We Know Small Businesses
Anna Swatzell and John Pettit • October 22, 2019
Our names are Anna and John and we work for Westgate Enterprises, Inc. a commercial real estate firm in the Greater Nashville Area. We are starting a new adventure of diving into Nashville and showing everyone the people, businesses and areas that make Nashville so unique. We will be introducing fascinating stories of companies that represent the Nashville culture and making an impact on the community. We came up with this idea of writing articles because we are intrigued by the local business community and are passionate to hear their stories. We are hoping to not only share these stories but also give perspective and show the journey of how these businesses got their start and hopefully inspire others.
To visit our Blog about small businesses in the Greater Nashville Area click the link: http://weknowsmallbusinesses.com/
The Five Points-area building long home to Family Dollar has been sold for $2 million. Nashville-based Magnolia Capital Investments was the buyer. Ben Bonner, Magnolia Capital president, told the Post the company plans to continue to use the building for retail purposes and is looking to rent the space. Family Dollar ceased operations last week. Family Dollar Stores of Nashville TN was the seller. The acquisition follows Magnolia Capital’s recent $12.6 million purchase of the Green Hills building last home to Nashville-based prison management company CoreCivic Inc. Constructed in 1986 and spanning about 6,750 square feet, the nondescript Five Points brick building has an address of 1000 Woodland St. “We believe in the real estate and the neighborhood, and are excited to be a part of Five Points,” Bonner (pictured) said, adding some upgrades are planned. “This property fits well with Magnolia’s strategy to purchase well-located real estate in core and emerging submarkets.” Austin Benedict and John Maxwell, brokers with the Nashville office of CBRE, represented Magnolia in the acquisition and will also rep the company in finding a tenant. Family Dollar Stores of Nashville TN acquired the 0.56-acre property from Exxon Corp. in October 1985 for $100,000. That entity is affiliated with Charlotte-based Family Dollar. Sources said the closed Family Dollar will not reopen within the area.
The Nashville Civic Design Center last week welcomed partners and friends to Center615 in East Nashville for the Golden Cone Awards, its celebration of the best parklet projects from PARK(ing) Day 2018. Parklet teams were honored for their work in nine categories, including overall creativity, best use of space and That’s Sooo Nashville. The evening also marked the last official Civic Design Center event for Design Director Ron Yearwood, who is preparing to leave the organization for Smith Gee Studio.
A Four Seasons hotel is being planned for the downtown development to replace Market Street Apartments in SoBro. The Post has learned from sources that Second Avenue Partners (SAP), which plans to redevelop the site with a mixed-use tower, is having discussions with officials of the high-end hotel operator. Nashville does not offer a Four Seasons, with the closest being located in Atlanta. Richard Kershaw, senior project manager with The Congress Group (which is part of SAP), emailed the Post the following: “As we have previously stated, we are in advanced negotiations with a five-star hotel brand. While we have made exciting progress, we do not have an agreement in place to announce at this time.” Nearly two and a half years after proposing a $350 million, two-tower project overlooking the Cumberland River and to replace the Market Street Apartments at 150 Second Ave. S. in SoBro, the development team behind the since-altered plan is prepared for the next step in the process and an early 2019 start. SAP is a combination of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Northern Capital Investments, the aforementioned The Congress Group and AECOM Capital Real Estate. To rise 40 stories and offer luxury condominiums and a five-star hotel, the building (see building in the left center of the above rendering) currently is being called 151 1st Avenue South, which derives from its address. A previous iteration had the project offering a two-skyscraper arrangement. At 540 feet, the building would rank among Nashville three tallest were it standing today. Of note, SAP has leased space in the 222 2nd building, located near Market Street, for the project’s use, the company confirmed.
