TMEC Nashville Adds $10M Buy to Nashville Retail Holdings

The same mystery group that made waves with a $50 million buy on Music Row this spring is back with another big-ticket retail pickup.

TMEC Nashville, which acquired the retail and restaurant project Edgehill Village in April, has now purchased six additional parcels located behind the development for $10 million in total, the Nashville Business Journal reported.

The new acquisitions together make up just over an acre and are currently home to a mix of small offices and residences. They’re located at 1202, 1204, 1206, 1208 and 1212 16th Avenue South.

The seller is an affiliate of Equitable Property Company, which had acquired the properties for a combined $6.59 million across several transactions in 2016 and 2017.

The latest purchase deepens TMEC’s footprint in one of the city’s most culturally and commercially valuable neighborhoods, though the group’s exact identity and long-term plans remain under wraps. State filings show the entity was incorporated in Delaware and has a principal mailing address in Los Angeles.

French King Fine Properties broker Simon Kerr, who represented the buyer in the Edgehill Village deal, previously described the group as out-of-town investors with a passion for the Nashville music scene and a stated desire to restore, rather than redevelop, Edgehill.

The April deal gave TMEC control of nearly 60,000 square feet of retail space across two developments on either side of Villa Place, including well-trafficked tenants like Barcelona Wine Bar, Old Glory and Jack Brown’s. That transaction also included a 0.62-acre parking lot offering future development potential.

The newly acquired parcels sit just behind that property, raising speculation about whether the buyers plan to expand the existing concept or pursue a new phase of retail, hospitality or residential development.

The group’s investment signals continued appetite for high-profile Music Row real estate and leaves locals wondering what comes next. No public plans have been filed yet despite the flurry of activity and TMEC has not commented on its vision for the 16th Avenue properties.

— Judah Duke