Yoga studio coming to former Chef Mart

During the community meetings for the Charlotte Avenue Detailed Corridor Design Plan (DCDP), there was a strong contingent that felt activating the historic row of buildings fronting Richland Park was the key to revitalizing the entire district. While not much has changed since those meetings took place – save for the Mrs. Winners getting a Church's Chicken make over – there are signs that the tide may finally be turning.

One sign of that progress is a new yoga studio going in place of the former Chef Mart location, which sits at the corner of Charlotte and 50th Avenues. It's businesses like this that will spurn activity and hopefully open people's eyes to the potential this stretch of Charlotte holds.

Property adjacent to proposed 28th Ave connector under contract

It seems investors are showing continued interest in property near the proposed 28th Avenue Connector. No details as of yet, but the 3+ acres between 27th and 28th Avenues is listed as UNDER CONTRACT.

Stay tuned for details.

Apartments coming to 11th & Charlotte

The Nashville Business Journal is reporting that the Polar Icehouse Storage property at the corner of 11th and Charlotte Avenues has been sold by noteworthy developer Tony Giarratana. The property makes up approximately 8.73 acres and was purchased by Georgia based Eleven North LLC. The plan is to develop the site into a 302-unit apartment complex, with square footage ranging in size from 710-1280.

One of Eleven North's partners, TriBridge Residential, has developed local apartment complexes such as Wyndchase Apartments in Franklin and Aventura at Providence in Mount Juliet. No details on the plans for Eleven North yet, but the article states that construction should be wrapping up this time next year.

Stay tuned for more info.

UPDATE:
According to a post on the Urban Planet Nashville forum, William Williams will have a detailed story about this development in the City Paper on Monday.

Property on dissolved H2O development going up for auction

The Nashville Post is reporting that the land associated with the unique waterfront development H2O, is going on the auction block. The sustainable project was slated to break ground in the spring of 2009, but with the onset of the economic downturn and the flood of 2010, the project quickly lost traction. The acreage sits northwest of Charlotte Avenue, adjacent to the Lowes/Walmart shopping center.

The site used to be home to a golf driving range, and crews had started with site preparation before the project ultimately went belly up. With the property being so close to the Cumberland, it will be interesting to see what happens at this site.

West Nashville Farmers Market opens this weekend

The West Nashville Farmers Market is set to begin it's second full season at Richland Park. Everything from fresh veggies and meats to homemade pies can be found under the tents that crop up every Saturday between the Richland Park Library and the playground.

This Saturday, April 2nd is the first weekend of the market. Be sure to stop by and support local businesses!

Revised site design for West Precinct gives Richland Creek a lot of breathing room

When Metro Nashville decided to purchase the Bob Frensley Ford dealership on Charlotte Ave. for its brand new West Precinct police station, there were many who voiced opposition to the decision. What caused most of the angst was the proposed site plan, that many felt did not include an adequate buffer for Richland Creek. But when the great flood of May 1 transformed Richland Creek into a raging river which washed right through the abandoned property, it made the planners think twice about how to site this new police station.

One voice that shouted louder than most, was that of RCWA (Richland Creek Watershed Alliance). And while the flood probably did enough to persuade the planners to build responsibly, RCWA was there every step of the way to be sure they followed through. In RCWA's latest newsletter, the Creekvoice, details of the revised site plan show that the proposed stream buffer is now set at an average of 94 feet wide with a total length of 575 feet. This buffer is more than what RCWA had hoped for when they initially suggested to return the buffer to a minimum width of 75 feet.

While it is unfortunate that it took a catastrophic flood to persuade the planners to build sustainably, it is great to see that a portion of Richland Creek's natural stream buffer will be restored.

You can read the whole story here.

Charlotte Avenue will be a major link in Music City Bikeway

The long awaited Music City Bikeway – a bicycle route that will connect Percy Warner Park to Percy Priest Dam – lacks construction on just a small portion of its 30 mile stretch before it reaches completion.

From the Public Works website:
The planned bicycle route will utilize a combination of greenway trails, bike lanes, park roads, and signed-shared roads to create bicycle connections between major parks, densely populated neighborhood areas, and downtown Nashville. When complete this bike route will cover a total distance of approximately 30 miles. Currently, bicycle facilities exist on about 2/3 miles of the route. The next major phase to be constructed between White Bridge Road and Percy Warner Park will begin in 2011. Upon completion, the route will be designated by special Music City Bikeway signs to direct users.

According to the site, Charlotte Avenue is included on a significant stretch of the bikeway under the currently proposed route. As the bikeway approaches downtown Nashville before crossing the Cumberland, the planned route will hook up with Charlotte Avenue at 46th Avenue North. The plan calls for bike lanes along the entire stretch of Charlotte (which currently do not exist), and then becoming a signed shared roadway at 15th Avenue. From there, the route turns right on 11th Avenue and takes riders towards Demonbreun to eventually cross the Shelby Street bridge over the Cumberland River.


The Public Works website states that construction bids are to be solicited this spring for the section between Percy Warner Park and White Bridge Road, which includes mainly bike lanes and signed shared routes. No word on when and if plans are in place to add a dedicated bike lane to Charlotte Avenue in the wake of the bikeway's completion.

To learn more about this project, click here.