Stories to Watch in 2026: Development Developments

While many Scene readers would likely love to see some action in Midtown’s beloved Rock Block neighborhood — please, at least put the shell of what was once The Gold Rush out of its misery — that area will likely sit idle in 2026. The bulk of Nashville’s development activity this year will be in luxury hotels and in the East Bank area, with Wedgewood-Houston projects already under construction. 

Nashville is slated for six new luxury hotels, which will see construction activity in 2026. Perhaps most notably, a Ritz-Carlton hotel and residential building is planned for The Gulch near Kayne Prime, previously home to advertising firm Bohan. Also, there’s a 46-story, 651-foot-tall St. Regis hotel planned — that will dwarf its next-door neighbor the J.W. Marriott, which stands at 386 feet tall and 34 stories. When completed, the St. Regis will take the cake for the tallest hotel in the city.

Across the street from J.W. Marriott, a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel is planned. That will stand at 35 stories. At 319 Peabody St., developers are planning a 53-story hotel and residential building, reportedly an Intercontinental — a chain based in the U.K. and owned by IHG. A Pendry Hotel is planned for the Paseo South Gulch development, as well as a five-star New York-based Equinox Hotel as part of a mixed-use development, Peabody & 2nd in SoBro. (Unrelated: We’re getting an Equinox gym, too.) 

That list includes just the luxury offerings. In all, there are dozens more hotels pitched for the city, as the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp seeks to accommodate the roughly 17 million people who visit on a yearly basis. 

The new Tennessee Titans stadium is set to be finished in early 2027, with the old Nissan Stadium to subsequently be demolished. However, Nashvillians will begin to see action in the areas surrounding the stadium this year. Flanking the stadium will be an area that includes outdoor seating, green space and a connection to bike pathways, as well as a hotel and residential areas. Affordable housing known as East Bank Flats will likely see action first, as it is set to be built in a current parking area roughly a block from the stadium. The surrounding area will also eventually include the Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s new home.  

Tech giant Oracle is preparing to start construction on its future headquarters at Nashville’s River North development. When finished, the development is set to include up to 13 buildings and a pedestrian bridge connecting to Germantown. 

Wedgewood-Houston dwellers know that some development is happening in their neighborhood — as evidenced by the neighborhood’s constant traffic cones and construction vehicles. AJ Capital Partners, the developer behind Graduate Hotels, is set to open a mixed-use residential and retail building across from the former May Hosiery Mills site in 2026. AJ is planning a huge nearby development called Wedgewood Village, which will cover a collective 18 acres and include Live Nation’s forthcoming music venue The Truth.

William Williams contributed reporting.

Stories to Watch in 2026

From midterm elections and the Music City Loop to zoning reform and AI, here are eight stories to watch in the coming year