One element of living in Nashville that is well known and amongst the current residents but something that may not be well known to people considering relocating and moving to the Nashville area is the sub culture of those people that love to live on the lake.

There are a couple of man made lakes that any visitor to Nashville will see as the fly in to the international airport. There is Percy Priest, which is just by the air port and provide excellent boating and fishing opportunities, and is surrounded by park land as as such is protected from any homes being built around the lake.

The other home, that allows residential developments is Old Hickory lake. This lake is well know for its lake homes and perhaps most famously was the home for over 30 years to Jonny Cash, the country music legend. In the movie about his life, you’ll see that his lake home played a large part in his life and was the focal point for many historic visits from all of the country music royalty. After Jonny died the home was sold for $2.5M to Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. During the renovation the unthinkable happened and the home was burnt down. At the present time the plans to renovate the house retaining the original foundation are being discussed.

The advantage of actually living on the lake is enhanced by the ability to have a boat dock, after being granted permission from the Army Corp of Engineers, who maintain the shoreline of Old Hickory lake. Having a boat dock almost certainly adds about $150-200,000 to the value of the home. Just recently Fairvue Plantation, which is the only golf course community actually situated on Old Hickory lake, was granted permission for the addition of docks. This will greatly enhance the appeal and value of all the homes in Fairvue Plantation and in the coming years the owners of these existing homes will see their invest increase 10 fold.

If you would like to search all the homes that are currently listed for sale in Nashville and the surrounding communities of Hendersonville, Gallatin, Mt Juliet and Lebanon you can visit www.LakeHomeBuyers.com and register to receive updates for any new listings or price reductions, as well as sold information, for all the lake properties.

To search for any home listed in Middle Tennessee just visit www.NashvillesMLS.com and create your own search and have the ability to talk to some of the top agents in the Nashville real estate market

By Richard Courtney
October 20, 2006

Rick French, one of the principals with French, Christianson, Patterson and Associates, recently attended a conference of Christie’s affiliates in Beverly Hills, Calif. There he discussed market conditions around the world and learned mind-boggling information.

One of the most interesting stories emanates from Russia where a two-bedroom, one-bath condominium with a small kitchen, and the only light fixture being a light bulb dangling on an exposed wire from the ceiling, would sell for the price of three suitcases. For those unfamiliar with the currency exchange in Russia, French explained that a suitcase is $2 million cash in United States currency. So, a 750-square-foot Russian condominium is $6 million in Moscow, a mere $8,000 per square foot.

These prices are not found exclusively in Russia. For example, in the south of France, warehouse-type condos sell for over $50 million according to French’s colleagues. That’s $50 million for a condo. These prices are significant inasmuch as people in Nashville often think that prices will fall at some point and that there is a ceiling on real estate.

In the early 1990s, when prices in Belle Meade achieved sales of more than $100 per square foot, many thought Armageddon was around the corner. Now many homes in Sylvan Park sell for more than $200 per square foot. In fact, in order to find homes under $100 per square foot, buyers must roam to Buena Vista, a neighborhood north of downtown and near Metro Center.

French also spoke with U.S. real estate agents who are experiencing slow, or horrid, market conditions. He learned that Miami has a five-year supply of homes priced at above $3 million. He added that in Miami, there are 4,000 properties listed for over $1 million.

While those numbers reek of market desperation, the Floridians informed French that more than 1,000 people a day relocate to south Florida from Key Biscayne to Fort Lauderdale. In Las Vegas where the market is currently off about 40 percent, there are 400 people each day moving into the area. Consequently, large numbers of investors are beginning to pour millions, if not billions, of dollars into these markets. It will be interesting to monitor these markets.

Here in Nashville, only 26 homes have sold for more than a suitcase with 240 selling for better than a half a suitcase. While such numbers pale in comparison to those of Russia, this year’s sales of more than a half suitcase will surpass last year’s record by 50 percent. Pack your bags.

By William Williams, wwilliams@nashvillecitypaper.com
December 30, 2004

The juxtaposition borders on jaw-dropping.

Architecturally cutting-edge residences for the urbane and hip – mimicking those futuristic living spaces the intelligentsia read about in Dwell, Metropolitan Home and Metropolis magazines – are rising within West Nashville’s blue-collar Sylvan Heights neighborhood.

Given that this particular segment of Sylvan Heights is reminiscent – both in its architecture and infrastructure – of ramshackle rural America, circa 1950, the re-invention of the area is both bold and exciting.

Local developer Brett Massey, a strong proponent of the local New Urbanism movement community, is driving the effort with the homes, which perch precariously on a hill overlooking Interstate 440, Midtown, downtown and beyond.

“I drove around town looking at interesting parcels,” Massey said, describing how he discovered what will be called Nevada Heights for sales and marketing purposes. “Then I found [local architect] Manuel Zeitlin.”

That was a few years ago, as various matters complicated the development of the hill. Now, with the difficulties addressed and with fellow developer Dreaminc. a part of the mix, the 13 lots have one finished home, two residences that are almost completed and receiving significant interest from prospective buyers.

Massey has developed a handful of traditional homes in more suburban areas of the city. However, he yearned to tackle something more offbeat.

“I’ve always been intrigued with this type architecture,” he said.

Massey is working with Eric Scowden, an associate designer with Manuel Zeitlin Architects and the lead designer for some of the Nevada Heights homes.

“My experience and the reaction we’ve gotten from the first three is that there is a large market of young professionals that are interested in this type of lifestyle and home,” Scowden said.

Scowden describes the function and form of the homes as “contemporary with a modernist vocabulary.”

“The style is based on an efficiency of living space and on simplification of lifestyle,” he said.

For exterior materials, Scowden has used aluminum print press plates, glass, cement fiber board and formed-in-place concrete. The interiors are open, with clean lines.

Compared to nearby houses – many of which can still be bought for less than $100,000 – the Nevada Heights residences are not cheap. Prices range from $200,000 to $500,000, with those costs driven by practical considerations.

Scowden said affordability will remain an issues “until technology and the fabrication process are refined.”

Still, Massey is not concerned about selling the homes.

“I’ve got more buyers than I have lots,” he said. “The barrier has been broken.”

By William Williams

Downtown Nashville is facing a harsh reality: Its Class A office space towers are aging and, to some extent, losing their appeal to prospective commercial tenants.

But would those buildings, most built since the 1960s, be attractive as converted residential space for people who want to live downtown?

Other cities have proved such adaptive reuse of modern office structures can be successful, with Los Angeles perhaps the ringleader in the movement.

But in Nashville, the concept has not been tested.

Many feel it will not happen, because a building would have to be essentially empty or in disrepair for such a conversion. And where would the residents park?

Still, Nashville might want to look to other U.S. cities for inspiration, according to Hank Helton, director of development for the Metro Development and Housing Agency.

“We’re not behind the curve because an opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet,” Helton said. “But you would think that will change. It’s being done everywhere else.”

Given the right circumstances, Helton said the conversion of Nashville’s office buildings would be beneficial to downtown, the buildings themselves and the city in general.

“These office buildings in their current use — as tenant desires change — could provide a sound opportunity for adaptive reuse to convert to residential,” he said.

Tom Smith, whose SC Capital is the managing general partner of the towering Financial Center at Fifth Avenue and Church Street, disagrees.

“The premise of converting [downtown Nashville’s] Class A office buildings [to residential space] is silly,” said Smith, who said his building has a roughly 20 percent vacancy. “It doesn’t make any economic sense.”

And it may never.

But the owners of downtown Nashville’s aging office buildings know that future construction of mid- and high-rises with huge floor plates, smart-technology capabilities, first-floor retail and other goodies could increase downtown’s vacancy rate, now more than 13 percent.

Recently announced proposed projects include Eakin Partners’ SunTrust Plaza and Tony Giarratana’s Signature Tower.

Tyson Sayles, senior vice president of acquisitions with Los Angeles’ The KOR Group, said Los Angeles’ housing shortage and the challenges developers face in obtaining permits for new residential mid- and high-rises has spurred the success of that city’s adaptive reuse ordinance.

“It’s very time-consuming and considered somewhat risky to entitle land for [new] residential [construction] in L.A.,” said Sayles, a Nashville native. “It can take developers three to four years to get permits. But nobody is opposed to turning vacant buildings into housing.”

Other Los Angeles examples of office-to-residential conversion include 1100 Wilshire and the 32-story Transamerica Tower, with the latter expected to carry a price tag of $150 million.

Like Los Angeles, Atlanta has seen some of its modern office towers converted to residential space.

Novare Group, co-developer with Tony Giarratana of Nashville’s Viridian condominium tower, undertook three projects that involved former Atlanta office buildings no more than 50 years of age.

In 1998, Lennar Corp. solicited Novare to fee-develop a 15-story office building that was the former home of the Environmental Protection Agency. Novare managed the property’s redevelopment into a 186-unit apartment building for Lennar, with a subsequent conversion to condominiums called Renaissance Lofts.

Other Novare projects in Atlanta include the 15-story Metropolitan (formerly the National Bank of Georgia building) and the eight-story Peachtree Lofts, a building that once housed governmental offices.

“Compared to what is built today, [office buildings from the 1950s-1980s] have fewer finishes,” Novare senior vice president John Long said. “With Peachtree Lofts, we took the first two floors and turned them into parking.”

Long said Novare is now focusing on new product, noting the number of Atlanta office buildings available for adaptive reuse is very limited.

Smaller cities are seeing conversions, too. For example, Texas businessman Jim Finley has acquired the 24-story Transport Life building in Fort Worth, with plans to convert it to high-end loft apartments.

But will the concept work in Nashville?

The Metro Planning Department is pushing a comprehensive adaptive reuse ordinance, sponsored by Councilwoman-at-large Diane Neighbors, that includes more than office buildings in the downtown core.

To date, the focus has been only on pre-World War II-built structures, including the Bennie Dillon Building (now an apartment building) and the Stahlman and American Trust buildings.

“I don’t foresee anyone taking a Class A office tower and converting it to residential,” said Terry Cobb, director of the Metro Codes Department. “[But] it may happen 20 to 30 years from now.

Cobb said downtown zoning (core frame and commercial core are the two most common types) allows for such conversion.

“It will happen some day,” he said.