Tech giant has local retail presence at malls in Green Hills, Cool Springs

The mystery seemingly has been solved.

The key corner segment of Fifth + Broadway — which earlier this year was radically altered in an unusual and unexpected move that has since yielded significant speculation as to its future use — is expected be home to an Apple Store.

An official with Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc., when contacted Thursday, said the company has made no announcement regarding a store at the Fifth + Broadway location. But the Post has learned the global company will take what is perhaps the most visible retail space — and likely the most high-profile space, period — within the multi-building mixed-use development.

Fifth + Broadway drew headlines in March when construction workers demolished the then-partially-finished southeast corner of the retail component of the overall development. At the time (read here), project officials said structural changes to the corner segment, which sits at the northwest corner of the intersection of Fifth Avenue North and Broadway across from Bridgestone Arena, were being made "to meet tenant needs" and were not the result of a construction mistake.

The physical change, not commonly seen in such construction projects, has since spurred various predictions as to the eventual tenant. Adjacent, and to the immediate north, will be located the National Museum of African American Music, slated to open by year's end.



The project’s co-developers — San Diego-based OliverMcMillan and Spectrum | Emery (co-based in Raleigh and Cool Springs) — declined comment for this article.



If operational today, this would be the Nashville area's third Apple Store, with locations in The Mall at Green Hills and CoolSprings Galleria. Apple Store can also be found in Memphis (Germantown) and Knoxville. The consumer electronics and computer software company is known for its iPhone and iPad, among other tech offerings. It is considered one of the so-called "Big Four" of the U.S. technology industry along with Amazon, Google and Facebook.



Apple's current store design features a central video wall displaying "Today at Apple," at which free daily Apple programming (photography, art, music, computer coding, app development, etc.) takes place. Since the launch of Today at Apple in 2017, Apple has held more than 18,000 free sessions a week attended by millions of participants worldwide, the company reported in January.



To span 6.2 acres, Fifth + Broadway is replacing the long-since-demolished Nashville Convention Center building. It will offer 200,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space (including the 55,000-square-foot NMAAM), 385,000 square feet of Class A office space (at 501 Commerce), a 34-story apartment tower with approximately 380 residential units and more than 2,000 parking spaces.

Skanska is the general contractor for the project.

