Charlotte BRT getting more attention

This article appeared today in The Tennessean. Give it a read, and be sure to check out the comments.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130221/NEWS01/302210054/Charlotte-Ave-wants-boost-from-own-bus-rapid-transit-?nclick_check=1

Core Development planning another micro-neighborhood

 

UPDATE (Feb 20):
Nevin Batiwalla from NBJ has a few more details on the particulars of the former church site in question. The property is 2.4 acres (by comparison, West End Station on the east side of Sylvan Park is roughly 3.5 acres) and the sale is contingent on getting the zoning changed to residential. There will be a meeting scheduled with community stakeholders, so please stay tuned for details.  I have to admit I'm happy that the deal with the medical supply warehouse fell through.

Core Development is said to be planning another niche community on the far west side of Sylvan Park. They plan to purchase the old church property that is located at Charlotte and 54th. I'm curious to see what they've got planned as the adjacent retail isn't easy on the eyes. How would you like a Budget Brakes in your backyard? Again, I don't know anything - maybe the development is sited differently than I've shown. So, not much in the way of details as of yet, but you can take a glimpse at these other properties that they've done (or doing) to get an idea of what this one might be like.
Stay tuned for more info.

West End Station (also in Sylvan Park)
Gale Park (near 12South & Melrose)
The Chesterfield (Hillsboro-West End)

Like Charlotte Ave BRT on Facebook

 
In an effort to increase public awareness and create a place to discuss the subject of BRT along Charlotte Avenue, I have created a Facebook page. You can view it here.

Thistle Farms to open cafe this spring

I had heard this rumor mentioned last year, and it appears it is indeed going to happen. This little blurb is from the Thistle Farms website:

Thistle Stop Café is the next "stop" in the Magdalene and Thistle Farms enterprise. Like Thistle Farms, Thistle Stop Café will give survivors of trafficking, prostitution, and addiction an opportunity to learn valuable job skills to help them move towards financial independence. Thistle Stop Café will offer a welcoming atmosphere while serving coffees, teas, sandwiches, wraps, and baked goods that are healthy, local, and fair-trade. A stage and a professional quality sound system will be included, offering a platform for the women and community members to share their poetry, music, and stories. Sharing stories of healing, hope, and love is a vital part to the Magdalene and Thistle Farms community. “A story in every cup,” the Café’s mantra, is highlighted by the collecting of donated teacups with a personal story behind them. These beautiful contributions will be commemorated in a special coffee table book, including a photograph and the story behind each teacup. If you have teacups to donate, please email Courtney. 

Thistle Stop Café, located next door to the Thistle Farms office and manufacturing facility, is under construction now and is projected to open in spring 2013. If you would like to support the launch of the Café, see the links below. Please put "Café" in the "Purpose" field. 


Thistle Farms is a social enterprise of Magdalene which was founded in 1997 by Becca Stevens, an Episcopal priest on Vanderbilt's campus. Magdalene is a residential program for women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, addiction and life on the streets.

These are a few highlights of the Magdalene program:

• For two years, we offer housing, food, medical and dental needs, therapy, education and job training without charging the residents or receiving government funding.
• Our six homes function without 24-hour live-in staff, relying on residents to create a supportive community, maintain recovery, and share household tasks.
• Women come to Magdalene from prison, the streets and from across the Southeast and the country.
• The women of Magdalene/Thistle Farms range in age from 20-50, and many have been sexually abused between the ages of 7-11, began using alcohol or drugs by 13, have been arrested on average a hundred times, or have spent about 12 years on the street prostituting.
• 72% percent of the women who join Magdalene are clean and sober 2 1/2 years after beginning the program.

Magdalene is a great program in Nashville making positive change in people's lives. Please be sure to support them.

China Buffet rebuilding

Finally found out what's going on at the old Long John Silvers (5515 Charlotte Pike) that was demolished back in late 2012. According to a permit pulled back in December, the China Buffet – who was the last business to reside there – is simply rebuilding a new restaurant on the old footprint. So not much change here except that it will be a new building.

BRT along Charlotte Ave is getting attention

An article discussing funding and route issues for BRT appeared in today's City Paper. Stay tuned for what looks like some public meetings on the subject.


http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/brt-route-set-or-it

OneC1ty to break ground next spring

The massive healthcare development OneC1ty, which is to be sited on the western edge of the newly opened 28th/31st Ave connector, plans to break ground on it's first building next spring. The 100,000 SF building would be the first of the planned total of 1,000,000 SF.

A local practice-type group is said to be the tenant, and the building should be complete by the end of 2014.

Healthcare REIT continues to seek more tenants to anchor the development.

You can read the entire story at The Tennessean here.