Quote:
Originally Posted by mfloftis
Hello,
This is my first time writing on this thread so I hope it gets posted correctly. First, I want to say thanks for everyone who is active on here, it is always nice to be able to catch up on Nashville Development news from out of town. Secondly, I am an Urban Planning Grad Student at the University of New Orleans (I'm originally from Nashville), I am doing a case study on how the Music City Center has spurred private real estate development around it. I basically am trying to show how public investment can foster private development. I am trying to put together a preliminary list of sites around the Convention Center that are being redeveloped because of the presence of the MCC. Just off the top of my head I have:
-SoBro
-Westin
-Marriott?
-The Turnberry Associates recent announcement
I figured I would post a reply to this Nashville Development thread to see if anyone could tell me what I am leaving out or if anyone had any research suggestions. I will try to pull numbers from the CVB and discuss increase in hotel demand and possibly an increase in downtown sales tax revenue (if I can find that).
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I think it's a little early to understand the full impact the MCC has. Obviously there are a lot of hotel announcements floating around, but at present, none of those are actually U/C. I think at least 1 or 2 big ones will eventually rise. I also think there will be development all along KVB and in SoBro -- however, some of that would happen regardless of the MCC IMO. Nashville was booming before the MCC. I think developments like the SoBro and the proposed Sheet Music have less to do with the MCC, too. If you are going for the development angle, I would focus on hotels that are/will get built. That investment is substantial, and it will bring ancillary development (primarily entertainment and retail/restaurants that cater to tourists)...but I would guess that it will be at least a decade before that type of development is built out -- and by then you will be out of school, so that's no help.
I think where you might see some more immediate impacts are in terms of current hotel occupancy rates (especially downtown) and events/conventions that bring lots of money to the area, which make building hotels and entertainment venues more viable. The increase in space allows for events like the NCAA Women's Final Four, which got rave reviews from those that participated/attended, and pumped an estimated $25 million into the local economy.
You might also be able to make the connection that having the MCC helped Nashville land the SEC Men's and Women's tourneys for the next 12 years (9 men's, 3 women's) as a "permanent" site. We have hosted before, but I do think the presence of the MCC helped push Nashville ahead to get the nod for the permanent status. The value of pairing the MCC with the arena was very wise (also note that building the arena next to the entertainment district 18 years ago proved to be very smart).
This critical mass of both tourist and local entertainment helps feed off of each other and make Nashville very attractive to prospective events. Rather than simply focus on future development, you might dig into the past and discuss the wisdom of clustering civic buildings to create an entertainment hot zone. Obviously that all started quite a while ago with the Lower Broad/2nd Ave "District".
For the public development leading to private development angle, you can start with the historic protections on The District, which preserves the old character and provides a "charming" backdrop for the honkytonks that draw tourists in. It wouldn't be the same if those gritty old warehouses were allowed to be razed in favor of more clean, sterile venues. There was (and still is) plenty of space for that in SoBro (a named coined to the area that didn't exist before -- another example you can use -- branding).
From there, the big catalyst in development was the arena, which was planned about 20 years ago. That was a HUGE shot in the arm to downtown businesses and really added to the vibrancy to the area (and brought the locals back in via sports and major concerts).
The city also decided that SoBro would be a good location for the Symphony Hall (that was a quasi-public/private investment -- IIRC, the city donated the land, and the Symphony owns the venue).
Then you have the MCC. Since the MCC is so new, it's impact cannot fully be measured, so I think using the MCC as an example of a continuing timeline of the city clustering public development to transform the area south of Broadway (SoBro) would be wise, rather than to solely focus on the MCC's impact alone. It would be an example of "this is what the city did in the past, and the MCC works to further the transformation of Downtown Nashville."
Now, of course, this is your paper, so it should be your voice, your perspective. You definitely need to do a bit of research, but I hope that some of these suggestions help you frame your case study. Best of luck, and feel free to ask more!
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