Matters of Development By Randy Fox, Jack Evan Johnson

Matters of Development NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2021

By Randy Fox and Jack Evan Johnson

Tornado Recovery Updates

After suffering considerable damage from the March 3, 2020 tornado — including a tree literally cutting the building in half — Beyond The Edge Sportsbar in Five Points reopened Sept. 9, with limited hours and a limited menu. “We weren’t ready, but we didn’t want to miss football season,” owner Matt Charette said. The nearby Boston Commons and Drifters Tennessee Barbeque restaurants, also owned by Charette, were damaged in the tornado as well. Boston Commons was able to open in February, but Drifters has yet to open, and Charette does not yet have an opening date. “It was just too much, mentally, to be working on all three places at the same time,” says Charette. “Drifters is almost ready to go, we’re just waiting on staff.”

A construction crew was spotted working on the 1000 Woodland St. lot recently, formerly home to Family Dollar. The property, owned by Nashville-based Magnolia Investment Partners, will eventually be home to two new restaurants, in two new buildings. “For some reason, that parcel has taken forever to get their grading permit from Metro Water,” Metro Nashville District 6 Councilmember Brett Withers said. “Construction is just now beginning.” Edley’s Bar-B-Que will be one of the restaurants, moving from its Main Street location.

Across 10th Street, the two tornado-damaged Hill Center Five Points buildings — formerly home to Burger Up and other businesses — are being rebuilt. The property’s two-story office building appears to be nearing completion. The second floor will be home to the Hawkins Partners landscape architecture firm. The new corner restaurant building, with a rooftop bar, remains under construction. “Burger Up decided not to return,” said Councilmember Withers. “Some of the stuff in that block, from the restaurant standpoint, they did not have the foot traffic they would have wanted.”

East End United Methodist Church, located at 1212 Holly St., is set to be demolished after post-tornado efforts to save the 115-year-old structure were unsuccessful. The church plans to save the large stained glass window depicting Jesus as the Good Shepherd and will use it at a new church to be constructed at the same location, according to WZTV. The decision to demo was recently approved by the Historic Planning Commission. The new building is expected to be completed by mid-2023.

After months of delay, renovation work has begun on the historic Russell Street Presbyterian Church property at 122 S. 11th St. Built in 1911, the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was most recently part of a three-building complex owned by Y-CAP (YMCA Community Action Programs). The roof of the main building was severely damaged by the March 3 tornado. After months of assessment the building was determined to be salvageable. In September 2020, veteran East Side developer and real estate manager, Mark Sanders and wife Patti, who have lived across the street from the building for almost 40 years, purchased the property from the YMCA of Middle Tennessee. The complete renovation that has now begun will transform the building into a restaurant space →

while preserving its historic character. Sanders hopes to complete the project by Fall of 2022. Work is progressing on two office buildings on lots located at 918 Main St. and 3 McFerrin Ave. The properties were formerly home to the clothing store Molly Green and the Dualtone Music Group, and both buildings were razed by the March 3 tornado. The properties are now owned by a firm tied to the publishing company and record label Razor & Tie. The building on Main will be a five-story residential and retail building with the McFerrin property a 5,000-square-foot, 2-story office building. Both buildings were designed by East Nashville-based Powell Design + Construction Studios. New & Noteworthy

The three-story building between Duke’s and The 5 Spot at 1012 Main St., is being built as townhomes but will operate as a hotel, according to Councilperson Brett Withers. There will also be a small restaurant space in the building and a small parking lot. “A lot of people are surprised — it does have a small rear parking lot,” Withers said. Additionally, Metro has required a sidewalk to be added, along with other improvements. “If you walk by it, most of the new sidewalk has been poured, planning strips with street trees … they are adding a parking lane … they are kinda widening Main Street a little,” he said.

East Nashville Pediatrics, a pediatric primary care office specializing in the care of children and adolescents, plans to open its doors in December at 3926 Gallatin Pike, Suite 2. “We support families with positivity, personal connection, and evidence-based care,” the business’s website says. For more info, visit them online at eastnashvillepediatrics.com.

For Inglewood residents still mourning the loss of Inglewood Hardware, some good news has arrived. Elder’s Ace Hardware is aiming to be open by Thanksgiving at the old Save-ALot building located at 2622 Gallatin Pike. The Chattanooga-based franchise operates 22 Ace Hardware stores in Tennessee and Northern Georgia. More info at eldershardware.com.

East Nail Bar has opened at 819 Main St., Suite 2. The salon is advertised as a BYOB, “Nash-Vegas-style salon,” also offering free wine and beer. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday. 615.922.2990.

The Little Free Art Gallery — a dollhouse-like art gallery sitting on a roadside post — has been erected on Sharpe Avenue between Chapel Avenue and Manchester Avenue. Visitors are free to take or leave a miniature art piece from the gallery, and there’s a dropbox attached to the post where you can leave your artwork if there’s no room in the gallery to display it when you come by.

Closings & Moves

Beloved East Side beer joint and karaoke hangout, Fran’s East Side at 2105 Greenwood Ave., was scheduled to close Halloween weekend, after an “End of the Line” farewell party. However, plans have changed slightly and the bar will stay open at its current location until the end of the year.

Two beloved non-East Side institutions announced their imminent departure recently. The downtown music venue complex Mercy Lounge/Cannery Ballroom/The High Watt will be closing its doors in May →

2022 after almost 20 years. The owners have announced plans to relocate to an undisclosed location. Already gone is the iconic downtown diner, Hermitage Cafe which permanently closed its doors Halloween night, after more than 30 years of business. The late night diner was a favorite post-show destination for both musicians and music fans alike and will be missed by many.

Not closing yet, but news that the 1000 Main St. property that is home to Duke’s and Shep’s Delicatessen has recently been put on the market, is creating some uncertainty for the popular local bar. “Unfortunately, we’re as much in the dark as anyone else,” Sara Nelson of Duke’s said. “We do have a lease for a few more years, but anything can happen when and if a property changes hands. … We only have control over what happens inside our tiny little corner of the neighborhood, and we hope to be there for many, many years. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing until someone makes us stop!”

The final, end of the line came for the Gerst Haus in October with the demolition of the once-popular German restaurant’s former home at 301 Woodland St. Originally opened in 1955 on Second Avenue near the Metro Courthouse, the restaurant became a favored hangout for Metro officials and newspaper reporters, a tradition that continued when it relocated across the river in 1970. In 1998, the Gerst Haus relocated again due to the construction of Nissan Stadium to the 301 Woodland St. location where it operated until 2018.

Coming Soon

A representative from Calypso Cafe, which closed its 301 Gallatin Ave. location in East Nashville in March 2020, due to COVID19, has told The East Nashvillian that the restaurant will be reopening. “I’m not sure the opening date yet, but we are beginning to hire staff and get the space ready. WE ARE SO EXCITED TO BE BACK!!!” Allison Wills Brooks said in an email.

Another new Dickerson Pike development has been announced and will include retail, restaurants, and amenity spaces. Developers Tyler Cauble of Hamilton Development and Keith J. Leman announced the purchase of the 2.28-acre site, located at 2801-2809 Dickerson Pike, in September. The project is to be called US-41, paying homage to Dickerson Pike’s “long history of music and Americana,” a press release said. US-41 will bring green space and local restaurant concepts and bars including the second iteration of Cauble’s soon-to-open restaurant concept, The Wash (located off Gallatin Avenue at 1101 McKennie Ave.), offering micro-kitchens for restaurant startups. Construction on US-41 is expected to begin in December, and be completed by the end of 2022. The complex is near the historic Congress Inn — once used as a Civil War hospital — which a Cauble-led investor group also purchased recently with plans for a boutique hotel, Salt Ranch.

Metro Nashville District 5 Councilmember Sean Parker says 650 units of affordable housing, spread across three separate projects, will be coming to East Nashville in the coming years. One project is a $300 million mixed-use project Austin-based developer Cypress Real Estate Advisors has planned for a 14.4 acre McFerrin Park site with addresses 301 N. Second St. and 651 and 660 Joseph Ave. “They haven’t even filed their application yet,” Parker said. “The developers have had a number of meetings with the community — we’re going back and forth about the plans.” Another project is a 195-unit residential project by a Chicago firm, planned for 900 Dickerson Pike, which Parker says is two to three years away. There is a third affordable housing project Parker says he is not ready to comment on.

Chicago-based design firm Alfred Benesch and Company, along with property owner Brandon Bubis, have applied for a zoning change to build 26 multi-family units at 121 Hart Lane, near Dickerson Pike, according to Metro Planning Department documents.

In Other Development News

A Franklin-based developer planning a 245 apartment units in North Inglewood, at 301 Ben Allen Road.

An Atlanta developer has purchased an East Bank property, located at 51 Oldham St., for $12.5 million and has plans for a 350-unit apartment complex.

A $300 million mixed-use development is planned for McFerrin Park.

A 0.54 acre unimproved East Nashville property once eyed for a mixed-use building, located at 1009 and 1013 Dickerson Pike, has sold for $2.35 million.

The Metro Planning Commission has approved a plan allowing 32 townhome units to be built on a 2.47-acre site at the intersection of Walker Terrace and Williams Avenue in Madison, according to Planning Department documents.