Signature Towers Design Revealed

Today Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell voiced his approval for an addition to the city’s skyline.

In a meeting with developer Tony Giarratana, Purcell supported the newest design of the 55-story Signature Tower.

The original plans were revealed last year, but Giarratana says the community didn’t embrace the design. The new renderings show the 700-foot high-rise at 5th Avenue and Church Street with a spire pointed to the sky, down the street from another recent Giarratana project – the 31-story Viridian Condominiums.

Mayor Purcell says the tower’s 500 high-end condos will house more people than lived in all of downtown Nashville six years ago. He says 90-percent of the units in the incomplete Viridian have been pre-sold and point toward a trend of urban renewal.

Purcell says the model of bringing businesses to downtown and letting the people follow hasn’t worked.

“Simply having office towers does not make you a 365 day-a-year 24 hour-a-day city. In fact, the way we did it here is we encouraged people actually to get in their cars at five o’clock and leave as quickly as possible. What this does is turn that around.”

Purcell says the development is funded solely by private investors, but has the potential to bring 3-million dollars in property tax revenue. In December, the developer will go before the Metro Development and Housing Authority board for approval of tax increment financing.

If approved, ground breaks in 2007, with unit owners moving in by 2009.