Plans Unveiled for Massive East Bank Development

NASHVILLE, TN — If all goes according to plan, work will begin in the spring on the first phase of an eventual-125-acre redevelopment of riverfront property on the East Bank of the Cumberland River that backers say will transform the moribund area into an expansion of downtown, creating "one of the marquee riverfront environments in the world."

Chicago's Monroe Investment Partners say work will begin soon on the first 40 acres of its River North project, which will eventually span from Jefferson Street north to the I-65 Bridge on the east side of the river. This first phase — "The Landings" — will be located immediately north of the Jefferson Street Bridge, adjacent to the under-construction Topgolf facility. It will include office, retail, multifamily and hospitality development sites, according to a press release, and will take "several years" to build out. Monroe, though, is patient, having first begun assembling property 18 years ago. The company says it intends for the rest of the property to develop "organically" over time through joint ventures with other developers.

The company intends to donate at least 50 acres of its holdings to Metro for greenways, parks, roads and other common areas, which Mayor Megan Barry said should open up a mile of the riverfront to public use.

"River North begins an exciting new era in Nashville’s relationship with the Cumberland River by strategically orienting civic life along the riverfront at a scale never before seen in Nashville," she said in a release. "Activating the East Bank is necessary for the city to fully connect the neighborhoods in our core and maximize the economic potential of our downtown. Through this strategic private-public project we will begin to further embrace and celebrate our riverfront at the level it deserves."

The renderings for the project show an urban-type development, with heavy density and a gridded street pattern, which, the NashvillePost notes, is a change from an earlier design plan that had a less dense, more suburban set-up.

The Post also notes the similarities in the vision for River North to other single-owner large-scale redevelopment projects, most notably The Gulch.

What will become River North was inundated in the devastating 2010 flood, notably causing the loss of one-of-a-kind musical instruments at the SoundCheck facility near the center of the redevelopment district.

More information on the project is available on its website.

Image via Monroe Investment Partners LLC