North Nashville's five-lane main drag is wide, smooth and buffered by sidewalks — but it runs along a sparsely populated, aging stretch of low-slung homes and small shops.

High-powered investor B. Edward Ewing sees a missed opportunity along West Trinity Lane, which lays parallel to the northern banks of the Cumberland River.

He presented a grandiose plan to develop an upscale urban core there on Thursday evening to about 200 influential developers, city leaders and community members.

"Nashville is becoming congested like Bourbon Street," Ewing said. "Where’s the Fendi? The Gucci? The Four Seasons? Put the funky, cool Nashville with the cosmopolitan Nashville, and connect the two."

'Nashville Tomorrow'

Ewing's "Nashville Tomorrow" vision would erect gleaming towers and high-class shops on a 3-mile strip along the river in the West Trinity-Haynes area. It hinges on the construction of three "signature bridges" connecting to downtown.

Ewing bought the 18-acre Church of God Sanctified property at 1230 West Trinity Lane earlier this year for $2.2 million to kick off the redevelopment. He also owns more than 30 acres surrounding that site. He held Thursday's gathering inside the church.

He's seeking increased building density in the community's development plan, which was recently changed to allow for more urbanization.

Last year, he introduced plans for high-rise condos, offices, shops and marinas for the properties along the river between Clarksville Pike and Interstate 24.

New residential developments are popping up around the area. But residents still long for more sit-down restaurants and mixed-use projects.

"For a long time, much of this area just stayed vacant land," said local real-estate consultant Ed Branding. "There have been a number of smaller developments. Ed Ewing's project is the big thing that everybody's waiting on."

Ewing's seeking wider buy-in from the community to make the ambitious vision a reality. He was the managing director of the Carlyle Group in Dallas, Texas before moving to Nashville.

"We have a great opportunity to grow north," he said. "When I moved to Dallas in 1980 there were 1.7 million people. Now there are 7.5 million. My guess is that Texas and Tennessee will benefit more than other states from U.S. population growth. There will be 4 to 6 million people in Nashville. The time to plan the Cumberland River is now."

Community buy-in

Community leaders support the plan, including Nashville North by Northeast United co-founders Mac McDonald and Jack Cawthorn, who owns Jack's Bar-B-Que.

"Nashville is growing north, and we want to be prepared for that," McDonald said. "We want to encourage commercial development. We talked, as a community, about higher density and attracting more urban-type uses. We'd like to use the river as an amenity."

District 2 Councilman DeCosta Hastings said a combination of private investment with federal, state and local dollars could finance the bridges.

"I think the plan is great," he said. "This community has been asking for it."

Dallas developer Mike Ablon, who led redevelopment of the Dallas Design District and Trinity River Corridor, painted a picture of how Nashville could follow in Dallas' footsteps on Thursday.

"We're shifting from a consumer-based to an experience-based economy," Ablon said. "Urban is replacing suburban. This generation doesn't go to jobs, jobs go to them. First and foremost, it's our job to create great cities."

Sandy Mazza can be reached via email at smazza@tennessean.com, by calling 615-726-5962, or on Twitter @SandyMazza.