Nashville’s downtown YMCA is hoping to soon break ground on new digs. The organization has signed a non-binding agreement with a local developer known for his love of skyscrapers.
If all goes according to plan, developer Tony Giarratana will demolish part of the Y’s old building and replace it with a new one. Plus, he’ll build a 60-story residential tower next door.
At 750 feet, the skyscraper would be the tallest building in the city. And it would be just steps from Amazon’s new Nashville Yards, which is expected to bring thousands of white collar workers to Nashville’s downtown once construction is completed.
But YMCA CEO Chris Tointon says he wants everyone to feel welcome in the new facility — not just Amazon employees.
“We need a place where people can feel comfortable,” he says. “We need the bedrock of the community to be here so that everybody knows that it’s a place where all walks of life participate, they have fun and they create community.”
Courtesy YMCA of Middle Tennessee At 750 feet, the residential tower next to the downtown YMCA would be the tallest building in the city.
The YMCA expects to spend the next couple of months mulling over the plan before it signs off on the deal. Renovations aren’t slated to begin until 2023 at the earliest.
The developer has scaled down past plans for record-breaking skyscrapers, including the Signature Tower, which would have stood at 1,030 feet, the Nashville Business Journal reported in 2007. But then the Great Recession hit, and the plans were scrapped.
Tointon says it won’t make much of a difference to the YMCA if the residential building next door is 30, 45 or 60 stories, as long as the organization’s facility is designed in the best way to serve the community. But he says more stories means more nearby residents who can frequent the Y without having to drive from other parts of town. And the taller height would also help people spot their headquarters in the city’s skyline.
“It’s an easy beacon for the Y,” Tointon says. “We can say, ‘If you’re trying to find the downtown Y, look for the tallest building.’ And then we’re right there.”
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