Suntrust under way

[doormanpoet]

They were working on the fence today as I left work. They are going to have to blast and excavate since they are going so deep. When fanfare comes back next year, the Viridian will be almost done and Suntrust should be out of the ground.

[it's just dave]

I hope they take good care with the blasting ... I bet the Ryman can be pretty delicate. That's good news, it'll be fun watching it go up.

The Viridian looks like it's hit 6 floors of the 10-story parking structure. After that, watch out, up it goes! And I've never seen SO MANY planters on one street with what they're doing with Church Street. What a difference this turning out to be.

John, did you see where Stoney River Steakhouse has bought a Mapco property on West End? My guess is that they've bought the old Rio Bravo location and the Mapco and will build there. The one in Cool Springs is great. This will be a good addition to West End. Also, the new condo tower (old West End Apts location) should start soon, and the Bristol Marquis (behind Zola) has broken ground. All the people have been moved out of the apartment building and the two houses below the American Center for the Midtown Lofts. Margianno's (I think that's what it's called) is all framed up below American Center. That's the biggest restaurant I've seen in a while. In a year, the two blocks around 31st and West End are going to be totally different. I hope Stoney River builds according to location and doesn't go too suburban looking. Oh yeah, construction is well underway on the new J. Alexander's in the old Cooker location. I understand it will have a very striking design.

It's nice to see a lot of things we've heard about actually taking off.

[doormanpoet]

I have not heard about the Stoney River Steakhouse, but anything is better than a tin can gas station. I remember when gas stations were made of brick and they blended in with the area architecture. They had a sitting room where you could watch tv while your car was worked on and the building actually looked like a house. Sometimes they had a meat and three attached. I miss those days before pre fab buildings. There is a lot to be excited about on West End. I also hear we will know the final answer on the ballpark this week.

[Rural King]

The demise of that ugly Mapco and the less ugly Rio Grande to be replaced by this steakhouse sounds like a very positive development.

[smeagolsfree]

Sorry, Hit the wrong key, I'll get the hang of this after I mess up 2 or 3 times.

[smeagolsfree]

I spoke to one of the workers on the site, and he said drilling starts tomorrow. They are going down 70' in the ground for a 5 floor parking structure. He also said he thought it was going to be 15 floors above ground. I guess we will see when it goes up.

[cheeriokid61]

Hmmmmm... So it's fifteen now, maybe. I hope that's true. If it was fifteen, that should up the height to about 225 to 230 feet, right? That'd be cool.

[doormanpoet]

Hey Ron! Glad to have you on the board! 70 feet is gonna take awhile! I bet it takes a year for a hole that size. I saw in various sources that the building was 13. At one time they said 16, who knows. They also said 200 feet. We will wait and see, at any rate it will be a nice structure.

[doormanpoet]

They started core drilling today. I am assuming the rest of the qquipment will be in place soon. As always, I can't wait for the crane, but I guess they wont get the crane until the 70 feet is dug out first.

[doormanpoet]

I spoke with William today and he is checking with Hastings on the fact the foreman told me the building was going to be 15 stories now, which would make it 250 feet. The problem I forsee is the fact that they are not going to have enough stories anyway. Like with 211 Commerce, the 11 stories filled up quickly. In my humble opinion, The Suntrust Plaza could fill 19 stories and 300 feet. That is tall enough without drowning out the Ryman. To make it taller than the Sheraton to knock it out of the top ten, I would love to see Suntrust Plaza go 325 feet. The Viridian will knock the Sheraton out of tenth place anyway, but we need to go higher in the future. The Bank of America, The Suntrust Bank Building, The Sheraton, Parkway Towers, The Andrew Jackson Building, and Citzens Plaza as grand as they once were are the OLD Nashville. The Bellsouth and the Viridian are going to take Nashville into the future.

Lets hope the people at Suntrust make Suntrust Plaza a 300+ footer.

[Claws]

So construction has finally started? I'm just making sure since I live forty miles from the construction site and have a hard time getting out there.

[it's just dave]

Yep, Claws, it has begun. And it's very noisy.

[doormanpoet]

I can hear it from the Renaissance. I love it when people ask me "Are they gonna re-open the parking lot down there after they build that building?" Uh no....

[doormanpoet]

I have heard today that they are in negotiations with another tennant. If all goes well, this building will increase from 13 stories to 15. 200 feet to 225 feet. This will be a nice building for Nashville.