Equinox Hotel to Anchor $1 Billion Nashville Development

Nashville’s commercial core is wobbling, but two luxury developers are pushing ahead with bold plans.

The developer behind Nashville’s Four Seasons secured Equinox Hotels, which is owned by the Related Companies, as the anchor for its $1 billion project in SoBro, the Nashville Business Journal reported.

The Congress Group and Taurus Investment Holdings, both based in Boston, are planning a three-tower development called Park Place at 203 Peabody Street.

The 245-key five-star hotel will include an 18,000-square-foot Equinox Club and spa, a rooftop pool and lounge and exclusive resident amenities, alongside 239 luxury condos and a 480-unit apartment tower.

The development will also feature a 962-space underground parking garage and 50,000 square feet of public parks and open space.

The project, which has gone through several iterations since it was announced as “2nd & Peabody” in 2021, has secured a $25 million predevelopment bridge loan arranged by Concord Summit Capital. Construction is slated to begin next year.

Equinox Hotels, the New York-based hospitality brand linked to the high-end Equinox fitness clubs, has one location in New York and plans to open 33 globally over the next decade in key “gateway cities and resort markets.” Its CEO, Chris Norton, previously served as COO of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.

The deal bucks the recent wave of distress battering the city’s downtown office market, coming at a moment of deep uncertainty for downtown Nashville’s commercial core, where the office sector has seen nearly $400 million in appraised value losses this year. Against that backdrop, Park Place’s hospitality-anchored, mixed-use play signals long-term confidence in Nashville’s luxury and tourism appeal.

A downtown office building, Fifth Third Center, recently went under contract to sell at a loss following the exit of its namesake tenant. The state of Tennessee sold Citizen Plaza for $16 million, a steep discount, while Parkway Towers and Court Square’s sold at a combined $26 million loss and Philips Plaza took a $94 million haircut.

— Judah Duke