The Hallmark person is the only one who knew about it. I found out from the news. The current owner doesn't tell us anything.
    • Councilmember Murphy instructed the developers to make sure that all the current tenants were on the invite list next time.
  • What's up with the barn-shaped building?
    • Councilmember Murphy jumped in to note that she was also skeptical about the barn shape.
    • Developer answer: We'll take that under advisement.
• Kroger-Specific Questions (A Kroger representative was present)
  • Will Kroger be open throughout the moving process?
    • Kroger rep answer: There may be a gap between when our lease ends in 2024 and when we reopen in the old Harris Teeter spot. We'd like to extend our current lease to bridge that gap.
  • Does Kroger have enough parking currently?
    • Kroger rep answer: No way. We are way underparked and we need more parking spaces.
• Construction Questions
  • I work downtown across from the Four Seasons and that construction process was really loud.  Is that going to happen here?
    • No developer answer.
  • I live across the street and was here during some other constructions projects. Will this construction start early in the morning?
    • No developer answer.
  • There will be a lot of dump trucks.
    • No developer answer.

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite negative question of the night went as follows:

I'm a native West Nashvillian. And I lived in New York for a while. And then I moved back here because I didn't want to live in New York. I live here because I don't want to live in New York, or the Gulch, or Midtown. I want to live in West Nashville! And I don't think this development represents West Nashville at all. Belle Meade Plaza is where I go out to dinner; it's where I shop; it's where my friends hang out. This development does not represent West Nashville and is NOT what this community wants!

This comment got a big applause from most of the room; the biggest applause of the night.

Personally, I felt like I'd entered the Twilight Zone. I don't understand how an ugly strip mall built on top of a creek represents West Nashville. It certainly doesn't represent the West Nashville that I want to see.

For such a supposedly well educated  bunch of folks on the west side, there sure were a lot of stupid questions. Again what these folks fail to realize and the point I made in a previous post is that this type of development generates much less traffic that what is currently there now. 

The love affair with the automobile will at some point will come to an end and there will at some point be better mass transit in this city and this project is looking forward to the future.

This project is going to be connecting with other Greenways to eliminate the need to get into your car and get your blasted nasty cup of coffee at Starbucks. There are a lot of other better places to get a cup of coffee. Ones that do not need a drive thru.

These folks that are all concerned with people being able to see into their homes, need to put something over their windows. The folks in most of these neighborhoods leave their front widows wide open at night for all to look into their world and see the bright colors they paint their wall with. Take a walk over by the old Free Will campus at night and you will see. They are not concerned with privacy and are only using that as an excuse.

The one about moving from NYC kills me. This is not NYC and is no where close to it. Another lame excuse! Sort of like the ones thinking that drug dealers would move into the neighborhood when they were against the one at Lionshead.

As far as eating diner and the standing ovation goes, I guess they eat a lot of Mexican, Japanese, & Vietnamese food because that is all that is there. I have eaten at the Mexican place and it is OK and I know folks like it, but I have had better in Nashville. The best place closed a long time ago and that was Belle Meade cafeteria.

[Nash_12South]

I can just see anyone, no matter how educated/competent regarding traffic numbers, being dismissed as biased. Again, I'd do some plans/elevations of what they could build (I'm thinking Haven at the Gulch), with no meetings needed to build it, and see how it flies.  They could do what I've seen in 12 South, simply wait them out. Let leases expire, let the current plaza become a wasteland and keep presenting variations of the current plan. Maybe lop of a floor or two from the buildings and fill up the site more with buildings to compensate.  The current plan is really good, I hope it happens.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Nash_12South

[andywildman]

5 hours ago, go_outside said:

Will this project impede TDOT's future ability to build a giant flyover at the White Bridge /Harding intersection?

• No one seemed to know what the questioner was talking about.

 

From TDOT https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/congestion-studies/TDOT_CAPCompilation_MiddleTNAppendix_2022_08.pdf

 

[go_outside]

3 minutes ago, andywildman said:

From TDOT https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/congestion-studies/TDOT_CAPCompilation_MiddleTNAppendix_2022_08.pdf

 

You’re correct; this is what the woman was referencing with her question. But it seemed like no one else understood her reference.

Councilmember Murphy thought she was referencing a ramp from Publix to White Bridge.

I did not mind the confusion; I would be happy if everyone indefinitely forgot about that awful flyover plan.

[MLBrumby]

Rant ALERT!!

I bet one of those people was a man I encountered about 20 years ago when my wife wanted to go shopping in Nashville around Easter. I had four of our (now 5) kids in the van and decided to drive around while she shopped.  She was a MAGH; so I headed out Woodmont.  At Woodmont Circle (and Woodmont) a drunk rear-ended my van.  My kids were small... crying and very upset. It was late afternoon and rush hour (sun going down, headlights, etc.) I stopped in the lane and got out to make sure they were ok.  Traffic was heavy and my tailgate and bumper were smahed in.  I was on my phone calling 911... fortunately my kids were all right and so was the other guy.  I was trying to stay calm and a man pulled up in the middle of Woodmont and cussed me out (kids were crying in the van)... furious that someone was blocking the entrance to his house in Sugartree.  I knew the popo were on the way... and I wasn't sure an ambulance (it didn't come and it wasn't need... the popo double-checked on that), but the last thing on my mind at the moment was some bloated blowhard who was delayed a few minutes getting home with his dowdy wife in the passenger seat (she did sort of tap the guy on his forearm as he uttered a few choice words).  I shook my head (at the time I was in private practice and never knew when I might encounter another attorney in my field).  Anyway, I've always associated that "West Nashville-wannabe-Belle-Meade" crowd with that guy. Sorry, but not trying to offend anyone here.  I know those sort of people who live in those (ironically) condos and zero-lot townhouses around there.  If not for the increased density of those developments, they'd be unable to live there too. 

OK... rant over! 

[samsonh]

Great summary! Thank you for that! There are left NIMBYs and right NIMBYs and they have united in opposition to this project. Lots of people love the strip mall evidently. Lots of people also do not understand how developments like this can actually eliminate car trips. 

 

I applaud AJ Capital for the bold proposal, this will be a fun one to watch wind it’s way through the process.

[smeagolsfree]

15 hours ago, andywildman said:

From TDOT https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/congestion-studies/TDOT_CAPCompilation_MiddleTNAppendix_2022_08.pdf

 

Was this a recent plan? It was referencing the rebuild of I 440 which has already been done. So, I am thinking this is an old plan.

On a similar note, the Gov and TDOT are expected to have a new spending plan announced this week, I think. Let's see how much of this is in there.