Almost Friday! It’s September 3rd. As soon as I hit send on today’s newsletter, I’m taking a few days off for the Labor Day weekend. I’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday morning. I hope you have a great holiday!
⚡ Top stories
Weather: 🌦️ Heat advisory through tomorrow. High: 101 with a heat index as high as 111, Low: 77. Slight chance of thunderstorms after 5 p.m. We also have an air quality alert. It says people with respiratory issues should limit their time outside today. The alert also advises all of us to limit exercise outside.
Replacing lead pipes in Nashville: More than half of the city’s drinking water lines are at least 50 years old, according to a new grant application by Metro. That’s turned into a hunt to find how many are made of lead after the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule that all lead service lines must be replaced by 2037. The Metro Council agreed this week to accept $1 million from the state to finish a pipe inventory. Click this link to see what, if anything, the inventory has found for your property. Once the inventory is complete, Metro Water will put together a schedule for pipe replacements. Its website says the department “balances water chemistry to prevent corrosion and minimize risks and analysis shows that Nashville does not have a lead problem.”
Metro’s Planning Department predicts 34,400 new apartments in Nashville’s urban core (essentially downtown and areas around I-440) by 2040. The forecast surprised me because there are so many apartment vacancies downtown that two or three months of free rent have become routine with new leases. The lengthy report, which will be used to look at potential policy changes surrounding growth, also said “Nashville’s urban core has grown faster than the tools designed to guide it” and the tools to protect historic buildings are limited.
🏠 What’s new in Nashville’s neighborhoods
Downtown (and nearby)
Speaking of new apartments: Sandbar at oneC1TY is being forced to close. “After nearly a decade of volleyball, drinks, celebrations, friendships, and countless memories, we’ve learned that the property where Sandbar calls home is being sold to developers,” the business said on Instagram. Those developers announced yesterday plans to build more than 300 new apartments on the C1TYBLOX site, forcing Sandbar and other businesses to close at the end of the year. Thanks to a nash.news reader who let me know about this almost as soon as it was announced.
Antioch
Next phase for former Kmart property: it’s already home to Metro Police’s relatively new Southeast precinct, and now plans to move Nashville’s emergency communications center and Office of Emergency Management to the property appear to be moving forward, based on a new permit filing. It says three new buildings will be constructed, including a parking garage. Nashville’s former 911 director told Channel 4 last year that the department had outgrown its current space near Belmont University.
East Nashville
Cleaning up apartments off Dickerson Pike: more than $12 million in renovations are planned for the Fallbrook Apartments on Dellway Villa Road, according to building permits. The apartments have a history of shootings and arrests in recent years.
Hot Ticket, a new bar with a dance floor at 311 Gallatin Avenue, received a building permit that moves it a step closer to opening. “We will be live, laugh, and loving at Hot Ticket in a couple weeks,” the bar said on Instagram. More: The Nashville Scene’s profile of the owners.
North Nashville
While the number of people killed or injured by gunfire has dropped by 21% across Nashville as a whole, that’s not the case in Metro Police’s North Precinct, according to police data. Gunshot injuries increased 40% from 20 cases at this point last year to 28 so far this year. Deaths remained the same, with four each year. Other trends in the precinct: traffic stops are up 58% since last year, and arrests dropped by 9%.
Tonight at 6 p.m.: a virtual traffic calming meeting for Queens Lane. You can find more info about the meeting here.
Bellevue
Future of former Buzzard Hollow Landfill: Metro Council member Sheri Weiner shared drawings, which you can see here, for a proposal to turn the property into a convenience center and “sustainability education center,” among other things. The landfill has been abandoned since the 1970s. Weiner explained in her newsletter the multiple hurdles the idea still needs to overcome before anything is built.
The Nations
Escape room: Countdown Games plans to open an “escape room center” at 4801 Centennial Boulevard, according to a building permit application.
Hermitage
Plans to turn an old medical office into a daycare at 244 Jackson Meadows Drive appear to be moving forward. The project received a building permit that brings on a contractor to complete the project. It’ll have room for 117 children. I reported last week on a study that found Nashville’s licensed child care centers have enough capacity for “just over half of local working families with young children.”
Wedgewood-Houston
Industrial building to apartments and retail? Developers filed for a permit to tear down an industrial building near the soccer stadium at 492 Craighead Street. Back at the beginning of the year, more than $60 million in permit applications were filed to build more than 200 apartments and retail, but I haven’t seen any movement on those.
Recording studio to steakhouse: the building at 622 Hamilton Avenue “has a rich music legacy, hosting production for Grammy-winning artists, Disney media, and Broadway shows,” a real estate firm’s Instagram post says. Now, a building permit application indicates work is about to start on turning part of the property into a restaurant. The brothers behind an Italian restaurant called iggy’s previously announced plans to open a 60-seat steakhouse next year.
📰 A few final headlines…
Search for more possible victims: the TBI accused former Centennial Medical Center social worker Robert Bailey of sexually assaulting two patients. “Investigators believe Bailey may have victimized additional women. They are asking anyone with information regarding possible crimes to come forward,” the TBI said.
Toll lane worries: The stock for one of the companies involved in the I-24 toll lane project was downgraded by an international bank out of concern for the $24 billion in concessions promised to Tennessee, the Tennessee Lookout reported. Earlier this week, I shared a Nashville lawmaker’s request that Tennessee’s attorney general investigate the toll lane deal. The Tennessean reported a former TDOT staffer now works for one of the companies involved with the winning bid.
Southwest Airlines will open a 30,000-square-foot lounge at Nashville International Airport at the end of next year, the airport announced yesterday.
A man blamed Tesla’s self-driving mode after Metro Police had to chase his car with a helicopter when it took off from an attempted traffic stop for speeding, WKRN reported.
Free pizza: Since my next newsletter comes to you on Wednesday, I wanted to go ahead and give you a heads up about Five Points Pizza’s free slice night. It’s next Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. They have locations in East Nashville, West Nashville, and the Gulch. More details in this Instagram post.
Poll results: I asked yesterday whether you agree with new restrictions on Metro Police using drones. 70% of respondents said no.
🧠 Today’s quiz: Nashville by Numbers
Test your memory of yesterday’s newsletter. Match the following numbers to the clues below: 30, 42, 101, 35.
Maximum height (in stories) proposed in Vanderbilt’s Innovation Neighborhood
Years Cumberland Hardware has been in business
Yesterday’s forecast high temperature
Cost (in millions) of Cheekwood’s parking garage
🍔 MAP: click here for restaurant inspections across Nashville
Correction, feedback, question? Just reply to this email or email me directly at ryan@nash.news. Have a great holiday weekend! I’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday —Ryan