Nashville Apartment Buildings: A New Housing Contender

In Davidson, Issue
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According to a recent article by the Nashville Post, 3,100 rental units are slated to come online by 2015. The article notes that while in the mid-1990s downtown Nashville saw little if any downtown living development. Over the years that has changed and there has even been a surplus of housing with the recession of 2007. But, now developers of multiunit apartment buildings targeting urban districts are betting again on the city. Nashville is poised for the construction of 15 apartment building located within the city’s Interstate 440 loop by 2015.

The result would yield more than 3,100 for-rent units located no more than 3.5 miles from the city’s central business district. Six of the 15 are likely to be mixed-use, including retail, and all but four would have 150 or more units. Twelve would be sited on parcels that are either empty or underutilized.

“It will have a [visual] impact similar to the impact the condominiums [built in the 2000s] had, but the massing won’t be quite on the same scale,” said Marion Fowlkes, Cumberland Region Tomorrow Board of Director. “We don’t need to be building outside the core. We need to build inside. The infrastructure is already in place.”

Stephanie McCullough, Nashville Civic Design Center communication and community outreach coordinator, said a major infusion of large-scale residential buildings would-

“provide density that will encourage economic development, complement the goals of the 2035 Transportation Plan, increase street-level [pedestrian] activity and diversify the housing stock with more affordable options.”

The article notes that multiple experts all reach the same conclusion: With its numerous colleges, diverse economy and national brand, Nashville will continue to draw young, educated people — the types who demand a small, yet nice, space in which to eat and sleep while devoting their free time to living an urban lifestyle.

CRT has consistently promoted quality strategies such as mixed used, infill development, and higher density where appropriate. These strategies have not only proven to be profitable and market driven, but also reduce government costs by using existing services and conserves open space that otherwise would be used for development.

Story Adapted from:
The Nashville Post, November 27, 2011
“Nashville braces for major influx of apartment buildings”

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