Mega Project Makes History in Nashville

OliverMcMillan and Spectrum | Emery have begun construction on Fifth + Broadway, a $430 million mixed-use development in the city’s downtown, which will include the new National Museum for African American Music.

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

In the form of preparatory demolition, construction has begun on the largest mixed-use development to date in downtown Nashville, the developers of the $430 million Fifth + Broadway project announced Tuesday.

Fifth + Broadway in Nashville

Fifth + Broadway in Nashville

When complete, Fifth + Broadway will comprise 235,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, including the new National Museum for African American Music; 385,000 square feet of Class A office space; more than 350 residential units and more than 2,000 parking spaces. The developers are OliverMcMillan, of San Diego, and Nashville’s own Spectrum | Emery.

The project will replace the 6.2-acre Nashville Convention Center, a late-1980s building that was rendered obsolete with the 2013 opening of the Music City Center. Demolition has begun on the old convention center and should be finished by fall, a spokesperson told Commercial Property Executive.

Fifth + Broadway’s retail and office components are expected to be complete by late 2019.

The development’s 235,000 square feet of retail and entertainment reportedly will be the largest collection of shopping in downtown Nashville, where currently retail space vacancy is only 2.9 percent, Tom Turner of the Downtown Nashville Partnership said in a prepared statement.

The developers noted that tourism in Nashville is setting records, with 13.9 million visitors to the city in 2016 and annual visitor spending now exceeding $5.7 billion.

In addition, the number of downtown Nashville residents is expected to pass 14,000 by the end of the 2018, versus only about 5,000 as of 2010. Further, the developers noted, the new headquarters for Bridgestone Americas Inc. will bring more than 1,700 workers within walking distance of the Fifth + Broadway retail center.

501 Commerce, the project’s office component, will feature on-site amenities, including a 20,000-square-foot rooftop terrace and a targeted LEED Silver sustainable infrastructure certification. Cushman & Wakefield’s Rob Lowe and Stewart Lyman will be leading the office leasing effort.

The project’s construction manager is Skanska.

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