Getahn Ward

The Tennessean

On Oct. 19, Vanderbilt will go before the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals seeking a special exception from height requirements.

The footprint for Residential College A includes the 2417 West End site of the Tarpley Building.

Vanderbilt wants to build a new 20-story, 340-room dormitory at the corner of West End Avenue and 25th Avenue South that would be one of the tallest buildings on its campus.

On Oct. 19, the university will go before the Metro Board of Zoning Appeals seeking a special exception from height requirements related to building Residential College A. That's needed because a portion of the proposed tower encroaches into the skyplane.

"It doesn't comply with the height requirements in the zoning code, so therefore it needs to go to the Board of Zoning Appeals...," Metro's Zoning Administrator Bill Herbert said.

The footprint for Residential College A includes the 2417 West End Ave. site of the Tarpley Building, which houses university maintenance functions, and a parking lot. That site is across West End Avenue from a Rite Aid drug store and two flower shops and across 25th Avenue from the 2525 West End mixed-use tower where Vanderbilt is a tenant.

Replacing Carmichael Towers

The project is part Vanderbilt's redevelopment plans for its "West End Neighborhood" that include giving the area a park-like feel with tree-lined pathways, streets to separate pedestrians and cars, pedestrian and biking friendly zones and more open spaces for community activities. "We’re in the midst of a comprehensive land use plan, that includes preliminary designs for new residential colleges along West End," said Melanie Moran, associate vice chancellor for university relations.

Burying of overhead utilities for the new college halls is expected to start around mid-December, the university said, calling that work a part of the first phase of the neighborhood beautification and overall transformation effort.

Vanderbilt said the newest college halls would ultimately replace the four residential buildings known as Carmichael Towers and, based on the current design plans, extend into the existing Greek Row neighborhood.

Metro Councilwoman Burkley Allen said Residential College A got a favorable response at a community meeting earlier this week. "Based on what I saw, it's appropriate since it's on West End," Allen said, citing that street being zoned for high-intensity use. "That kind of height would be inappropriate for anywhere else in the West End neighborhood."

Vanderbilt responded to concerns raised at the meeting about future blasting by pledging to notify the neighbors in advance and follow city guidelines for any demolition.

Tom Cash, vice president of the Hillsboro-West End Neighborhood Association, said he likes Vanderbilt's idea under the university's residential college model of making its student dormitories more like communities. "I think that's generally positive," he said.

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