From: The Nashville Business Journal
For the past five years, a real estate development group has pursued plans for a hotel on Nashville's famed Music Row, where the country music recording industry took root more than 65 years ago.
They're aiming for a different kind of project now that the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the hotel industry and made it all-but-impossible to convince lenders to build more rooms right now, especially in a tourist-dependent market such as Nashville.
The investor group, which features area hoteliers Jay Patel and Andy Bhakta, is seeking Metro's permission to build apartments on its half-acre site at 50 Music Square West. It was formerly home to a distinctive octagon-shaped building, which the group tore down earlier this year.
In 2018, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announced that the proposed hotel would become part of its high-end Tapestry Collection. Instead, the investor group now intends to build 132 apartments in a seven-story building, Patel said in an interview.
"With hospitality in turmoil … this gives the project more stability," Patel said.
Details on construction financing and timing won't solidify until after Metro grants permission to build multifamily units, Patel said. The Metro Planning Commission is set to review the proposed change at its Nov. 12 meeting.
Nashville's Manuel Zeitlin Architects is designing the project, which also involves engineering firm Barge Cauthen & Associates. Patel's group paid $5.9 million for the property in stages, over the course of 2015 and 2016.
Patel is the same developer who's proposed a six-story Holiday Inn Express at 2221 Elliston Place. That project, Patel said, is "pretty much at a standstill right now until the economic climate gets better and we get some kind of direction on where the economy's heading."
He added: "Music Row we've been working on for quite some time, and Elliston is pretty fresh. It's a lot easier to put a pause on Elliston Place than the Music Row project. We also think Music Row is just a great multifamily location."
