IN THE PRESS
THE TENNESSEAN - Walkable neighborhoods gain traction in city as well as suburbs (1/24/2014)
From the suburbs to the heart of the city, homebuilders are crafting smart-growth communities where residents can park the car and walk or ride a bike to nearby parks, restaurants and shops.
“It’s a lifestyle you’re buying as much as a location,” said Jeremy Malone, a Realtor who owns a home in McKays Mill, a Jones Co. subdivision in Franklin with a network of trails and ponds that encourage outdoor activity.
A trip to the dentist or the grocery means putting on a pair of walking shoes, not getting in the car, he said.
Instead of watching television or playing video games, Malone, his wife Jinni and their two young children enjoy spending time outdoors.
“We’re close to everything we do,” he said. “And I can step 25 feet from my door and be on a walking trail that leads into the hills.”
Close to home Sammie Baker enjoys having a clubhouse, pool and fitness center just steps from her door in StoneBridge, a master-planned community in Lebanon developed by Goodall Homes.
“You just go home and you are in your own community,” Baker said. “I love to walk my dog by the pond.”
In the core of the city, smart-growth developments are breathing new life into neighborhoods that were previously overlooked or in decline, said developer Mike Kenner.
His company, MiKen Development, is creating a 60-home subdivision on 60th Avenue North at Morrow Road in an area of West Nashville dotted with industrial sites. It will include a dog park and a “commercial corner” for local retailers.
Kenner believes his development will be especially popular with the same young buyers who have snapped up homes he has built in the Nations neighborhood next door. The Nations is around the corner from restaurants and pubs on Charlotte Pike.
Twenty- and thirtysomethings “have everything at our fingertips. We don’t want to drive for an hour,” Kenner said. “This is a return to tradition.”
Into urban core A few blocks away, Core Development is developing Richland Station, a 40-home cottage development on 54th Avenue in Sylvan Park. It is Core’s fifth cottage development in seven years.
Closer to downtown, Salemtown Cottages, a community of 24 single-family homes, is underway along Rosa Parks Boulevard north of downtown. It is being developed by MiKen, H.R. Properties and Aerial Development Group.
Unlike walkable communities in the suburbs, Salemtown Cottages won’t have trails through the woods or a swimming pool, but will be just blocks from the new stadium where the Nashville Sounds will play baseball. The restaurants of Germantown and downtown’s offices and entertainment venues are nearby.
“Overall, the mindset is to go toward the urban core,” said Britnie Turner, Aerial’s managing member. “It’s the mindset of a generation, not just the mindset of one city.”
Smart-growth communities are not just convenient, they also are more sustainable than sprawling suburbs, she said.
'Stroller brigade' South of downtown near Nolensville, Regent Homes is expanding Lenox Village, one of Nashville’s original smart-growth developments. The company is constructing 185 additional apartments in the community, which resembles a small town where more than 70 businesses are located. They include a chiropractor, a dentist’s office, a medical clinic, a bookstore and other retailers and restaurants.
“When the weather warms up, the stroller brigade will be out,” as parents walk through the neighborhood with their kids, said Regent President David McGowan.
In Nashville’s Hillsboro Village neighborhood, Regent is building 16 condominiums at 24th and Acklen avenues within walking distance of retailers, entertainment venues and Vanderbilt.
In Franklin, Regent is building single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes in Berry Farms, a mixed-use development that will include corporate offices and retail shops. Other homebuilders in the community include StoneGate Homes, Celebration Homes, Ford Custom Classic Homes and Gregg & Rains Building Group.
Smart-growth communities, whether in the city or in the suburbs, have a strong appeal, McGowan said.
“You get home and you don’t have to leave,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle.”
Contact Bill Lewis at 615-262-5862 or wlewis77229@comcast.net.
From the suburbs to the heart of the city, homebuilders are crafting smart-growth communities where residents can park the car and walk or ride a bike to nearby parks, restaurants and shops.
“It’s a lifestyle you’re buying as much as a location,” said Jeremy Malone, a Realtor who owns a home in McKays Mill, a Jones Co. subdivision in Franklin with a network of trails and ponds that encourage outdoor activity.
A trip to the dentist or the grocery means putting on a pair of walking shoes, not getting in the car, he said.
Instead of watching television or playing video games, Malone, his wife Jinni and their two young children enjoy spending time outdoors.
“We’re close to everything we do,” he said. “And I can step 25 feet from my door and be on a walking trail that leads into the hills.”
Close to home Sammie Baker enjoys having a clubhouse, pool and fitness center just steps from her door in StoneBridge, a master-planned community in Lebanon developed by Goodall Homes.
“You just go home and you are in your own community,” Baker said. “I love to walk my dog by the pond.”
In the core of the city, smart-growth developments are breathing new life into neighborhoods that were previously overlooked or in decline, said developer Mike Kenner.
His company, MiKen Development, is creating a 60-home subdivision on 60th Avenue North at Morrow Road in an area of West Nashville dotted with industrial sites. It will include a dog park and a “commercial corner” for local retailers.
Kenner believes his development will be especially popular with the same young buyers who have snapped up homes he has built in the Nations neighborhood next door. The Nations is around the corner from restaurants and pubs on Charlotte Pike.
Twenty- and thirtysomethings “have everything at our fingertips. We don’t want to drive for an hour,” Kenner said. “This is a return to tradition.”
Into urban core A few blocks away, Core Development is developing Richland Station, a 40-home cottage development on 54th Avenue in Sylvan Park. It is Core’s fifth cottage development in seven years.
Closer to downtown, Salemtown Cottages, a community of 24 single-family homes, is underway along Rosa Parks Boulevard north of downtown. It is being developed by MiKen, H.R. Properties and Aerial Development Group.
Unlike walkable communities in the suburbs, Salemtown Cottages won’t have trails through the woods or a swimming pool, but will be just blocks from the new stadium where the Nashville Sounds will play baseball. The restaurants of Germantown and downtown’s offices and entertainment venues are nearby.
“Overall, the mindset is to go toward the urban core,” said Britnie Turner, Aerial’s managing member. “It’s the mindset of a generation, not just the mindset of one city.”
Smart-growth communities are not just convenient, they also are more sustainable than sprawling suburbs, she said.
'Stroller brigade' South of downtown near Nolensville, Regent Homes is expanding Lenox Village, one of Nashville’s original smart-growth developments. The company is constructing 185 additional apartments in the community, which resembles a small town where more than 70 businesses are located. They include a chiropractor, a dentist’s office, a medical clinic, a bookstore and other retailers and restaurants.
“When the weather warms up, the stroller brigade will be out,” as parents walk through the neighborhood with their kids, said Regent President David McGowan.
In Nashville’s Hillsboro Village neighborhood, Regent is building 16 condominiums at 24th and Acklen avenues within walking distance of retailers, entertainment venues and Vanderbilt.
In Franklin, Regent is building single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes in Berry Farms, a mixed-use development that will include corporate offices and retail shops. Other homebuilders in the community include StoneGate Homes, Celebration Homes, Ford Custom Classic Homes and Gregg & Rains Building Group.
Smart-growth communities, whether in the city or in the suburbs, have a strong appeal, McGowan said.
“You get home and you don’t have to leave,” he said. “It’s a lifestyle.”
Contact Bill Lewis at 615-262-5862 or wlewis77229@comcast.net.
THE TENNESSEAN - Nashville neighborhoods form The Capitol District to encourage growth (8/22/2012)
Residents in four of Nashville’s urban neighborhoods have formed a new coalition in hopes of re-branding the area.
The Capitol District, as the collaboration is called, includes the neighborhoods north of the State Capitol — Germantown, Salemtown, Hope Gardens and Historic Buena Vista. The concept is not intended to replace the names or identities of the already established neighborhood associations, but establish better relationships with Metro departments and spur economic development.
“We hope by creating this synergy of bringing all four neighborhoods together that we can help to empower the area,” said Mark Wright, president of Historic Buena Vista.
The group plans to ask business owners, Realtors and city planners to incorporate The Capitol District into their signage and mappings. Plans are also in the works for the organization to join Nextdoor, a free private social network that connects residents. Salemtown already has a site with about 70 households signed up. Three major annual events are also in the works.
“This will help create community and introduce neighbors to each other,” said Molly McCluer, president of the Salemtown Neighbors Neighborhood Association.
“With Nextdoor, they can trade photographs and just become better informed about each other and the neighborhood so we can respond when needed.
“We can only benefit by joining together.”
Trying to change perceptions Germantown was the first of the four neighborhoods to gentrify, boosting the area’s image and economy with scores of new businesses and several residential developments. In recent years, all four neighborhoods have become a haven for young professionals who move to the area for its proximity to downtown, its renovated modern homes and urban appeal.
But as much as the neighborhoods have changed, some worry the negative perception sometimes associated with the area could deter future development projects such as the construction of a new Nashville Sounds baseball stadium at historic Sulphur Dell near Germantown. Many hope the new organization helps dispel those myths.
“We want to tear down the perception that anything north of Charlotte Avenue must be run down or crime-ridden,” said Freddie O’Connell, a Salemtown resident.
“This area is valuable with opportunities for people who are creating new businesses or looking at major new projects.”
Before organizing The Capitol District, residents from each neighborhood had begun to collaborate, from sponsoring an annual Night Out Against Crime event to trying to convince Metro Schools that the area needs more public education options.
Contact Nancy DeVille at 615-259-8304, ndeville@tennessean.com or follow on Twitter @devillenews
Residents in four of Nashville’s urban neighborhoods have formed a new coalition in hopes of re-branding the area.
The Capitol District, as the collaboration is called, includes the neighborhoods north of the State Capitol — Germantown, Salemtown, Hope Gardens and Historic Buena Vista. The concept is not intended to replace the names or identities of the already established neighborhood associations, but establish better relationships with Metro departments and spur economic development.
“We hope by creating this synergy of bringing all four neighborhoods together that we can help to empower the area,” said Mark Wright, president of Historic Buena Vista.
The group plans to ask business owners, Realtors and city planners to incorporate The Capitol District into their signage and mappings. Plans are also in the works for the organization to join Nextdoor, a free private social network that connects residents. Salemtown already has a site with about 70 households signed up. Three major annual events are also in the works.
“This will help create community and introduce neighbors to each other,” said Molly McCluer, president of the Salemtown Neighbors Neighborhood Association.
“With Nextdoor, they can trade photographs and just become better informed about each other and the neighborhood so we can respond when needed.
“We can only benefit by joining together.”
Trying to change perceptions Germantown was the first of the four neighborhoods to gentrify, boosting the area’s image and economy with scores of new businesses and several residential developments. In recent years, all four neighborhoods have become a haven for young professionals who move to the area for its proximity to downtown, its renovated modern homes and urban appeal.
But as much as the neighborhoods have changed, some worry the negative perception sometimes associated with the area could deter future development projects such as the construction of a new Nashville Sounds baseball stadium at historic Sulphur Dell near Germantown. Many hope the new organization helps dispel those myths.
“We want to tear down the perception that anything north of Charlotte Avenue must be run down or crime-ridden,” said Freddie O’Connell, a Salemtown resident.
“This area is valuable with opportunities for people who are creating new businesses or looking at major new projects.”
Before organizing The Capitol District, residents from each neighborhood had begun to collaborate, from sponsoring an annual Night Out Against Crime event to trying to convince Metro Schools that the area needs more public education options.
Contact Nancy DeVille at 615-259-8304, ndeville@tennessean.com or follow on Twitter @devillenews
