Nashville Development Site Hits Market After NIMBY Dispute

A SoBro site entitled for a triple-tower development was listed for sale after legal disputes with downtown residents delayed construction.

The owner, a partnership of Chicago-based Centrum Realty and Nashville Capital Group, is selling the 3.4-acre site at 500 Second Avenue S after owning it for four years, the Nashville Business Journal reported.

The asking price hasn’t been disclosed.

Centrum Realty and Nashville Capital Group bought the property for $34 million in 2021 from Cumulus Media, which had its headquarters on the site.

After the purchase, the owner had plans approved for three towers: a 32-story residential tower, a 39-story residential tower and a 29-story hotel. But, downtown residents living at the City Lights condo building sued to stop the development, arguing that the height of the proposed development and another project in the pipeline would cause their property values to take a hit.

The suit resulted in a lengthy legal battle that culminated in Centrum Realty pairing up with another downtown developer to sue the residents for $71 million in damages.

The property is located in the rapidly transforming SoBro neighborhood.

The area just saw the delivery of Ray Hensler’s Peabody Union, a mixed-use development with a six-story office building, a 27-story residential tower and 50,000 square feet of retail. The Congress Group’s Park Place development is also nearby.

The listing is one of multiple undeveloped sites that were recently put up for sale after development plans were approved.

In April, developer Tony Giarratana listed a 0.4-acre site in SoBro at the Korean Veterans Boulevard roundabout after securing entitlements for a 45-story tower at the spot. A few months earlier, H.G. Hill Realty Co. offered up a 1.5-acre site near Centennial Park that was slated for the development of a 15-story, 305-unit apartment complex.

—Jess Hardin