Getahn Ward

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Over the past four years, Strategic Options International has assembled 10 acres near the Dickerson Pike corridor.

On Tuesday, the developer received concept approval for a three-story project being called The 900 for now.

The $12 million project will include 1,600 square feet of commercial space fronting Dickerson Pike.

MDHA's design review committee denied exterior modifications sought to The SoBro apartment tower.for City Tap House Nashville.

After quietly assembling roughly 10 acres around the Dickerson Pike corridor over the past four years, Strategic Options International LLC is gearing up for its first large-scale project in Nashville.

On Tuesday, the local developer received conceptual approval from the Metro Development and Housing Agency's design review committee for a three-story, $12 million mixed-use development that's for now being called The 900. Plans call for 22 townhomes, 28 condo flats and 1,600 square feet of flexible commercial space on a 1.93-acre vacant site with 900 Dickerson Pike as the main address.

Overall, Strategic Options has seven projects each with at least four residential units on the drawing board for the Dickerson Pike corridor. Others include 12 townhomes and 18 flats planned in a second phase across the street for the 800 block of Dickerson. Elsewhere around Nashville, the developer also plans to build up to 60 townhomes in Hermitage.

Myron Dowell, managing partner with Strategic Options. cites proximity to downtown's urban core, East Nashville's Five Points neighborhood and Germantown among appeals of the Dickerson Pike area.

"We see this project being a catalyst for reinvestment and development along the Dickerson Road corridor," Dowell said about the company's 50-unit development planned for the 900 block of that street. "We envision the corridor from the buffaloes up to Skyline Hospital in the coming years having the potential for 3,000 to 5,000 units of housing and we want to play our part in this development."

With required approvals, construction could start sometime this fall on the 1.93-acre former industrial site near the corner of Dickerson and Cleveland Street, which has 608 feet of frontage on Dickerson. Delivery of the townhomes and condos is expected a year later.

The 22 planned 2,000 square foot townhomes will each have two-car garages plus an additional 400 square feet rooftop terraces with unobstructed views of downtown Nashville. They will be sold for an average price of $425,000 based on current market prices.

The condo flats will average 780 square feet in size with an estimated average price of $225,000 based on current market rates. Roughly 80 parking spaces are planned for the mixed-use development.

Previously, Strategic Options developed smaller infill duplexes and townhomes around East Nashville. Smith Gee Studio is the architect designing the developer's project for the 900 block of Dickerson Pike.

Dowell cites the massive River North mixed-use development that Chicago-based Monroe Investment Partners plans along the Cumberland River's East Bank roughly four blocks away as another catalyst that could spur further growth along Dickerson Pike.

"We've invested heavily in the Dickerson corridor because we see this as one of the last opportunities in the urban core," Dowell said. "We see this an opportunity for folks to get in and get a good quality home at a lower price point than some of the other urban core neighborhoods."

In other business Tuesday, the MDHA design review committee gave conceptual approval to a residential project with 44 condo flats and lofts that property owner Hoss Mousavi plans at 1016-1020 Whites Creek Pike. The developer still has to submit a landscaping plan for the 0.62-acre property in the Historic East View area near the Dickerson Pike corridor.

The committee also denied exterior modifications sought to the ground floor on the Third Avenue South side of The SoBro apartment tower at 205 Demonbreun St. to accommodate City Tap House Nashville beer tavern. The tenant restaurant and bar plans to modify location of a ramp on the sidewalk to resolve encroachment issues.

In addition to ground floor space at The SoBro, the 10,000 square foot City Tap House Nashville will also include a 10th floor rooftop terrace. The restaurant and bar is expected to open in early June

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