Mayor Karl Dean speaking in support of the Gulch Bridge at an event on Wednesday. Credit: Bobby Allyn
Seven months after Metro Council overwhelmingly shelved the idea of building a pedestrian bridge connecting the Gulch with downtown, the mayor’s office is proposing a new way to fund the ambitious project.
City leaders announced Wednesday a plan to use property tax increases from seven downtown buildings — among them, the Icon, the Bohan Building and three projects under construction — instead of relying on general taxes used to fund sidewalks.
At the time of the first pitch, which used city sidewalk money to finance a 700-foot bridge, Councilwoman Emily Evans called it “one of the most outrageous proposals I’ve seen.”
Councilman Anthony Davis said it sucked the air out of the room.
“The way they were trying to fund it from where the rest of the sidewalk money was coming from, when we weren’t getting enough sidewalks in the neighborhoods, created the bubble-up from the district council members. It was definitely warranted at the time.”
Officials from the mayor’s office met with planners at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency and crafted a new funding idea: Property taxes received from seven properties that have received Metro assistance will recoup the cost of building the pedestrian bridge. It’s estimated to cost $18 million, according to the memo.
“Over the next several weeks, residents and property owners in the Gulch and SoBro area intend to contact the Council to let you know how critical they feel this project is for the ultimate development of the area,” Metro finance director Rich Riebeling wrote to Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors, in a letter sent before the official announcement.
Councilwoman Erica Gilmore, who sponsored the original bridge ordinance, plans to soon re-introduce the measure.
On Wednesday night, Mayor Karl Dean made a full-throated pitch for the Gulch Bridge at a rally organized by Connect Nashville, a group assembled by public relations firm McNeely Pigott and Fox. A group of Gulch business groups paid for the event. Beer and food flowed freely at the gathering, where Dean said from a lectern that the bridge would make the Gulch less isolated for cyclists and pedestrians. He said connecting city dots is good for quality of life. “And we’re connecting two big dots,” Dean said.
Asked whether the party is premature, given that Council has not yet given its blessing to the project, Dean responded: “Well, it’s not my party,” he said. “I think it’s not so much a party of celebration, it’s a party saying, ‘hey, we’re a neighborhood and we want to be part of everything and we want to be connected and please let us do it.'”
The bridge would ascend over the downtown train tracks, connecting 10th Avenue South near Cummins Station to Pine Street in the Gulch. If it gains enough votes at Council, it could break ground next summer.
All the seven properties were supported through an MDHA redevelopment program in which property tax gains, accrued as land becomes more valuable, are used to subsidize a private developer’s project. It’s called tax-increment financing. Critics say during the period it takes to pay off the bridge, things like schools, roads and public safety are receiving less funding. Still other skeptics say private developers could build projects without public assistance.
Proposed Bridge Finances
The proposal calls for property taxes from the following projects to fund the Gulch bridge:
- The Icon, 417-unit condo and mixed-up building
- Mercury Loft, 52,000-square-foot retail building with 32 apartments
- Gulch Crossing, 200,000-square-foot office building under construction
- 1212, 286-unit condo building under construction
- 1201 Demonbreum, 200,000-square-foot office building under construction
- Laurel, 48-unit residential and retail building
- Bohan Building, 62,00-square-foot office building
A rendering of the proposed Gulch Bridge.
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