The owner of M.L.Rose has paid $2.25 million for an Inglewood commercial building and plans to open in 2024 an East Side location of the restaurant and bar concept at the site.
According to a Davidson County Register of Deeds document, an LLC that includes Austin Ray now owns the three-parcel 0.97-acre property, located at 3701-3705-3707 Gallatin Pike and home to a building housing vintage clothing store Old Made Good and consignment shop Wallpaper and Home Consignments, and some surface parking.
3701 Gallatin Pike as seen earlier this year
Ray says he plans an M.L.Rose for the front corner space of the 1940-opened building, to be joined by two other restaurant and retail tenants. The leases for the two current tenants will expire by year's end, and Ray says he has been in contact with the owners of both.
“Inglewood reminds me so much of Melrose when our first location opened, and Sylvan Park when we opened the second one there,” Ray says in a release. “There were so many folks ready for more neighborhood food and bar options, and the traditional retail corridors were not providing enough. This is how M.L.Rose was built — betting on strong and growing neighborhoods.
The seller was William Emery, details about whom Scene sister publication the Nashville Post was unable to determine. Emery, who seemingly lives in Franklin, acquired the property in 2011 for $556,892, Metro records show. Emery originally purchased the property in 1998 for $360,000 before selling in 2011 for $575,000 to Arkan Al-Hasnawi. The latter, who resold to Emery for $18,108 less than he paid eight months prior, owns Good Deal Auto Repair and Tires, which operates at 4710 Nolensville Road in South Nashville.
A separate Davidson County Register of Deeds document notes that the LLC (for which Ray serves as president) has landed a $3,817,500 loan from Nashville’s FirstBank.
Kevin Fulton with Market Retail Partners represented the seller and will be the leasing agent for the new ownership group, Ray says.
The property sits about one block south of the building housing the soon-to-close Henry James Bar (read more here).
"Often these older retail corridors like Gallatin Pike have to catch up to the demand of the residents, and this building is a perfect spot for more restaurants that everyone in the area can enjoy," Ray adds. "I’ve been searching for a home for M.L.Rose on the East Side for seven years. And while I’ve found several good spaces, I could never find one with a building this beautiful and great parking until now.”
Ray founded M.L.Rose in 2008 in Melrose (it was called Melrose Pub at that time) He now also operates the concept in Capitol View, Mt. Juliet and Sylvan Park. M.L.Rose is known, in part, for its beer selections (with the bars offering about 36 draft beers and 100 total beers).
Via A. Ray Hospitality, Ray also owns and operates Von Elrod’s Beer Hall & Kitchen and Melrose Billiard Parlor.
This article first ran via our sister publication the Nashville Post.
