Views from Midtown

This week's edition of the Nashville Business Journal has a nice write-up about 1101 Eighteenth and Midtown in general. I confess, I am not a good interviewee and inevetably say something I regret...this was one of the few times this did not happen! The comparison to Atlanta's Midtown is appropriate - two stellar Southern cities on the move, why not compare their development experience? As a longtime Nashvillian, I have always bridled at the comparisons to our larger sister to the South, but it is imperative that we learn from their mistakes or repeat their successes.

One of the big differences in development patterns between our two cities is the scale. "Well, duh, they are like a gagillion times bigger than we are!" - I hear you say. And their development projects tend to be larger too. That doesn't mean we have to copy that...and that is the key point I was trying to get across in the article. Like Atlanta, our Midtown has all the amenities that make it a highly walkable, highly liveable community. Unlike Atlanta, we are not doing large scale projects to populate Midtown and that is GOOD! Successful urban redevelopment occurs when the scale of the projects is human and consistent with the surroundings. This is what we have tried to acheive at 807 Eighteenth and at 1101 Eighteenth. We believe that this strategy protects YOUR investment! Consider this: there are more units for sale at Viridian right now (73 at last known count) than we have TOTAL at 1101! What that means is that if and when a buyer gets ready to sell, they are not going to have to compete on price...the exclusivity of 1101 will help all units there maintain and appreciate their values. This is perhaps the crux of my point to the paper. It is exciting that there are mega-projects going on in the Gulch and Downtown...but compared to Midtown, these deals will not hold their value. You cannot re-make a neighborhood just by dumping units on the market - it requires a more holistic approach.

One last thought...we were up walking our building at sunset last night. Here's a shot from a C-3 unit on the north side of 1101 Eighteenth:It's hard to see and appreciate the skyline when you are part of it!