Happy Wednesday, Nashville! It’s October 28.
☀️ More sunshine today with rain chances on Saturday and Sunday. High: 78, Low: 47
📍 New in Nashville’s Neighborhoods: updates on three projects on the East Bank with a Super Bowl deadline looming, Nashville’s first Wawa, Melting Pot’s return, a package theft warning, a restaurant gets a 61 on its health inspection, more legal trouble for Cheekwood, and a Waymo service expansion
🔒 New today for nash.news Insiders
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🏠 What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods
Downtown (and nearby)
Lots of East Bank developments:
The hotel next to the new Titans stadium still won’t be ready in time for the 2030 Super Bowl, but the developer plans to pause construction for two weeks around the event. “Our goal right now is how do we make the site and the building as complete and good looking as possible for fan experience, for camera shots, for all of that,” Fallon CEO Michael Fallon said. You can see renderings at about 1:05:00 into this video.
Construction on TPAC’s new location is scheduled to start in February. It isn’t expected to be finished until the third quarter of 2030, months after the Super Bowl. However, “it will appear substantially complete prior to the Super Bowl,” a leader on the construction team said. You can watch updates on the design at about 29:00 into this video.
Construction to lower James Robertson Parkway as it approaches the bridge over the Cumberland River is set to begin in the second quarter of next year, according to an East Bank Development Authority presentation. Work is supposed to be finished in the third quarter of 2029. Here’s WTVF’s report on the purpose of the project. The authority approved spending up to $65 million on the project.
Melting Pot’s return: The restaurant announced in January that its lease on Second Avenue had been terminated as it attempted to rebuild from the 2020 Christmas Day bombing. Now it’s coming back. Melting Pot’s website says it’ll reopen in early 2027 at 315 Deaderick Street.
Bellevue
Wawa opening date: I told nash.news readers last month that Nashville’s first Wawa gas station would open at Highway 100 and Temple Road in mid-November, and now there’s an exact date. The chain confirmed to The Tennessean it’ll open on November 19. Wawa recently received a building permit for a gas station in Hermitage at 5360 Old Hickory Boulevard. More: other potential locations and what delayed a store in Antioch.
Restaurant gets a 61: The health inspector who visited Ninki Hibachi & K-BBQ at 8121 Sawyer Brown Road reported an employee not washing their hands after touching something on the floor, “raw beef stored above yum yum sauce,” and more. You can read the full inspection here. I link to all restaurant inspections at the end of the newsletter.
North Nashville
Package theft warning: Thieves are watching delivery drivers and stealing packages within minutes of them being dropped off at homes, the Metro Police Department’s North Precinct Commander Steven Bowers warned at a community meeting this week. “These are happening in broad daylight, so these are not at nighttime. These are where individuals are walking up and down the streets and just kind of eyeballing the porches.” Overall larceny (theft) cases are down more than 15% compared to last year in Nashville, according to police data. Bowers estimated package theft makes up roughly 90% of thefts in his precinct.
Belle Meade
More Cheekwood legal trouble: A neighborhood group, upset about the noise and traffic that’s come with the botanical garden’s expansion over decades, is asking a judge (again) to intervene. This time, the group is appealing a decision by Metro’s Board of Zoning Appeals. The board refused to overturn a permit for a new parking garage that the group claims violates the city’s zoning rules. You can read the lawsuit here. Separately, neighbors sued Cheekwood for damages for allegedly being a nuisance, and the group sued Metro for not enforcing its interpretation of zoning and noise laws.
Germantown
“WE NEED YOU, NASHVILLE.”: One of the owners of the Germantown Pub pleaded for customers in a video posted to Facebook. “If things don’t pick up, we may have to make the difficult decision to do things differently,” the post said. “So if you’ve been meaning to stop by, this is your sign.”
Traffic calming meeting: NDOT will talk about its plans for Arthur Avenue tonight. The virtual meeting starts at 6 p.m. Here’s a link with more information.
East Nashville
Sign crackdown: This kind of enforcement by Metro Codes often seems to sweep up several properties in the same area on the same day. This week, it was Dickerson Pike’s turn. Properties at 2919, 3037, and 3041 Dickerson Pike were flagged for alleged sign violations. Codes also issued a notice nearby at 801 East Trinity Lane.
Whites Creek
306 new apartments: Developers applied for permits to construct a 10-building apartment complex at 633 West Green Lane. The complex is called Pointe Grand Whites Creek. Its website, which also mentions townhome and single-family home rentals, gives you an idea of what the units will look like.
Hermitage
Mystery solved: I reported a few weeks ago that an office building at 4733 Andrew Jackson Parkway would be torn down, but I hadn’t confirmed plans for the property. I just got an answer from building permits: Ascend Federal Credit Union plans to open a branch.
Reminder: You can give input today on renovations to the Hermitage branch of the Nashville Public Library. More details here.
Antioch
Transforming mostly open land: 169 new townhomes are coming to 3124 Murfreesboro Pike, based on a permit application that would allow the project to advance. You’ll find some drawings of the neighborhood near the end of this (long) document.
📰 A few more stories I’m following…
Waymo expansion: The service area for Waymo’s self-driving taxis will expand “farther east toward the airport and south toward Oak Hill, giving riders access to more of Nashville, including Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, the Mall at Green Hills and Lipscomb University,” a spokesperson tells me. Here’s a link to a map of the updated service area.
And moving underground: I found this story from the Tennessee Lookout interesting. “Tennessee subterranean authority member won’t take first Boring Company tunnel ride”
Poll results: I asked nash.news readers whether they’re satisfied with Nashville’s approach to its street parking spots. 96% of respondents said no. 4% said yes.
🍽️ Restaurant inspections
Correction, feedback, question? Just reply to this email or email me directly at ryan@nash.news. Talk to you tomorrow! —Ryan