The Nashville Convention Center Authority has paid $52.03 million for SoBro property that previously accommodated a parking garage servicing the two-structure Estes Kefauver Federal Building complex.
According to a release, the U.S. General Services Administration was the seller of the 1.33-acre property, which offers an address of 800 Demonbreun St. (and an alternative address of 811 McGavock St.) and now serves as a surface parking lot. The garage was razed in 2025.
The property sits one-half block to the west of the Convention Center Authority-owned Music City Center. The release notes that the authority will integrate the site into its ongoing operations and use for future expansion of the convention center facility.
“This site gives Music City Center the flexibility it needs to support Nashville’s continued growth as a leading convention and tourism destination,” says Charles Starks, Convention Center Authority president and chief executive officer, in the release. “Being adjacent to our current facility, it’s uniquely valuable for future expansion, and we appreciate GSA’s partnership in helping make this property available for development that will benefit the city for years to come.”
The transaction is the equivalent of approximately $900 per square foot.
The Music City Center opened in May 2013, carrying a price tag of about $623 million and offering roughly 2.1 million square feet. Convention Center Authority officials previously have noted more space will be needed in the future to accommodate the facility.
Schools, stone walls and Trail of Tears witness structure also listed under threat
The demolition of the parking garage structure on the GSA site followed the federal Office of Management and Budget in summer 2025 having approved the listing of the Estes Kefauver Federal Building, an accompanying annex structure and the then-garage being listed for sale.
That approval followed a report recommending closure of the office building, which joins 10 other federal properties recommended for closure by the Public Buildings Reform Board. A Public Buildings Reform Board report said selling the building could potentially yield a cost savings of $484 million, partly by eliminating $295 million in reinvestment needs.
At the time of the last Nashville Post report, the Kefauver building was about 66 percent leased (with the annex structure roughly 77 percent leased). Kefauver tenants in 2025 included the IRS, the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs (which has since moved) and the U.S. Corps of Engineers Nashville District office, which eventually will leave the complex and is seeking office lease proposals for about 100,000 square feet of space.
Recognized for its limestone exterior and clearly defined entrance, the Kefauver Federal Building is located at 801 Broadway and stands eight floors. The building opened in 1952 and is accompanied by the nine-story annex building, for which construction was completed in 1974. The 3.55-acre complex also, as noted, included the parking garage.
The Office of Management and Budget update came about a year-and-a-half after the GSA announced it would seek to sell the property.
The Kefauver Building is named to honor the late U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver and was designed by then-Nashville architectural firm Marr & Holman in the modernist style, according to the National Parks Service. Construction began in 1948.
The Kefauver Building essentially was replaced by the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, which opened in 2022 and is located at 719 Church St.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
