Nashville Bits and Pieces

[markhollin]

MLS (Major League Soccer) is looking at Nashville for a possible expansion franchise in the next decade or so. Towards that end, a 22-member Nashville MLS Organizing Committee, made up of some of Nashville's biggest movers and shakers, will be formally announced today. 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2016/08/08/nashville-heavyweights-begin-push-major-league-soccer-expansion-team/88390468/

One of the key elements of securing a team (whose franchise fee could be as high as $200 million), is to have plans and funding in place for a soccer-specific stadium (they are not interested in sharing an NFL stadium if at all possible), with at least 20,000 capacity, and full of amenities like luxury suites, digital scoreboards, quality food courts, etc. The head of the organizing committee, Bill Hagerty, claims they have targeted a "range of sites in the urban core."  Considering the land rush that has been going on the past five years, along with the scarcity of finding a minimum of 25-acre footprint and parking support for that size crowd, would lead one to believe that the only real options would be:

1) The Cowan Street corridor on the northeast side of the inner belt area (near the Top Golf complex).
2) The TA Nashville truck terminal north of Main Street and between 1st Street North and Interstate Rd (to the northeast of Nissan Stadium complex).
3) The parking lot to the east of Nissan Stadium.
4) The PSC Metals area.
5) This is a long shot: the State-owned land currently used as parking lots between Charlotte venue on south, CSX tracks on west, 10thCircle on north, and Rosa Parks Avenue on east.  It would be tight for the stadium footprint, and parking issues could be tough.
6) Possibly piecing-together a numerous properties in SoLa/Pie Town just to the north of the inner belt. But, once again, parking could prove a huge problem.

That's about it within the core.  Outside the core to the south, the Greer Stadium site has possibilities, but parking could be an issue.  The State Fairgrounds also has the space, but is not very sexy in it's locale (in nearly all cases, MLS stadiums are in downtown areas).

Thoughts?

 

[Pyramid Scheme]

24 minutes ago, markhollin said:

MLS (Major League Soccer) is looking at Nashville for a possible expansion franchise in the next decade or so. Towards that end, a 22-member Nashville MLS Organizing Committee, made up of some of Nashville's biggest movers and shakers, will be formally announced today. 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2016/08/08/nashville-heavyweights-begin-push-major-league-soccer-expansion-team/88390468/

One of the key elements of securing a team (whose franchise fee could be as high as $200 million), is to have plans and funding in place for a soccer-specific stadium (they are not interested in sharing an NFL stadium if at all possible), with at least 20,000 capacity, and full of amenities like luxury suites, digital scoreboards, quality food courts, etc. The head of the organizing committee, Bill Hagerty, claims they have targeted a "range of sites in the urban core."  Considering the land rush that has been going on the past five years, along with the scarcity of finding a minimum of 25-acre footprint and parking support for that size crowd, would lead one to believe that the only real options would be:

1) The Cowan Street corridor on the northeast side of the inner belt area (near the Top Golf complex).
2) The TA Nashville truck terminal north of Main Street and between 1st Street North and Interstate Rd (to the northeast of Nissan Stadium complex).
3) The parking lot to the east of Nissan Stadium.
4) The PSC Metals area.
5) This is a long shot: the State-owned land currently used as parking lots between Charlotte venue on south, CSX tracks on west, 10thCircle on north, and Rosa Parks Avenue on east.  It would be tight for the stadium footprint, and parking issues could be tough.
6) Possibly piecing-together a numerous properties in SoLa/Pie Town just to the north of the inner belt. But, once again, parking could prove a huge problem.

That's about it within the core.  Outside the core to the south, the Greer Stadium site has possibilities, but parking could be an issue.  The State Fairgrounds also has the space, but is not very sexy in it's locale (in nearly all cases, MLS stadiums are in downtown areas).

Thoughts?

 

Would there be a parking garage? Land in any of those places would cost a fortune and having huge parking lots similar to Nissan Stadium seems unimaginably impractical. In Seattle, the Mariners and Sea-hawks stadiums are right next to each other with adjacent parking garages and they take up about the same space as Nissan Stadium and its surface lot.

[smeagolsfree]

I have seen the same thing. Hardy board is being overused and the design on many of the homes that are being built are anything but a timeless design. When I say that , I am talking about the designs of the California homestate being built on the hill sides.

[Vrtigo]

2 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

I have seen the same thing. Hardy board is being overused and the design on many of the homes that are being built are anything but a timeless design. When I say that , I am talking about the designs of the California homestate being built on the hill sides.

(Tangent Alert)

I'm confused by the apparent negative opinion of Hardie Board... It mimics the look of traditional wood siding, but is nearly indestructible and avoids many of the problems with natural materials. What's not to like?

[nashwatcher]

15 minutes ago, Vrtigo said:

(Tangent Alert)

I'm confused by the apparent negative opinion of Hardie Board... It mimics the look of traditional wood siding, but is nearly indestructible and avoids many of the problems with natural materials. What's not to like?

to me, it's got a "fake" look to it. something about it just looks off.

[GreenHillsBoy]

6 hours ago, nashwatcher said:

Question. Driving around Nashville recently I noticed so many new construction homes that look like they're made of plastic. The builders seem to be placing two on each lot. What concerns me is the materials they're using.

How are these homes going to age? What will they look like in 10-15 years? They're expensive, like 700k, but they look like they're cheap. Is this impression accurate?

Any insights, or anyone that has knowledge about how they're being built, I'd love to know more details on all these houses that are filling in our city.

Couldn't agree more, plastic windows on most, garages facing the street which is always a issue.  The new ones on Woodmont Blvd, for example, between Hillsboro and Granny
White are HORRIBLE and the sign says starting in the $700's.  I feel like people are being taken on these and it seems likely they will deteriorate in 10 years without some major remodeling.  The problem is that as bad as they are and they are everywhere, people are buying them.  Go figure.

[rbowman]

MLS (Major League Soccer) is looking at Nashville for a possible expansion franchise in the next decade or so. Towards that end, a 22-member Nashville MLS Organizing Committee, made up of some of Nashville's biggest movers and shakers, will be formally announced today. 

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2016/08/08/nashville-heavyweights-begin-push-major-league-soccer-expansion-team/88390468/

One of the key elements of securing a team (whose franchise fee could be as high as $200 million), is to have plans and funding in place for a soccer-specific stadium (they are not interested in sharing an NFL stadium if at all possible), with at least 20,000 capacity, and full of amenities like luxury suites, digital scoreboards, quality food courts, etc. The head of the organizing committee, Bill Hagerty, claims they have targeted a "range of sites in the urban core."  Considering the land rush that has been going on the past five years, along with the scarcity of finding a minimum of 25-acre footprint and parking support for that size crowd, would lead one to believe that the only real options would be:

1) The Cowan Street corridor on the northeast side of the inner belt area (near the Top Golf complex).

2) The TA Nashville truck terminal north of Main Street and between 1st Street North and Interstate Rd (to the northeast of Nissan Stadium complex).

3) The parking lot to the east of Nissan Stadium.

4) The PSC Metals area.

5) This is a long shot: the State-owned land currently used as parking lots between Charlotte venue on south, CSX tracks on west, 10thCircle on north, and Rosa Parks Avenue on east.  It would be tight for the stadium footprint, and parking issues could be tough.

6) Possibly piecing-together a numerous properties in SoLa/Pie Town just to the north of the inner belt. But, once again, parking could prove a huge problem.

That's about it within the core.  Outside the core to the south, the Greer Stadium site has possibilities, but parking could be an issue.  The State Fairgrounds also has the space, but is not very sexy in it's locale (in nearly all cases, MLS stadiums are in downtown areas).

Thoughts?

 

Don't want it. Would be too much expense and not many Nashvillians give a rat's arse about soccer.

[nashvillwill]

18 minutes ago, rbowman said:

Don't want it. Would be too much expense and not many Nashvillians give a rat's arse about soccer.

That's the same thing they said about hockey. 

 

I'm all in support for an MLS team. I'm not a big soccer fan, but I've been to a handful of MLS games, and they are a blast! I'll probably never be one to watch it on tv, but if we had a team, you can beat your arse that I would go to a few games a season. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there like me. Besides, with only 17 home games per season, it's not baseball or hockey, where the "chances to go" get diluted by a long schedule. There would likely be a lot of corporate support. 

[bhibbs]

4 hours ago, rbowman said:

Don't want it. Would be too much expense and not many Nashvillians give a rat's arse about soccer.

I know next to nothing about soccer, yet im all for it and would instantly become a fan...the same way I did with hockey.

[grilled_cheese]

7 hours ago, rbowman said:

Don't want it. Would be too much expense and not many Nashvillians give a rat's arse about soccer.

Heh.  You do know that the Boomers are no longer the only ones with disposable income, right?

Gen Y and the Hispanic population in Nashville could probably carry an MLS franchise.

I'd buy tickets.

But I agree on the cost.  Too bad they are 'requiring' a dedicated stadium.

[markhollin]

Nashville area home sales reach record average price for 4th month in a row. $267,00 in July, which is 14% higher than the same month in 2015.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2016/08/08/nashville-home-sales-prices-reach-new-high-fourth-straight-month/88393988/

[CenterHill]

33 minutes ago, grilled_cheese said:

Heh.  You do know that the Boomers are no longer the only ones with disposable income, right?

Gen Y and the Hispanic population in Nashville could probably carry an MLS franchise.

I'd buy tickets.

But I agree on the cost.  Too bad they are 'requiring' a dedicated stadium.

Agree on popularity.   Visit either the International Soccer or Nashville Metros indoor facilities on any given weekend - summer or winter - if you don't believe how popular soccer is here.   I'd be all in for MLS if they came.   

[jmtunafish]

I really think Nashville could pull off having a MLS team.  Not only does Nashville and its suburbs have massive youth soccer programs, Nashville's booming immigrant communities could probably support a MLS team all by themselves.  I bet Nissan Stadium will be full when the Mexican national soccer team comes to town on October 8, and something like that would speak volumes about Nashville's ability to support a MLS team.

I'm also grateful to see so many movers and shakers--including from the Predators and Titans organizations--who want this to happen.  I would looooove to see a soccer-specific stadium by Nissan Stadium.  I'd also like to see more use of trains and boats to bring spectators to the games; park at Opry Mills, take water taxis to downtown.  Music City Star trains could bring soccer families in from Wilson County and Donelson.

Anyway, I'll be eagerly watching this develop.  I'm actually not a soccer fan myself, but this would be a fantastic opportunity for Nashville, and I would absolutely support the team and buy some jerseys.

[Guest]

Big soccer fan! This is a great opportunity that seems to have the corporate muscle necessary to secure a deal IF a stadium plan is quickly presented. That being said I am 100% against tax payers financing a stadium.

[grilled_cheese]

Wolrd Cup '94 was a big contributor to Gen Y getting behind soccer.  For some of us that was our first 'sports' memory.  The kids LOVED Alexis Lalas and Cobi Jones back in the day.  Soccer was huge during the early 90s and has only continued to gain acceptance as a sport nearly every kid plays early on as there is such a low cost and nearly no barrier to entry.

Also of note, a requirement for the US getting WC '94 was that a pro soccer league needed to be created and cultivated.  So, you are seeing those seeds come to fruition, 20 years later.

[Titans10]

Nashville would crush it with an MLS team, our last 2 division 4 amateur soccer matches(NPSL) here in Chattanooga drew 10,100 and 12,500 to Finley Stadium. 

[smeagolsfree]

22 hours ago, Vrtigo said:

(Tangent Alert)

I'm confused by the apparent negative opinion of Hardie Board... It mimics the look of traditional wood siding, but is nearly indestructible and avoids many of the problems with natural materials. What's not to like?

It works on some projects, but not all. The prices they are getting for many of these homes warrants better building materials, ie., brick.

I hate Hardy board on all the multi housing apartments going up. It looks so cheap and requires more upkeep such as cleaning or painting. Brick has very little if any upkeep and is timeless.

[smeagolsfree]

As far as soccer goes,I guess it is a matter of opinion. You either like it or not, but it is the original football and is much more of a international game. American football is not that popular outside of the US and Canada. 

There is a huge immigrant population here and would be supported by many in those communities as well as many of the people that grew up playing soccer. Many parents are now not allowing their children to play football or at least full contact football because of the issue of concussionsome that have now come to light.

Football programs in more and more schools are being dismantled with 25,000 fewer students playing over the past 5 years. If it goes away in high school, then college is next, and then the NFL. Soccer participation is up.

Just been doing some research on this and there are a number of articles about the death of football .

[MLBrumby]

I do believe there will be a reaction against the steel box architecture prevalent everywhere in the form of high quality traditional architecture with brick. I've already seen this begin in Atlanta and even in Germantown with the 5th and Monroe townhouses (and a few others). Of course, they are at the top of the market. IMHO, there will be a new construction tower in brick in Nashville.  I think one was proposed out in Belle Meade before the R/E bubble burst. 

Edited August 10, 2016 by MLBrumby

[markhollin]

Why Colin Reed of Ryman Hospitality and Sean Henry of the Predators are behind the idea for Major League Soccer in Nashville (Q&A):

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/08/10/why-the-ceos-of-ryman-hospitality-and-the.html

 

[CenterHill]

2 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

I do believe there will be a reaction against the steel box architecture prevalent everywhere in the form of high quality traditional architecture with brick. I've already seen this begin in Atlanta and even in Germantown with the 5th and Monroe townhouses (and a few others). Of course, they are at the top of the market. IMHO, there will be a new construction tower in brick in Nashville.  I think one was proposed out in Belle Meade before the R/E bubble burst. 

HCA's Parallon/Sarah Cannon tower is probably 80% brick (and looks very nice up close).    What I want to see is a reaction against the use stucco, particularly in the core.     

[CenterHill]

2 hours ago, markhollin said:

Why Colin Reed of Ryman Hospitality and Sean Henry of the Predators are behind the idea for Major League Soccer in Nashville (Q&A):

http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2016/08/10/why-the-ceos-of-ryman-hospitality-and-the.html

 

Quote from Sean Henry: 

"There is not a football audience and hockey audience and a soccer audience. There is a sports audience. We have that."

 

[PruneTracy]

On 8/9/2016 at 6:37 PM, grilled_cheese said:

But I agree on the cost.  Too bad they are 'requiring' a dedicated stadium.

Reposting this:

On 4/17/2016 at 3:19 PM, PruneTracy said:

It really annoys me that MLS insists on soccer-specific stadiums. Admittedly, some of the venues in the infancy of the league were not well-suited for soccer (or even any sport, in the case of cookie-cutters like RFK), but many newer football stadiums are built to accommodate both sports, not just from the perspective of field dimensions but also upper versus lower bowl capacity (CenturyLink Field is a good example of a stadium that tarps off well and keeps the environment, not that the Sounders need to do that).

If you built a replica of the Car Hole at another location and just left out the upper deck seats, you'd have a facility the MLS dreams about: ~30,000 capacity, plenty of suites and club seats just above the lower bowl. For some reason if you just cover the upper deck the existing facility isn't good enough: it's not "intimate", or there are football lines on the field for two months out of the season, or whatever.

It's nuts that MLS expects cities to spend money on two stadiums that are functionally identical except for capacity, even when the facility can be designed to accommodate two sports and schedules can be tweaked to avoid conflicts and allow the turf to heal. (Even then many college programs are using new SSS anyway, like in Houston.) But for now there are plenty of cities who are jumping at the chance to give them what they want, so I suppose it'll last as long as others let it.

Anyway, my new idea is to tear down and rebuild Vanderbilt Stadium, 30,000 to 35,000 capacity, FIFA pitch, let the MLS/USL team(s) play there. VU wants a large renovation of the stadium anyway, with the combined efforts they could produce a really nice facility.

[Guest]

The ALT stadium is both NFL and MLS so it is doable...

 

[Hey_Hey]

I understand the desire to have a soccer specific stadium.  NFL stadium filled with 25,000 fans don't look good, even if 25,000 people is a good number.  The optics matter for fans and MLS feels that bad optics could be enough to keep it from progressing as it should.