five takeaways on new amazon hub coming to nashville

amazon announced the company is investing $230 million and 5,000 jobs in a new operations hub in nashville today. here are five things to know:

1 • it will be the east coast hub for tech and management functions, including software development, customer fulfillment, customer service, transportation & supply chains, among others.

2 • the amazon site will be located in the upcoming nashville yards, a 15-acre development on the former lifeway lot downtown. the nashville yards stretches from church street to broadway near interstate 40 with plans for shops, restaurants, office space, hotels, residential, and a 1.3 acre park.

3 • nashville was not chosen as the second headquarters location (long island city in new york and crystal city, virginia will split those responsibilities) but this decision does still mark huge job gains for the city. even though being chosen could have meant upwards of 50,000 jobs, amazon’s decision is the largest job announcement for the city ever (and the state via governor haslam).

4 • amazon will receive performance-based incentives of up to $102 million, provided the company creates 5,000 jobs with average wages greater than $150,000. they expect to recruit both locally and outside the area.

5 • amazon currently already employs 2,500 across nashville within their four distribution centers.

 

 

Advertisement

dickerson pike-the new 12 south strip?

ok maybe a little early to call but a stretch of road that has long been underdeveloped and unloved, is finally getting its place in the spotlight. and when you think about it, why hasn’t it been already? the convenience to downtown and the city views are pretty incredible. developer strategic options has been slowly acquiring 10 different acres on the strip for awhile and is ready to pounce. the developer presented plans this month to build a 4-story, 60,000 square foot mixed-use building where a liquor store and a former mrs winners stood. if approved, the project will include 67 condos, 3,000 square feet of commercial space and a 4,200 square foot rooftop deck for the condo owners. construction could start early 2018. it includes 829, 835, 837 and 839 dickerson.

dickerson pike cheat sheet

the same developer is also looking at building 50 townhomes and condo flats (22 townhomes, 28 condos) at 900 dickerson. tentatively titled the 900, the development will sit on a 1.93 acre lot near the intersection of cleveland street. the 22 townhomes will include 2-car garages and rooftop terraces. the development will also include 1,600 square feet of retail space on the street level. if approved, they could break ground this fall.

then you’ve got the charlie bob’s lot a little farther north on dickerson. after 65 years of business, charlie bob’s diner at 1330 dickerson closed in april to make way for the 4.5 acre sale to bristol development. originally, bristol was planning a 186-unit apartment complex but there’s been more recent talk of a mixed-use community with workforce housing and possibly even keeping the 50’s diner building that fronts dickerson.

“while we don’t have any concrete plans, we are exploring some ‘outside of the box’ residential and commercial concepts that we feel would be a good fit for this quickly evolving pocket of nashville. with it’s proximity to downtown, east nashville and germantown, we are excited about the possibilities.” -beau daniel, development associate, bristol

behind bristol’s 4.5 acres, superior development llc has 23 acres under contract with plans for 300 residential units and 12,000 square feet of commercial space that will front dickerson. among the 300 residential units, superior plans to build single family homes, condo flats and studio flats. workforce housing is a part of the plan as well.

around the corner at 1016, 1018 and 1020 white’s creek pike, property owner hoss mousavi is planning a 44-unit condo/loft development.

river north, a 105-acre game plan for the east bank

part of the momentum surrounding dickerson pike can be attributed to the new plans for the east bank, north of the titans stadium. river north is an ambitious revitalization effort, currently in the planning stages, of 105 industrial acres on the river: high-rise office buildings, high-rise residential buildings, retail, dining, hotels, big dreams, big plans. first phase will be a marina and a riverfront plaza as well as new park space which will include a one-mile walking/bike path. no word yet on when river north breaks ground but there are also plans to eventually connect the development with a pedestrian bridge over the river to germantown.

the nashville area home sales had a record setting second quarter, up 2.8% from second quarter 2016. the median residential price for a single family home in june was $293,753, almost a new record. the demand for more affordable inventory is a need the city hasn’t been able to keep up with.

minions headed to the nashville zoovies

not headed out of town for memorial day weekend? pack a blanket and bring the family to the zoo.  nashville zoo kicks off their outdoor “zoovie” series may 27th with minions.  the series, sponsored by southern icee, takes place on the festival field (near the giraffes) and includes inflatable games, face painters, and rides on the wild animal carousel and soaring eagle zipline before the movie begins.

can’t make it for the minions?  you have two other zoovie chances this summer:

june 24-kung fu panda

september 2-how to train your dragon 2

zoovies are included with zoo admission or membership.  or for non-members arriving after the zoo closes at 6pm, the cost is simply $6.  worried about the weather day of? any cancellations because of weather will be posted on the zoo’s website as well as their facebook page by 4:30pm the day of the day of the event.

former catbird seat chef josh habiger has a new restaurant in the works in weho

houston station

strategic hospitality is no stranger in nashville’s restaurant scene, having successfully launched such random ventures as pinewood social, paradise park, catbird seat, and patterson house.  they confirmed this week their partnership with one of the founding catbird seat chefs, josh habiger, on his new restaurant concept, bastion, coming soon in the quickly emerging weho neighborhood (wedgewood-houston).  no opening date was released but permits have been pulled and work has begun on the space at 434 houston street.  rumors are circling that it could be as early as this fall.

“i just wanted to create the type of place that I want to hang out in; a place that isn’t pretentious. beers, shots, a few simple cocktails, along with some other elements that we hope will make it a great place to go,” said habiger. “i have been wanting to do something in that neighborhood for years now. i’m very excited to be a part of such a creative area of nashville.” -for updates, follow josh on twitter @softarchitect or on instagram @bastionnashville

5 things to do for the holiday week in nashville

the kids are out of school.  you’re off work maybe.  you need an activity.  we’ve got just the thing for you this week.  five things to be specific to keep you busy:

1st annual 12 south peach festival

tuesday, june 30 3:00-7:00pm corner of 12south & kirkwood avenue   

the week’s festivities kick off today with 12 south farmers market’s inaugural peach festival in sevier park.   there will be a peach eating contests, peach pit spitting contest, games, food trucks, live music, photo booths, and hopefully peaches.

cheekwood family night out

thursday, july 2 6:30pm, 1200 forrest park drive

the popular summer series is back on thursdays through the end of july designed specifically for families.  this week, coal train railroad sings jazz songs created just for the kiddos.  there’s a “kid dance zone” and a different food truck every week in addition to ben & jerrys.

human landscape at cheekwood through november 1

cheekwood’s current exhibit is dramatic sculptures by internationally acclaimed spanish artist jaume plensa.  this exhibit marks plensa’s biggest exhibit in the united states to date.

a prelude to the 4th

friday afternoon, july 3, 4:00 1st & broadway at the jack daniels stage

nashville’s own, the weeks

we love to make sure you leave seeing some good music when you’re in the city.  friday night will be no exception, featuring the likes gabe dixon and headlining the evening, southern rockers the weeks.

music city hot chicken festival

saturday, july 4, 11am-3pm 600 woodland street

things started heating up in 2007 when east nashville had their first hot chicken festival. now rain or shine, the annual free event has blown into quite the celebration with attendance ticking over 10,000 every year. it will begin saturday morning at 10:30am with a parade of fire trucks.  first 500 people in the gate at 11am get free hot chicken samples.  live music and activities all day but here are a few things to remember:

•  they do not recommend bringing pets.

•  no outside coolers or tents can be brought inside the festival grounds.

•  bring your ID if you plan to drink.

music city july 4th: let freedom sing

saturday, july 4, 12-10:30pm, riverfront

who else but martina “independence day” mcbride

being declared as the biggest firework display in the country this year, nashville has set a lofty reputation these days. any time you have fireworks synced up to the incomparable nashville symphony on the riverfront, it’s going to be magic though.  the night also features country vocalist martina mcbride and soulful newcomer mikky ekko (who wrote rihanna’s hit pop single “stay”).