The redevelopment of the Nashville Convention Center site is a go: The Convention Center Authority voted unanimously late last week to approve the development agreement with developers OliverMcMillan and Spectrum | Emery for the redevelopment and parking garage lease.
"The plan in place will be a welcome addition to Downtown, adding much-needed retail and entertainment space,” says Music City Center CEO Charles Stark. OliverMcMillan and Spectrum | Emery paid $5M to Metro to close on the 6.2-acre property, which will be home to a mixed-use development called Fifth + Broadway.
Among other parts of the complicated deal to transfer the site of the '80s-vintage facility, the construction of the new parking garage will require a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise commitment of no less than 20%. Also, Metro agreed to put the $5M into the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing. The fund provides incentives for developers to build affordably priced residential units in the region.
Plans for Fifth + Broadway call for 230k SF of retail, a 350-unit residential tower, a 375k SF office tower, conference space in the adjacent Renaissance Nashville Hotel and the public parking garage. It will also include the 56k SF National Museum of African-American Music. "The addition of the museum will bring even more citizens and visitors to Downtown," Charles says.
The museum, slated for completion in 2019, will showcase over 50 music genres created or impacted by African-Americans, honor the creators of the music, and detail its impact on musicians and consumers around the world.
The plans for Fifth + Broadway have caught some flak for the placement of the museum's entrance and other issues. The criticism has prompted Mayor Megan Berry to send a letter to the Metro Council in support of the project as planned.
