The mayor who ran on improving neighborhoods now wants to build a new one downtown

After resident frustration of downtown Nashville getting the most money from elected officials, Mayor John Cooper ran on improving neighborhoods.

Now, he wants to deliver on a two-decade-old idea to create a downtown neighborhood. Nashville officials are pitching it to transform a downtown parking lot into a new neighborhood. 

The site will sit next to the billion-dollar Oracle tech campus, River North and industrial businesses.

Metro’s Imagine East Bank study covers nearly 350 acres of private and public land. The city mostly wants to rely on federal, state and developer money to pay for the neighborhood. Currently, there is no total dollar amount. But reporting from the Nashville Scene shows at least $800 million to start transforming the area. 

This doesn’t include the hefty price tag of the Titans stadium.

Although negotiations for the stadium are still in the air, the event space is key to the overall project. There are two different proposals based on if the stadium is spruced up in its current location or a new one is built closer to the interstate, which signals the city’s commitment to holding onto the team.

Economists have said the deal would be a burden without much benefit to taxpayers. When WPLN News asked the mayor why the Titans stadium is integral to the plan he says “that’s another discussion.”

“The Titans is a component of the East Bank,” Cooper says. “But what we’re talking today is about the bigger plan.”

City officials echoed this when asked what East Nashville community members think of the stadium.

City officials have four main goals for the neighborhood:  

1. Multiple safe transportation connections 
2. Equitable and affordable housing 
3. Taking care of the river, especially flooding  
4. “Create a more vibrant and livable neighborhood”

“For the first time in the modern history of Nashville, we have an opportunity to comprehensively plan a core part of our city from the ground up,” Cooper wrote in a press release. “This is the largest-ever community-driven planning process ever for Nashville, and the result will be something that protects us from haphazard, piecemeal development and sets the stage for an East Bank that provides transportation solutions, affordable housing, parks, civic space and all the features of great neighborhoods.”

Several mayors have tried, with limited success, to jump-start development along the Cumberland River across from downtown Nashville. The main goal was to reconnect Nashville with its waterfront.

In 2006, a consultant proposed a master plan for the three miles between MetroCenter and Shelby Park. Some elements, like the renovation of the century-old Nabrico Building next to the Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and construction of a nearby splash park, were completed. But the most ambitious ideas, like burying the interstate and creating a manmade island surrounding the football stadium, never went anywhere.

The latest proposal shows images of wider sidewalks along the East Bank, 5.6 miles of bike lanes on a raised level and protective barriers from the street, as well as a lane for buses to efficiently get past car traffic.

Courtesy Metro Nashville government

Nashville officials say designing a neighborhood from scratch is an easier lift to fit modern needs.

City officials tout this as a way to ease traffic on the interstate while also being one of the biggest assets to residents who live in a different area.

The city is also looking into ways to make the river more recreational with boating.

Otherwise, the city was clear this plan expresses its intentions, and details will come later. For example, the city plans to build housing on its land, which is something a housing expert says the city will have to do in order to meet the demand for lower rents while competing with the private market. But the city gave no specific information on how much housing units will cost or how many units will be created.

“Life’s about choices. If you’re going to have affordable housing options be the last thing you figure out, that reflects a choice to let it be the last thing you figure out,” Councilmember Bob Mendes says. “I think a lot of people would prefer that benchmarks be set earlier in the process and the deal be built around that versus the other way around.”

But Nashville’s housing director Angie Hubbard says those numbers aren’t laid out because they want input from the community and the mayor’s affordable housing task force. The volunteer group made up of developers, policy experts and others confirmed that the city is way behind in ensuring accessible housing is created and preserved that range in rent prices.

The city says economic opportunities for everyone is important.

“Metro will strive to involve BIPOC-owned (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) small businesses as the development of the East Bank continues,” the report reads. “The Urban League’s Real Estate Development (RED) Academy provides one way to build the capacity of minority developers who could participate in the future development of the East Bank.”

Right now, there is no criteria or framework to ensure contractors of color will be prioritized in getting projects. The city says that will develop incrementally as work is being done.

This latest development further transforms the entrance of East Nashville. Housing near this area used to primarily be dedicated to residents earning low incomes like Cayce Homes and Riverchase Apartments. But now, they’re being replaced to also accommodate people with higher incomes. 

Residents will have a month to give their feedback in person or online. The first event is Aug. 23 at the East Nashville Farmer’s Market from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

WPLN’s Chas Sisk contributed to this report.