9 more reasons to get excited about germantown

5th & taylor-five-time james beard semi-finalist & chattanooga-based chef daniel lindley will open his new 6,200 square foot restaurant in the warehouse at taylor place this fall, serving a “regional and seasonally focused american menu.” |1515 fifth avenue north

nashville tea house-a modernized tea house that will also offer to-go items and baked treats.  | 100 taylor street

butchertown hall-from the creators of east nashville’s holland house & the pharmacy comes germantown’s first “biergarten” since 1909.   includes 4,500 square feet of indoor space and 2,500 square feet of courtyard area making it ideal as a neighborhood hang next summer after a sounds game.  opens fall 2014.  |1416 fourth avenue north

 

future corner for juice bar, little donkey, octane coffee & cochon butcher | 4th & madison

juice bar-the first in four new fresh hospitality entities (little donkey, octane, & cochon butcher) that are coming spring 2015 to germantown.  purchasing from local farms, juice bar offers gluten-free, 100% whole fruits and vegetable juices & smoothies.  | 1120 fourth avenue north

little donkey-original mexican food and adult beverages.  slow smoked meats, made from scratch everything. |1120 fourth avenue north

barista parlor-named one of the best coffee shops in the country this year by men’s journal and epicurious, east nashville’s own will open its third location in germantown in spring 2015 across the street from 312 pizza.  location number two opens monday in the gulch (august 25th). | 1230 fourth avenue north

photo courtesy of jack brown’s beer & burger joint

jack brown beer & burger joint-the city loves a burger almost as much as bbq & hot chicken it seems.  virginia-based jack browns will be the latest in an ongoing influx of new burger joints.   it opens fall 2014 and will sit on the corner of madison and third street. | 1123 third avenue north

cochon butcher– cochon, french for “pig,” hails initially from new orleans.  this butcher shop/wine bar/sandwich counter will be an ideal fit for the neighborhood offering up daily house-made meats, terrines and sausages, ideal for swinging by on the way home.

octane coffee-serving up hot espressos daily in birmingham & atlanta already, this will be the first nashville location for octane.  construction begins in september on the 2,000 square foot space on fourth avenue north.

if everything goes as planned, all of these will be open by the time the new nashville sounds stadium is completed in spring 2015 just south of germantown in the capitol district.

first tennessee park coming spring 2015, in between fourth and fifth avenues, east of bicentennial mall

a deal has been reached, baseball stadium plans firming up

an artist rendering of the new sounds stadium

a deal has been reached this week with the state, the nashville sounds and a local developer to pave the way for the new sounds baseball stadium to be built.  more details to come next week from the mayor’s office but the 8,500 seat stadium will be built near germantown on state-owned property between jackson street, harrison street, third avenue and fourth avenue north.

the plan also includes a 1,000-space car lot and a pedestrian greenway.  the city continues to work towards a completion date prior to the 2015 season.

a new nashville sounds ballpark downtown?

once home to baseball here in nashville for almost 100 years, the sulphur dell park, that sits between germantown and downtown, may be seeing new life.  mayor karl dean’s administration presented an $80 million game plan this week to build the nashville sounds a new ballpark.

the former sulphur dell ballpark from 1870 until 1969 sits between jackson street, harrison street, fourth & fifth avenues.

initially, the plan is to build a $40 million ballpark and a $10 million metro-financed parking garage that would have between 500-750 spaces.  later, the project would also include a $30 million privately-funded residential community that would sit just north of the bicentennial mall between third and fifth avenues on jackson street.

in 2011, a sports architecture firm scouted out the city’s top three spots for a new baseball field, sulpur dell made the list as well as the scrap metal yard on the east bank of the river next the titans stadium and a 30-acre lot in the north gulch.  mayor dean has always been vocal that the metal scrap yard could be better purposed as the new baseball stadium but time and again, negotiations and the logistics of that property have made it difficult to come to fruition.

the deal involves 13 acres of state-owned land which would need to be transferred and 7 acres of privately-owned land that would need to be acquired but if an agreement is met, construction could begin in 2014 and be completed by the nashville sounds’ 2015 opening day.

germantown/salemtown: nashville’s new residential hotspot

it was announced last month that 4th & monroe will now be converted back to condos.   the project was originally built as condos for sell but ultimately forced to lease the units as an apartment community during the housing market downturn.  the transition will begin this summer and the last units will be ready and available by early 2014 as the current leases expire.   the 25-unit existing row house-type units are from 700-1,400 square feet and will range in price from $185,000 to upwards of $450,000.  there will also be eight new carriage homes and five townhomes that will start at $372,000 which will all include a 2-car garage.  so far, seven are already under contract.

4th & monroe is a testament to the changing tides in the housing market in nashville.  germantown and salemtown specifically are seeing evidence of that.  area  builders are taking note as well and snatching up property left and right.

luxus germantown

after a successful sell-through of fifth & garfield this spring, jim creason’s trust development is set to break ground on luxus germantown on the corner of fifth & monroe in june.  all six units, however, are either sold or reserved (at press time, four were under contract although none were on mls).

next up for trust development is a yet-to-be-named project on the corner of 7th and monroe which they purchased in february.  depending on zoning options and the market demand for larger residences, trust plans to build somewhere between 9-15 units.

on top of the many individual one-off projects aerial development has in the works in these two neighborhoods, aerial has entered into a joint venture w miken development and h.r. properties to soon build salemtown cottages, a 24-unit free-standing, single-family home development.  approved by metro this month with a few conditions, it will be the next big project on the docket for the neighborhood.  the first round could be completed as early as fall if all goes as planned.  bordered by rosa parks blvd on the west, buchanan street on the south, i-40 on the north, and seventh street on the east, it will be fashioned similar to gale park in the 12 south neighborhood or west end station in sylvan park with courtyards and good greenspace.

vista germantown

and if you are not ready to purchase but love the area, there’s an influx of apartments rising as well in germantown and salemtown.  with the recently completed and successfully leased 242-unit vista germantown apartment development last year, the relatively small neighborhood area is now seeing two other big apartment communities rising this spring:  the 282-unit werthan flats on 5th and the 92-unit evergreen project on the corner of hume & rosa parks blvd.  this part of the city could look much different this time next summer.

meet nashville: 5 in 5 with the cupcake collection’s mignon francois

mignon francios

mignon francois loved listening to financial author dave ramsey.   celebrating their four year anniversary this month, the cupcake collection was initially born out of necessity during a hard season.  her family was in debt and dave ramsey was always saying ‘have a bake sale’ on his show.  so, mignon decided to learn to cook even though she claims she was the one that burned the bread every night for dinner.   her first big order was for 600 cupcakes and after selling them grassroots-style for a little while, she realized her calling.  they bought a condemned house in germantown which they actually ended up moving into prior to opening because they couldn’t afford it.  they lived there without electricity, buying gas everyday and using a generator at night.

these days, the cupcake collection is equipped with plenty of electricity and  love…and  business is thriving.   odds are, you’ll be greeted with a big ol’ smile if mignon is anywhere around.

did you grow up here in nashville? no i am actually from the big easy, new orleans, la.

the largest cupcake in history weighed over 1,200 pounds and had 2 million calories…nothing in your glass cabinets has 2 million calories right?  LOL of course not. we have a special helping of love that we add to each cupcake. they say love conquers all…and we say that includes calories!

what’s the most popular? that would be our sweet potato, an original by the cupcake collection.

because it’s less costly, easier to transport and you can build it onsite, i’ve heard there is a trend with cupcake wedding cakes now.  would you ever consider making one for one of your customers?  it is the most economical way to have a wedding cake and we do them beautifully all the time.  i can send you pics if you like.

what’s next for the cupcake collection during the holidays?  thanksgiving is our busiest time of year.   also, this week we launch our new wedding cake studio,the wedding cake collection.