Getahn Ward

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Demolition and excavation will begin by the end of next month.

The 26-story, 385,000 office tower at Fifth Broadway will be named after its address at 501 Commerce.

Fifth Broadway’s retail and the 501 Commerce office building are expected to be completed by late 2019.

The project is also expected to include more than 350 apartments and more than 2,000 parking spaces.

Work is now underway on the $430 million Fifth + Broadway mixed-used project, which will rise on the 6.2-acre Nashville Convention Center site across from Bridgestone Arena and Ryman Auditorium.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday.

Demolition and excavation costing roughly $10.6 million will begin by the end of next month. The excavation work to create a public parking garage will include digging down 26 feet from the lowest level of the old convention hall, which was rendered obsolete by opening of the Music City Center.

"We have some permits approved and some are pending, but we're full steam ahead," said Burgin Dossett, who is overseeing development of Fifth + Broadway for San Diego, Calif.-based lead developer OliverMcMillan.

OliverMcMillan is joined in the project by locally based developer Spectrum | Emery. Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group is also a financial backer of Fifth + Broadway.

Among new information revealed Tuesday, the 26-story, 385,000 office tower at Fifth + Broadway will be named after its address at 501 Commerce.

The overall project will also include 235,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space, including 56,000 square feet for the National Museum of African-American Music. The remaining roughly 180,000 square feet will be space for new large-format retailers new to downtown and a mix of local and out-of-market restaurants.

"There's a high level of interest both locally and nationally," Dossett said about leasing interest in Fifth + Broadway. "Obviously, Nashville has a great reputation."

Fifth + Broadway will also include more than 350 apartments and more than 2,000 parking spaces. It is being touted as perhaps the largest single mixed-use project ever undertaken in downtown Nashville and one of the largest in history of the state.​

Fifth + Broadway’s retail and the 501 Commerce office building are expected to be completed by late 2019.

Reach Getahn Ward at gward@tennessean.com or 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.