Metro has selected engineering and land-planning firm Kimley-Horn and Associates to lead the city's North Nashville community engagement and Jefferson Street study.
The city requested bids from consultants in October 2023 — after the former Jefferson Street Cap project stalled in late 2021. The request noted that the engagement process needed a “more robust strategy.”
District 21 Councilmember Brandon Taylor told Scene sister publication the Nashville Post at the time of the request for qualifications the effort does not advance the previous cap project, but rather provides a new process for the community to engage with Metro on future plans for the area.
In its proposal, the local office of Raleigh-based Kimley-Horn said: "Correcting a wrong from nearly 70 years ago and addressing the distrust in government that still pervades the North Nashville community will take time. Correcting the missteps and assumptions that led to community confusion and pushback and ultimately led to Metro pausing the project in November 2021 also will take time."
Procurement documents, including Metro’s evaluation of the proposal, noted a cap is not an assumed outcome of the Kimley-Horn's work. Metro also said the firm provided a detailed communications plan, a proposed grant application, a scientific public opinion polling plan and similar reference projects. Kimley-Horn listed the Project Blue Oval outside Memphis as well as Nashville projects such as the East Bank, Pie Town, and the Fairgrounds Nashville/Geodis Park as relevant work in its proposal.
In reference to grant funding, the proposal mentions the White House’s Justice40 initiative, which sets a goal for 40 percent of federal investments in initiatives such as climate, clean energy and housing to assist marginalized communities. Kimley-Horn suggests that for community ideas potentially requiring funds beyond the scope of the project, the firm could help prepare grant applications for the relevant federal programs.
While Metro said Kimley-Horn’s proposal demonstrates “a clear understanding of project and impact to the community,” community members themselves will decide.
Monchiere' Holmes-Jones, president of the Jefferson Street Historical Society and CEO of MOJO Marketing + PR, says it was good to hear that the cap was not the assumed goal but adds that listening to voices of the business owners in the district is extremely important.
Community engagement would drive future Jefferson Street improvements, per request
“They need to understand this is a cultural district,” Holmes-Jones says. “Preservation as well as development needs to be considered. It has to go hand in hand.”
She says no matter the strategy of those executing the study, keeping the community engaged and remaining transparent without an agenda would be the key to success.
“We're proud of our institutions," says Holmes-Jones. "I think just making sure people can see — any tourist that's in Nashville, look across the street and see that there's more. That's what we want the city to help us with, and we hope that out of this project that could be something they could do.”
Kimley-Horn’s proposal lays out a two-year timeline and states the firm will begin by holding a public information meeting, which could happen as early as June.
“Building trusting relationships with stakeholders is important to the Kimley-Horn communications team,” the proposal states. “A hands-on approach, using ‘boots-on-the ground’ with continued personal contact throughout the life cycle of the project, creates a trusted relationship between the project team and stakeholders.”
The firm also plans to convene a community advisory board, potentially as soon as May, that represents those directly impacted by the project. Kimley-Horn also says it will create focus groups at different stages of the project for meetings with stakeholders in business, housing, transportation, tornado recovery efforts and advocacy organizations, among others.
“Our approach is to engage the community in a thoughtful, holistic, and transparent way to truly understand the broad range of needs in North Nashville and to collectively and cooperatively develop a plan (with or without an interstate cap) that addresses these needs,” reads Kimley-Horn’s proposal.
To work with Metro’s Equal Business Opportunity Program, the company will also enlist local minority- and women-owned firms Burch Transportation, Fairpointe Planning, MEPR Agency, Urban Campus and Core. Kimley-Horn also listed New Jersey-based Richard Grubb and Associates, a historic preservation consulting company, as a female-owned firm that will join the team.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
