As 2022 comes to a close, activity on Nashville’s East Bank is picking up.
On the east side of the Cumberland River, Nashville’s elected officials are exploring the idea of creating a new downtown neighborhood. It’s a package deal that comes with Mayor John Cooper’ pitch for a new, $2.1 billion, domed Titans stadium.
If we zoom out, Oracle is working on their hub to the north. Plus, once you cross I-24, the privately owned Riverchase Apartments, are gone. It once offered low-cost housing. Meanwhile, the city’s public housing, Cayce Homes, has been transformed to serve people with different income levels instead of just low-income units.
All of this is changing the connection between downtown and East Nashville. Here’s a recap of the milestones:
Oracle deal revealed
Let’s flip back to the spring of 2021, this is when the deal for Oracle’s hub became public. The plan has been for the software technology company to employ 8,500 people in the next decade.
Even though the hub hasn’t opened, the company has laid off some Nashville employees, which has raised eyebrows.
WPLN News also reported that the local worker pipeline isn’t prepared to help fulfill the thousands of jobs coming, which is a common concern.
Oracle Pitches Nashville On Record-Setting 8,500-Person Tech Hub
Riverchase Apartments demolished
The Riverchase Apartments had 212 units that were home to people earning low incomes or paying rent with a housing voucher. Throughout this year, Texas-based developer Cypress Real Estate Advisors paid two local organizations to help relocate residents. At the same time, CREA was negotiating a community benefits agreement with Stand Up Nashville. In the end, the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement and CREA worked with the Urban League.
In the end, this situation raised questions about the role and limitations of the city government and third party groups in making sure developers look out for the communities they’re working in.
WPLN News did a three-part investigation into how the apartments continued to decline despite government inspections, the struggle of residents to find new homes in the city’s hot housing market, and why organizers were at odds about the best way forward.
New plans for downtown neighborhood
Nashville residents have been frustrated for some time that their neighborhoods aren’t getting sidewalks, school improvements and other public infrastructure. Instead they feel city officials and employees are hyperfocused on downtown Nashville. As a candidate for mayor, John Cooper ran on improving neighborhoods. Since then, he has put money behind participatory budget, created a transportation department and launched other projects meant to deliver on his campaign promise. But in August of 2022, he made a splash when he announced the idea of creating a new neighborhood in downtown Nashville.
The mayor who ran on improving neighborhoods now wants to build a new one downtown
A month later, Cooper and the Titans announced new domed stadium with a $2.1 billion price tag.
The city is legally required to provide a first-class stadium. In an effort to deliver on that and separate this project from the neighborhood, Cooper went to the podium pitching his plan. He says that residents won’t pay out of pocket to build a domed stadium, with the money instead coming from the state, a 1% increase to Davidson County’s hotel tax and other sources. Still, there have been few details of what it would take to do meet the bare minimum the city’s obligation and renovate Nissan Stadium.
Tennessee Titans and Nashville’s mayor strike a deal for a new domed stadium
Metro Council digs in
The Metro Council East Bank committee is in charge of digging into the details for the neighborhood and stadium proposals. While they were finally getting their hands on the term sheet which outlines the design, construction, funding and other details, the Titans began trying to sell the public on the plan by releasing images of what a new domed stadium would look like.
Metro councilmembers get their first glimpse at terms of proposed Titans stadium
Since these milestones, the council and the Sports Authority have approved a nonbinding agreement that allows more in-depth discussions. Some advocacy groups remain concerned a stadium could shift resources and focus from other pressing city needs.
At the top of the year, the Titans will continue with the design and pre-construction process, and the Metro Council will have to decide on whether to let the Sports Authority issue revenue bonds. Between April and September, the stadium budget could be finalized, funds will be secured and bonds issued for payment.
This will all be occurring during the Metro government’s election year. So far, Cooper hasn’t announced he’s running, but it’s widely anticipated that he will.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM