$24M housing, 'service center' for homeless planned in downtown Nashville

Mayor David Briley's administration on Wednesday revealed a proposal meant to address downtown Nashville's growing homeless population through the creation of a $24 million "services center" and low-income apartments to help people with nowhere to live.

The plan hinges on a land swap with luxury housing developer Tony Giarratana, who as part of the deal would acquire nearly an acre of Metro-owned parkland where homeless people currently congregate at Church Street and Sixth Avenue North.

Giarratana hopes to build what would be the city's tallest residential building on that prime real estate. In return, he would construct a taxpayer-funded, eight-story affordable housing building with about 100 units above the services center on his parking lot at 301 James Robertson Parkway, if final plans are approved.

He would also develop a roughly 1-acre, $5 million green pedestrian corridor and dog walk near the existing park at Anne Dallas Dudley Boulevard, which was formerly called Capital Boulevard.

"At this moment, we’re trying to (build) permanent supportive housing so that homeless individuals could come off the street and transition to housing," said Erik Cole, a mayor's office aide and the city's chief resilience officer. "At the end of the day, it's a good deal for the city. We see the homeless services center as a real way to move the needle around affordable housing."

Talks about the project go back months to when former Mayor Megan Barry was in office.

The lot and Church Street park are each valued at about $3.6 million, Cole said. Giarratana would also pay the city a one-time fee of $1.4 million.

Metro tax dollars would pay for the construction of the homeless housing center. Financing would come from general-obligation bonds approved for affordable-housing development by Metro Council last year.

The council is set to consider the plans later this summer under a timeline laid out by the Briley administration. The proposal would first require parks board approval for the land swap and planning commission approval on the affordable-housing development plans.

The eight-story affordable-housing project would include office space for the Metropolitan Homeless Commission, bathrooms and showers, and case-management services for homeless people on the first level.

"The concept is to have people come in, get signed up and become aware of services as a pathway to housing," Cole said, adding that details are still being worked out on who will have access to the housing units. "We've had design sessions with the Homelessness Commission, Room at the Inn, Rescue Mission, health providers and others.

"All the work that groups have done on homelessness say this is their biggest need: supportive housing."

Giarratana would erect the towering steel-and-glass residential development after the homeless center and green pedestrian corridor are finished, he said.

"I'm asking for the opportunity to go tall because I think downtown needs to go vertical," he said. "Nashvillians love our contemporary buildings. They like sleek, elegant, simple — something iconic in the skyline. We love looking at the skyline, so we want to add one more exclamation point there."

Homeless people have long congregated at the park across from the Nashville Public Library building, drawing routine complaints from residents who feel uncomfortable using the facilities. Police officers are now stationed there daily.

"A significant amount of homeless people use the park and leave their belongings there. It has not been really available for all people to use for several years," Cole said. "That has been a point of contention."

For Giarratana, the deal is a chance to continue his legacy of downtown development. He became one of the city's first major residential developers with the construction of Cumberland on Church apartments in 1998.

He has since put up the Viridian, Bennie Dillon Lofts, and the 505 building.

"Those four buildings represent over 1,250 units, and we'd like to build more," Giarratana said. "We think downtown has benefited from the residential population that was not there before Cumberland was built" shortly after the city began allowing housing structures downtown.

Giarratana said the new homeless services and affordable-housing project will look like quality market-rate housing. The associated green corridor along Anne Dallas Dudley Boulevard will revitalize an underused area, he said.

"That land, between Church and Union, is almost an acre. We can have a very dynamic public space there," he said. "That's a lot of land, and there's absolutely nothing in there right now. I envision food and beverage, entertainment, dog park areas, and just a nice place to walk and spend some time."