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Suntrust Plaza news


doormanpoet

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I was talking with an engineer on Friday and along with 30 more feet of excavation to go, they maybe using piles instead of caissons. Piles are the heavy steel beams that are driven into the ground by a pile driver. Caissons are the concrete steel reinforced pylons or posts that you see at the Viridian.

There is also another option for taller towers which have a round steel tube if you will filled with rebar reinforced concrete. These are basically caissons wrapped in a thick shell of steel.

He was telling me that fuel prices have slowed the project down. He said several delays are caused by not having trucks and drivers available to remove rock that has been blasted but not yet excavated.

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I really hope to see some piles come out of that hole soon. Does anyone know if there will be a webcam for this project once the building starts going up? Suntrust will make a big impact on the density of that area and Nasville's skyline! Very excited.

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I really hope to see some piles come out of that hole soon. Does anyone know if there will be a webcam for this project once the building starts going up? Suntrust will make a big impact on the density of that area and Nasville's skyline! Very excited.

I agree. I think this project will do wonders for the immediate area. The infill that Nashville is building will definitely make the city feel more exciting. Nashville was already cool to walk around in but with every project that comes along the city begins to create little neighborhoods/areas that you see in some of the bigger cities. I really wish that Nashville had a few more older buildings like we do here in Memphis (seriously some great stuff here).

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I wish, too, we had some of the large, older buildings like you find in Memphis and Birmingham. We just weren't a big city back then like they were. I guess we'll have to settle for what we have and become a big city in our own new way. I'd love to see some Memphis like old towers scattered around town. Beautiful stuff.

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If Nashville had built some skyscrapers back then, I wonder if we would have kept them around. So many other early 20th century buildings, 10 floors or taller, have gone down.

RIP

Sudekem Bldg - 11 floors; home of Tennessee Theater which hosted Grammy Awards in 70's (Now the Cumberland Apts)

National Life Bldg - 11 floors; Original home of The Grand Ole Opry (Now The Snodgrass Tower)

Andrew Jackson Hotel - 12 Floors; Roger Miller served as a bell hop there (Now TPAC and Polk Bldg)

Sam Davis Hotel - 11 floors (Now the Library parking garage)

Genesco Building - 11 Floors; across from James Robertson Hotel and Sam Davis Hotel, I remember seeing this dense cluster of grand buildings as a child and thinking this must be what New York is like. (Now a surface parking lot)

Cotton States Bldg - 10 floors; Housed TDOT, torn down for the Andrew Jackson Bldg

Maxwell House Hotel - Only 6 or 7 floors but very historical, Where Teddy Roosevelt said the house brand of coffee was "Good to the Last Drop"

What's next?

Noel Hotel (11 Stories, where Jimmy Hoffa stayed while on trial),

Current Marriot Courtyard (12 stories and once scheduled for destruction),

The two common wall buildings at 3rd and Union (15 and 14 stories, built by rival bankers who refused to allow their floors to match up with the other's)

The Stahlman Building (12 floors) maybe the best of the oldies

James Robertson Apartments (11 floors)

Bennie Dillon Bldg (11 floors)

Hermitage Hotel (8 - 10 floors?) Now a five star hotel!!

The Baptist Headquarters - 10+ floors; may have been built later

Any others?

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The Genesco building was torn down for a 45 story office tower that was never built. The James Robertson Apts was also supposed to come down for a 48 story office tower. The JRA will be coming down in the future because it is in such bad repair. I hated to see the Sudakem Building come down, but it was in awful shape.

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I think, with the exception of the JRA, the others are safe. I remember watching the Andrew Jackson imploded...now the site of TPAC. I also remember standing on my back porch (as a 12-year-old) watching the old Maxwell House burn. I could only really see the glow downtown, but I remember it well. For the immediate time after the cleanup, the lower floors, basement and such were painted as a city park, with trees and animals on the walls. For a youngster, that was pretty cool. I remember seeing Kim Carnes (now a Nashville resident) sing "Betty Davis Eyes" at the old Tennessee Theater in the Sudekum building (where the Cumberland now stands).

The Sam Davis Hotel was at 7th and Commerce across from clubs with names like Juniors, Juanita's and the original Jungle (but I wouldn't know about those things, lol). The Greyhound station was where the Convention Center/Renaissance now stands. Frankly, it was all pretty crappy and much improved over some of the past. But we certainly lost some jewels in our crown.

I wasn't too many years ago that Lower Broadway was just as you heard, one adult theater and bookstore after another. Downtown appeared ghostly and doomed. The warehouses along Second were warehouses, nothing more. We've come a long way. Years and billions of bucks later, we're on our way and it's lots of fun to watch and be a part of. I'm sure all of you lucky enough to be here agree. I know it's hard to be patient about some of this, but what choice do we have. It's happening now and I'm taking photos of every step of the way.

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I think, with the exception of the JRA, the others are safe. I remember watching the Andrew Jackson imploded...now the site of TPAC. I also remember standing on my back porch (as a 12-year-old) watching the old Maxwell House burn. I could only really see the glow downtown, but I remember it well. For the immediate time after the cleanup, the lower floors, basement and such were painted as a city park, with trees and animals on the walls. For a youngster, that was pretty cool. I remember seeing Kim Carnes (now a Nashville resident) sing "Betty Davis Eyes" at the old Tennessee Theater in the Sudekum building (where the Cumberland now stands).

The Sam Davis Hotel was at 7th and Commerce across from clubs with names like Juniors, Juanita's and the original Jungle (but I wouldn't know about those things, lol). The Greyhound station was where the Convention Center/Renaissance now stands. Frankly, it was all pretty crappy and much improved over some of the past. But we certainly lost some jewels in our crown.

I wasn't too many years ago that Lower Broadway was just as you heard, one adult theater and bookstore after another. Downtown appeared ghostly and doomed. The warehouses along Second were warehouses, nothing more. We've come a long way. Years and billions of bucks later, we're on our way and it's lots of fun to watch and be a part of. I'm sure all of you lucky enough to be here agree. I know it's hard to be patient about some of this, but what choice do we have. It's happening now and I'm taking photos of every step of the way.

Hey, Dave. You and I are similar ages and your description brings back vivid memories of the old days. Some of those memories are good memories; but, all and all, the memories are of a downtown in decline. You're right! Things have changed so much for the better in recent years, and the momentum for positive change seems to be accelerating. These are exciting times in Nashville for sure. In the past, positive changes seemed to happen at slower than a snails pace. Some of the younger people in this forum have sometimes expressed impatience in the "slow" pace of development in Nashville. In reality, never has positive, meaningful change been happening in Nashville at a faster pace than right now. These are landmark times in Nashville and let's all enjoy the ride. :rolleyes:

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Hankster, I'm one of the impatient young people. However I do remember about 10 years back riding around downtown and thinking it was never going to be like a real downtown again. I remember how what was susposed to be prime downtwon realeastate was just deserted with no plans to build anything period. Its only been a few years but times have changed drasticly. Its exciting. I dont think I will ever move.

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I like it just like it is. With 25,000 sq ft floorplates, it'll be quite impressive for a midrise in the middle of town. I'm just still pleased with what it'll do for the streets.

I'm happy with 13 as well. Frankly, I don't know if I'd want it to be much taller, blocking the view the Viridian, etc. The fact that it provides infill, and will be an imposing structure is what's important.

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I'm happy with 13 as well. Frankly, I don't know if I'd want it to be much taller, blocking the view the Viridian, etc. The fact that it provides infill, and will be an imposing structure is what's important.

Here is the site as of yesterday (10-17). Man, that is a deep hole.

Picture769.jpg

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That hole is a lot deeper today! I hope they can push this building to 200 feet, or maybe the height of the Cumberland at 236 feet. I'll ask William if the developer has informed him of another tennant yet to push this to 16 stories.

In my skyscraper dreams, I would love this to be 19 stories and 300 feet. In that dream, Nissan locates on the top floors and the tower has the Suntrust and Nissan logos on it!

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I like the current design a lot and if you added too many more floors it might lose its charm - just a thought. Now if we could get rid of that last surface lot in the middle of Church (I think it used to be a part of the Harvey's Department Store) with another project like this we'd be set.

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