Nashville Planners Use Germantown Cottages as 12th South Ideal

Metro Planning Department staff members took neighborhood leaders from South Nashville to North last night to showcase a new redevelopment style.

Just north of Bicentennial Mall, long, narrow cottages are packed together just off the brick sidewalks.

Senior planner Cindy Wood says the compact set of new homes should be an example for other historic parts of town, like the 12th South neighborhoods.

“We thought it would be a good idea for some of the people to actually see the real cottage court developments so instead of seeing pictures or hearing us talk about them, they could see.”

The 12th South neighborhood has seen new development, but old houses have been torn down and replaced with pairs of so-called McMansions. Two large homes are shoehorned into one lot. Metro planners say the cottage courts are a more desirable use because they fit the character of the historic areas.