Discover Nashville's Farmers Market

Since the early 1800's the Nashville Farmers Market has been a source of a variety of fresh foods, much of it grown locally and picked just days ago. If you are into food, and most people are, then you might want to check this place out.

My family made the trip out there last weekend. I've got three kids and they all seemed to enjoy exploring the aisles of different veggies like cucumbers, squash, corn and melons. We had to watch our budget because it all looked so good!

The market is divided into three parts. The north end contains a flea market section, the center is called the Market House and on the south side are the farm sheds. It's quite a place, especially this time of year when so much food is in season.

If you are looking for prepared food, then you have to visit the Market House with it's many specialized vendors. The variety continues ranging from Southern fried chicken or bar-b-que to po'boys, gyros and Jamaican jerk chicken.

The attraction of the Farmer's Market, especially in a day where more people are preferring organic or locally grown food, is widespread. It has become a main selling point for nearby Germantown, Hope Gardens, Buena Vista or other North Nashville neighborhoods that border the market as well as adjacent Bicentennial Park.

Growing up on a produce farm, I have my own memories of picking sweet corn and strawberries each summer. Much has changed since then, but there's still nothing quite like some fresh food straight from the farm.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com

How Nashville Skyscrapers Stack Up

If you're following all the buzz about new downtown developments in Nashville, you might want to check out SkyscraperPage.com. Today I found an interactive lineup which is a neat way to compare the tallest buildings in Nashville and see how they rank. Here's the link.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Filling the Gaps Downtown

One of the greatest things about the redevelopment and new construction happening around downtown is how Nashville is becoming less segmented. Many of the 'margins' between very distinct areas are getting harder to find.

For example, do you remember just a few years back when Demonbrean Street by Music Row was lined with vacant buildings? Now the street is lined with trendy restaurants and boutiques and a new Condo/Retail tower, Rhythm on Music Row, is coming soon. The street itself has also improved as a new bridge over I-40 connects the area to SoBro where the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Frist Center are located.

Speaking of SoBro, I found this really cool interactive graphic from the Tennessean depicting many the developments south of Broadway. It's a little outdated, but a great way to explore the area.

Downtown, just inside I-40, is a quickly developing area dubbed the "Gulch". Not long ago this was a dark area known for its 'seedy' businesses. Now the area has been transformed as several high-rise condo towers are planned and currently under construction. It's become one of the hottest neighborhoods in town.

On the other side of downtown, two new bridges have come along in the past few years connecting Sobro to LP Field and East Nashville with easy access to I-24. Hopefully coming soon, the ambitious Riverfront redevelopment will further join downtown with greenways and river recreation. The 5th and Main condominiums are also helping to fill some of the 'gaps' between downtown and East Nashville.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Pictures of Nashville Developments.

I love to browse renderings of the developments going on around Nashville. This morning I found a great message board at Urban Planet with most of them listed in one place. Some of these are complete, but many are still underway or will be soon underway.

Put on your seatbelts because changes are happening in Nashville! Here are some links to the renderings:

1811 18th Ave.
Art Avenue Lofts
Belmont University College of Heath Sciences Building
Belmont University Thrailkill Hall
Bristol West End
Metro Civic Square and Parking Structure
Demonbreun Street Bridge
Rolling Mill Hill
Shermerhorn Symphony Center
The Adelicia Condos
The Encore
The Icon
The Midtown Lofts
The Viridian
The West End
Vanderbilt Commons Dining Hall
Vanderbilt Commons Freshman Dorms
Werthan Mills
Vanderbilt UMC Imaging Science Building
Vanderbilt UMC Langford Light Hall
Summer St. Lofts
Suntrust Building
MTA Transit center
The Meridian
The West End Summit I & II
The Signature Tower
Sounds Baseball Stadium
5th and Main
The Woodmont & Kenner
The Belle Meade Theater
The Terrazzo
Cumberland Yacht Harbor
East Bank Arts Project

Any questions about these? Looking for a condo downtown? Give me a call!

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Looking North on I-65

Last weekend we took a couple days to visit my family in Indiana. On the way home I was checking out some of Nashville's 'competition' in Indianapolis and Louisville. Of course, I'm a little biased about our fine city, but I was curious to know if these other large cities were seeing the same sort of massive demand for downtown living as we're having here in Nashville.

My first impression on my quick drive through the cities is that I didn't notice near as many super-sized cranes and building projects as we have in Nashville. I didn't want to be quick to judge so I did a little research to see what I could dig up.

Louisville has some incredible things happening downtown. Most impressive to me is this Museum Plaza development (see picture). Wow! That is one amazing structure. Inside will be a little of everything including apartments, condos, retail, office space and, of course, a contemporary arts museum. There are lot of other projects going on as well in this city famous for sluggers and the riverfront. Here's a great article with more from the City of Louisville.

Growing up in Indiana, I know that Indianapolis has seen a lot of movement downtown. A few years back the Circle Centre Mall opened as well as the highly rated Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Pacers. It was a little more difficult to find a lot of new development here although there are proposals coming in for redeveloping the site where the demolished Market Square Arena once stood. The condo market is in high demand, however. Here's an info guide to Indianapolis condos.

Though these cities are also seeing a rise in demand for downtown living, Nashville definitely seems unique in the amount of projects that are currently underway. Read more about Nashville's downtown developments here.

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Two Homes of the Future

In cities across the U.S. people are 'rediscovering' downtown living- forsaking the suburbs to live within walking distance of restaurants, parks and entertainment venues. This is definitely true in Nashville as we see downtown condos selling out rapidly and new construction everywhere.

The 2007 International Builder’s Show in Orlando highlighted this trend by building two different, yet incredible model homes on the same street in a historic part of Orlando. Both of the homes were built to show off the latest innovations and technologies in home building and reflect both the challenges and advantages to an 'in-city' home.

The New American Home, pictured left, is a completely new home, built to incorporate international style and yet blend in with the surrounding historic homes. The 3-story, "urban loft" home with roof plaza will feature 4,707 sq. ft. of air conditioned living area plus a 576 sq. ft suite above the detached garage. Sales price will be around $3 million.

The Renewed American Home, pictured right, was originally built in 1909. It was moved from its former site then fully renovated and expanded to 5860 sq. ft. of air conditioned living area, not to mention the basement and two-car garage. Though keeping some of its historic charm, the home includes the latest in automated controls from the lighting and zone audio systems to the security and safety systems. It's a marriage of a historical environment and a modern entertainment lifestyle. The home will also sell at around $3 million.

I know you want to see more pictures and get more information about these homes from the International Builder's Show. Just don't get too envious.

-Peter
http://www.nashvillecityhomes.com/
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Nashville, Then and Now

I found myself strolling through Barnes & Noble last weekend while the kids were playing at the train table and came across a very interesting book called Nashville Then and Now. I’m always curious about the history of downtown and so I picked it up. It was full of pictures comparing scenes from a hundred years ago to the same location today.

For example, did you know that where Riverfront Park currently is, there used to be a busy wharf where boats would load and unload their goods? Here’s a neat picture along 1st avenue from shortly after the Civil War.

It was also interesting to learn that the North side of the capital used to filled with slums and crime until Nashville, the nation’s first urban renewal city, cleared the area in 1949 and built James Robertson Parkway. Before it was redeveloped it was often reffered to as "Hell's Half Acre".

In addition to seeing some of the changes that have taken place in Nashville over the last century, it’s also fascinating to see what still remains. Some of the pictures of Historic Edgefield looked remarkably similar to current ones. Also, many of the downtown buildings look just the same such as the Customs House, and the Hume Fogg Magnet school with it’s origins as the first public high school in Nashville.

I love exploring the history of Nashville, especially as it relates to real estate and the buildings that we still have today. It would be interesting to see how Nashville continues to grow and change over the next 100 years. I wonder if Barnes and Noble will still be around...

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.

Excited About Skyscrapers.

I’m not sure why it is, but I really like tall buildings. A few years ago I was addicted to a computer game called Sim City. It was the quest to build as many huge buildings a possible. (Hey- who has time for that these days?)

Now I’m getting my thrills watching all the development planned for Nashville. There are several high-rise towers planned for Nashville, but the one I’m most excited about is the Signature Tower.

Tony Giarratana along with Novare Group of Atlanta is developing the structure, which is slated to be 70 stories and over 1,000 feet tall. That’s 400 feet taller than the BellSouth Tower and taller than any buildings in the Southeast including Atlanta’s Bank of America Plaza.

It, along with the host of other projects slated for downtown, are a testament to the growing economy and strong market that Nashville is enjoying, including being rated by Kiplinger's as the #1 smart place to live.

I was fortunate to attend a presentation of the Signature Tower by Tony Giarratana himself. It was exciting to hear about this magnificent structure from a man so passionate about it.

Giarratana explained that the tower would be the “best of the best”, truly a world class building with all the amenities and upscale finishes that you’d expect in a project of this caliber. He expected the construction to be about a 3-year process with occupancy beginning in 2009. Condominiums range from 900 to a massive 7000 square feet with 85% of them being corner units.

Recent news articles report a slight delay, but it plans are still underway to begin construction July 1st.

If you haven’t seen them already, you have to see the renderings of Nashville’s projected skyline. I especially like the one showing the finished Encore building and the new Sounds ballpark.

What will it cost you for a piece of this landmark? The 1 bedroom units start at $423k and the penthouse unit that has over 5000 sq. ft. of terrace in the sky will sell for around $7.5 million! If you’re ready to write that check, please call me right away and I’ll get the paperwork started…

-Peter

www.NashvilleCityHomes.com
REALTOR. City Home Specialist.