Overhauling Broadway: Whole Foods, new nightlife to remake Nashville's gateway

For decades, those exiting Interstate 40 onto Broadway have been welcomed by car lots, a gas station, a McDonald's and the city’s daily newspaper, The Tennessean, as they headed for more refined and more dense areas further downtown or in Midtown.

In the next few years, the aesthetics will be markedly different.

Where a Mazda dealership was located on Broadway, a 26-story building will be anchored by high-end organic grocery store Whole Foods. The Tennessean building, a Broadway fixture for more than 80 years will be replaced by new office space, which could include retail amenities. And where the LifeWay Christian Resources building was demolished, a massive new Hyatt Regency hotel, music venue and movie theater are planned.

“Broadway is the gateway to the city. When you get off at I-40 and Broadway, you’ve never had a sense of presence,” said Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “The visual will have a huge impact. It speaks to prosperity and success."

Lower Broadway has experienced significant facelifts in recent years, as new honky-tonks, restaurants and retailers have replaced more faded establishments. Meanwhile, the Gulch has been completely transformed from Division Street on the South side to the North Gulch area, now enlivened by the Capitol View development. Several HCA subsidiaries anchor Capitol View, with Healthstream, Lifeway and new restaurants joining.

But the stretch of Broadway from the Union Station Hotel to the I-40 Interstate exit, has gone largely untouched until now. Along with Church Street, just one block over, a massive revitalization is underway.

“When you see this kind of development happening in the core, it's because employers want access to workforce throughout the region, and people want access to the amenities from throughout the region," Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ralph Schulz said. "It is just going to make that core stronger."

Tennessean's planned move paves way for projects totaling $252M

Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties, among the city's largest office landlords, has not determined its plans for 1100 Broadway, home to the Tennessean. Asurion tech solutions company will move into two new buildings closer to Church Street and 11th Avenue North, part of the $50-plus million transaction that closed earlier this month.

The projects are expected to cost $252 million and will include a 7-story building and an 8-story building near Church Street. Construction is expected to begin early 2019 and be completed by the third quarter of 2021.

Brendan Maiorana, a Highwoods vice president, said the company was drawn to the area given the growth of the Gulch, now full of new restaurants, hotels and apartment buildings, as well as its proximity to Interstate 40.

"It is a part of the city that will only continue to get better over time," Maiorana said. "Because of all the momentum that's happening around there and in the city, in general, we felt like it was a good time to make that investment."

Jim Caden, an owner of several Gulch properties, also plans to buy a portion of the property owned by Tennessean owner Gannett. No closing date has been set.

Whole Foods Tower to anchor 26-story tower

Austin, Texas-based Endeavor Real Estate Group is developing the former Mazda dealership as a mixed-use site that will include 313 apartments, a 41,500-square-foot Whole Foods store and about 5,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. There will be about 64,000 square feet on two floors dedicated to office space, said Endeavor principal Will Marsh.

The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019.

Nelson Mazda moved into the site in 2011, replacing the Nissan/Hippodrome/Oldsmobile dealership that had been a Broadway staple.

'Nashville Yards' to include massive hotel, music venue, movie theater

Nashville Yards, the 15-acre campus that will replace the LifeWay building, will stretch from Broadway to Church Street, with office, retail, residential and entertainment space included. San Diego-based Southwest Value Partners paid $125 million in cash for LifeWay's campus in 2015 and is developing the site with Dallas-based Lincoln Property Company.

A 23-story Hyatt Regency hotel with 591 rooms is planned for Broadway and is scheduled to open next year. Los Angeles-based entertainment company AEG has also agreed to develop a four-acre, mixed-use entertainment district that will include a music venue, a Regal Cinemas luxury theatre, an entertainment club and a 240-room boutique hotel.

The campus will also include a 380-unit residential building with green space, two office buildings with 700,000 square feet of space and 90,000 square feet of retail.

Reach Jamie McGe at 615-259-80721 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.