D5 Lofts

Located in West End Park just two miles from downtown Nashville.

But in the case of “Historic West End Park,” it is past time to drop the “historic” component.

During the past two years, the residential district — bordered by West End Avenue on the south, 31st Avenue on the east, Parthenon Avenue on the north and Murphy Road on the west — has lost more old homes than Michael Richards has lost black fans.

The replacement buildings have tended to be large and multi-unit (encouraging from a population density perspective) and architecturally conservative and understated (discouraging if you like your buildings bold and distinctive).

Regardless, there is a “new history” being born in WEP, and it involves risk-free building design.

With one exception.

Taking shape at 3204 Long Blvd., the main street of the neighborhood, is a contemporary little building that has the potential to make a statement.

Called D5 Lofts, the building is the brainchild of Nashville developer Doug Schenkel and contrasts — almost wildly so — with recent architectural additions to the neighborhood.

“It’s definitely something I had been considering for a while,” said Schenkel, president of Touchstone Builders Inc. “I wanted to do something more modern. The Planning Department was all over it when we introduced it.”

Lots of other folks will be “all over” D5, too — either in a positive manner or with great criticism.

D5 Lofts, very simply, is the type building for which there can elicit little ambivalence. You either embrace the diminutive and clean-lined structure. Or you recoil upon viewing.

This writer applauds Schenkel, who is spending about $1 million on the development, for the effort. I continue to maintain that Nashville — with numerous conventional infill buildings rising — has perhaps missed an opportunity to make a design statement.

Nowhere is this more glaring than in West End Park, where uninspired and safe design is the overwhelming theme of the no fewer than 10 multi-unit residential buildings constructed, or underway, within the neighborhood.

This fact is glaringly evident when you contrast Schenkel’s five-unit D5 with Regent Development’s adjacent and traditional The Wesley Bernard. The contrast between the two is jarring. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing as it provides a visual pop that all cities need.

Schenkel, who paid about $200,000 for the land on which D5 sits, is using Pensacola-base Sallis Associates LLC, for architectural work. And with the possible exception of D5’s vertical line of gray stacked stone (this stuff typically suggests “suburban design”), Sallis has done a fine job. Ditto for general contractor Southland Constructors LLC.

There will be a March 14 unveiling of D5, knows Nashville’s urban condo market, noting, “D5 Lofts is a small complex, and that is something that will appeal to a specific subset of potential buyers.”