Much has been promised, debated, discussed and legislated about 338 precious acres just across the Cumberland River from downtown. Expect the East Bank to continue as the city’s fishbowl in 2024, but with actual construction.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell — who, as a district councilmember last year, opposed the deal to finance a new Tennessee Titans stadium on the East Bank — will have to execute the plan negotiated by his predecessor, including rolling out hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs for the utilities, parks, street grids and bridges required to transform today’s industrial wasteland into a functional neighborhood.
In August, the Titans announced a combination of major builders — billion-dollar outfits Turner and AECOM Hunt as well as local firms I.C.F. and Polk — to lead construction on their $2.1 billion stadium. Weeks later, $1.2 billion cleared the bond market in six packages (four backed by the city and two by the state), shedding some light on the pricey legwork that will play out over the next few years to coordinate in and around a new stadium district. In September, the outgoing John Cooper administration selected The Fallon Company to develop the city’s 30-acre East Bank slice. The Boston-based real estate group brought on local Trael Webb, formerly of Ryman Hospitality and Metro’s property division, in early 2022. Webb is expected to be the company’s Nashville point man. Last month, Metro started accepting pitches from engineering firms for its backbone boulevard.
Shovels will hit the ground very soon. Then more shovels and more workers and more firms. This year, the area around Nissan Stadium will enter a construction cocoon, hoping to emerge in time for the Titans’ first 2027 home game. Until then, it will be a literal money pit, alternatively argued as an epic boondoggle by economists and an ambitious bet on Nashville’s future by boosters. Early in his administration, O’Connell brought on former Councilmember At-Large Bob Mendes to steer his office’s East Bank efforts alongside Cooper holdover Sam Wilcox.
East Bank material has become full-time work for the city’s planning staff. The sheer scale of the project presents lots of chances for expensive mistakes, grift, unforeseen obstacles and political debacles. Initial Cooper selling points, like a bevy of affordable housing units and a cultural center anchored by TPAC, are closer to TBD than QED. The Titans have become a losing franchise preparing to dump their most popular player, running back Derrick Henry. New York private equity billionaire Carl Icahn still seems content holding onto his land housing an expansive scrapyard, SA Recycling (formerly PSC Metals) — a substantial piece of the East Bank puzzle that might be worth its acreage in gold.
From housing and transportation to development of the East Bank, here are 11 stories to keep an eye on this year
