Trio Of Towers Proposed Across From Amazon, Along The Gulch Greenway In Nashville.

Atlanta-based Portman Residential (Portman) has submitted plans to construct a trio of towers in the parking lot of the Eleven North Apartments. Located in the Gulch, the project will look to create 1,475 units, and 40,000 SF of retail across the 47, 29, and 28-story towers. Similar to Portman’s Ballpark Village project in Germantown, the development will have a direct connection to the Greenway with retail activation. The project is located at 1017 Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Charlotte Ave).

The trio of towers comes on the cusp of major development projects along the Church Street viaduct and adjacent roads below it; now making it one of the most dense residential areas in the downtown core.  With the announcement of Puttshack (across from 11 North), in addition to Nashville Yards, this will serve as another new epicenter for entertainment, social gatherings, and nightlife outside of Lower Broadway. 

Portman has made significant progress towards greater activation and use of the City Central Greenways System.  Likely pulling from the success of the Beltline in Atlanta, the developer is currently on track to create 1,834 units of multifamily and 57,000 SF of retail between Ballpark Village and Eleven North.  Once complete, Portman will have created 2.6Million SF of total trail-oriented development in Nashville, between those two projects alone.  The gallery below shows active developments by Portman.

The project is seeking additional height using Metro Planning’s Bonus Height Program as well as a couple of typical modifications for building around the viaduct. The project also involves major connections on each side of the development site, which is to be expected given the scale of the development. Some of the site improvements include:

• Widening a portion of Church Street.
• A switch-back ramp which will allow pedestrians and cyclists to access the Greenway vertically from the Church Street Viaduct above.
• A new public easement along the private drive between the two existing apartment buildings from 11th Avenue North.
• A new road next to the Grainger building that aligns with the Publix parking entrance on Charlotte Ave.
• A realigned segment of the North Gulch Greenway segment.

A request has been submitted for concept plan approval for the mixed-use development on the 4.2-acre site.  The request was submitted by Hastings Architecture on behalf of the property owner.  Here’s the quick rundown:

The three towers span the same podium with active uses on each side.  The project has parking underground and below the Church Street Viaduct like Nashville Yards. There is a pedestrian pavilion centrally located on Hynes Street which gets pedestrians access to the retail plaza, greenways, and towers. Slide the image below for a view of the pedestrian plaza along the Greenways trail.

Church Street

Tower 3 sits at the intersection created by the platform at Asurion HQ across the street and the proposed development.  The Eleven North multimodal platform provides access to the entrance of both Towers 2&3 with a roundabout to exit.  There’s access down to the parking garage for vehicles, a monumental stair for pedestrians, and a walking/biking ramp for pedestrians and cyclists to the Greenway.  The widening of Church Street creates a queue for traffic exiting the platform which must merge into the 3-lane street.

Greenways Realignment

The Greenways trailhead below Church Street will undergo a major transformation.  The current trail which takes you North towards Capital View will shift back towards the railroad tracks and up approximately 13 feet to its new elevation.  For context the continuation of the trail to the South which goes behind Asurion HQ is further back than the proposed South trail realignment.

The new switchback ramp which gets cyclists and pedestrians up to Church Street is sandwiched between the extended portion of Church Street and Tower 3.  The corner of tower 3 is also anchored by retail which could be a first for street-level (or trail-level) activation below the viaducts and platforms along Broadway & Church Street.  The recently announced Goddard School will use an elevated portion of the Platform at Nashville Yards for its program for context.

11th Avenue North

The biggest change along 11th Ave occurs at the intersection of Hynes Street and 11th.  The existing gated private drive will become a public right-of-way and create a critical gateway into the new development.  Hynes Street provides access to the parking garage, pedestrian pavilion, and loading areas for the project.  Given the street level elevation along 11th Ave and Hynes, the plaza climbs the parking podium and gradually gets pedestrians to the new grade level along the greenway and up to Church Street.

The existing Eleven North apartments face 11th Ave North. The proposal did not provide elevations of what the three towers look like between the existing apartments and the podium.  However, the image above provides context. 

Charlotte Avenue

There is another 4-way intersection created along Charlotte Avenue at the rear entrance into the parking deck of the Publix and Residences at Capital View.  The plans show the trail shifting closer to the railroad and aligning the Hynes Street extension with the access road into Capital view. The existing traffic signal will also be relocated.  Slide the image below for context.  According to Metro Documents, Grainger owns their property on Charlotte Ave, and there currently are no plans for redevelopment.  However, the drawings do show that if developed it could result in a 16-story Tower.

The project is scheduled for the 7/27/2023 Metro Planning Agenda.

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