There’s plenty on the horizon for the East Side: New businesses have joined the flock and several large developments are in the works.
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
One development for which we’re awaiting more details is a beer garden-style lodge and music venue at Hart Lane and Ben Allen Road. A spot near East Nashville’s closest Department of Motor Vehicles on Hart Lane offers a chunk of land that includes one of the highest points in all of Davidson County (cue Fourth of July fireworks display). The open space hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ron Brice, owner of 3rd & Lindsley, and architect Richard King have secured 35 acres in the area. If their plan is approved, the development will include an indoor-outdoor lodge with a recording studio, plus an event space situated at the land’s highest point. Brice and King are also aiming to have around 100 residential lots on half of the newly acquired property. The prices for the single-family homes would start around $250,000, with some including two-car garages and rooftop decks.
This new project follows Metro Planning Commission’s recent passage of the city’s first trail-oriented development community policy, which calls for publicly accessible trails to connect all properties within an area that is underserved by existing greenways. These policies encourage “active” transportation. In laymen’s terms, this means more pedestrian traffic. This new development would, in theory, have multiuse trails connecting to all parcels of the land, including Oakwood Park and nearby schools Jere Baxter Middle and Maplewood High.
Also in the mix in that area is a residential development headed by Center 615’s owner, Christian Paro. Paro has plans for properties on Broadmoor Drive and Ben Allen Road that overlap the trail-oriented development policy enveloping Brice and King’s project. The concept includes 321 residential units ranging in price and size, offering condos and apartments. The 52 acres would also include several buildings for commercial retail and restaurant tenants. The project also allots for around 10 acres of green space that will loop up with Nashville Greenways.
It looks like the plans for The Eastsider are moving forward. Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission approved plans for the mixed-use development at 105 S. 11th St. in March. Before being razed in 2014, the old Edgefield Restaurant formerly sat in the planned location. A look at their detailed plans includes two buildings, a two-story and three-story structure with a courtyard between the two. It looks like there is the possibility of a restaurant or retail space on the main floors of the 11th Street-facing unit, with bed-and-breakfast style rooms on the upper floors. An opening date is still far away, but ground has broken and construction is a go.
MPF, an apartment data tracking company, recently released research that shows Nashville currently has more apartment construction than any other city in the nation. On that front, The Cleo, one of the newest additions to East Nashville’s growing apartment market at 1034 W. Eastland Ave., welcomed its first round of residents in April. The 291-unit building offers one- and two-bedroom apartments and studios. The amenities include a bocce ball court, pet spa, soundproof music studio (SO Nashville), and a free bike share. Move ins have started, but The Cleo won’t fully complete construction until June. Sorry about the noise, new residents.
The Eastland, located directly across the street from The Cleo, is moving along with construction. The four-story, 53-unit building has plans for retail on the bottom floor and apartments on top.
Further adding to that MPF stat, we have Solo East. Located at 1118 Litton Ave., just one block down from Gallatin Avenue, the Solo East condo development had its ribbon cutting ceremony in early April, welcoming tenants to its “Building A.” Construction on “Building B,” the second half of the development, is still underway. They offer one- and two-bedroom units; a few are still on the market, starting around $176,000.
Pet Wants, which seems to be synonymous with what East Nashville wants, has been open for several months at 962 Woodland St., but hosted their official grand opening in April. They offer all-natural, slow-cooked dog and cat kibble, plus other crafted pet goodies, and they even deliver.
For food of the homo sapien variety, we added another option this spring with the opening of The Mainstay, the newest eatery to grace the Fifth and Main building, former home to The Vine. Mainstay, an upgraded sports bar of sorts, is offering a farm-to-table bar food menu, retro games, and free parking. They serve “elevated bar food” and a full cocktail menu. Currently, they open at 4 p.m. and only offer a dinner, but have plans to expand into the brunch and lunch hours as soon as possible. Either way, they’ve got Nintendo NES at the bar — what more can millennials ask for?
Sister to The Wild Cow and fellow veg-friendly restaurant, Graze celebrated their one-year anniversary last month — looking good, guys.
Now that we’ve got dinner plans covered, on to drinks. The plans for the Sinker’s Wine and Spirits expansion are coming along. Last summer, Sinker’s, located at 3304 Gallatin Pike, announced they’d be doubling their shop size and things are shaping up. Bargain pizza slingers Little Caesars has closed up shop in the strip and they’re working on new signage for the entire building. The vacant flower shop next to the strip has been leveled. No word on our end what’s slated for that spot.
Another East Side business doing some expanding is Fond Object. The vinyl and vintage connoisseurs at the corner of Riverside and Mc- Gavock opened a sister store to their Riverside Village shop downtown. Appropriately, they had the grand opening for their second location on Record Store Day. The new space is a little larger and includes an indoor stage. In coming months, they will bring in some vintage retail like the Riverside location, as well as create a space for art exhibits.
Double trouble seems to be the theme around these parts. Parlour and Juke, the über hip hair salon that many celebs are known to frequent, has opened a second location on this side of the river at 1101 Riverwood Drive. This will be the sibling to their original Eighth Avenue, Cannery Row spot. Access to the original location is reminiscent of a speakeasy, but the new one is its antithesis. Windows cover nearly every wall of the beauty/barber shop, keeping things open with tons of natural light. It’s easy to spot, right at the corner of Gallatin Pike in Inglewood. They’ve opened online booking for the new location, so grab a spot at parlourandjuke.com.
The East Side has another ink spot added to its roster. Veteran tattoo artist Chad Koeplinger opened up shop in the old Trick-or-Treat Tattoo space at 2100 Greenwood Ave., across from Southern Grist Brewing and Fran’s East Side. His new shop, Adventure Tattoo, runs by appointment only. The guy has been tattooing for over 20 years, in every state, on every continent (sans Antarctica), so we can see why he likes to make his own schedule.
Speaking of artists (of a different variety), Nous Art House and Flora Plant Shop opened their joint-space together recently at 305 E. Trinity Lane. Nous Art House is a photo studio and art show space. Owner Ashtin Paige is a photographer herself and plans on hosting future exhibits and photo shoots in the new Trinity Lane space. Next door, Flora Plant Shop is all about the aesthetics as well, offering specialty houseplants and plant workshops.
Adding another art-centric biz to the wrap for this issue — Raven and Whale Art Gallery opened their doors in April in The IDEA Hatchery at 1106 Woodland St. They will primarily showcase the photo-surrealistic work of the owners and husband and wife duo Jason Brueck and Kate Harrold, but plan on having visiting exhibitions in the future.
SnapShot Interactive kept their promise for a March finish date for their new office space at 1530 Riverside Drive in the old Riverside Drive Church of Christ building. Their offices are ready and open for visitors to drop in and see the renovated space.
Something for the adventurous fitness buffs,we recently welcomed a new (to the East Side) workout studio. The Chrome Bar made the move to 2809 Dickerson Pike, regrouping on this side of town after their original space downtown on Lafayette Street was destroyed in a storm. One of the main offerings? Pole dance workouts — the business name fits. Chrome Bar also offers a variety of other options in their space: barre, aerial yoga, and private training to name a few.
COMING SOON
Project 615, the maker of some of our favorite Nashville reppin’ tees, recently announced plans for a second location. They’re looking toward The Nations in West Nashville. No worries, though, the philanthropic, Music City-centric apparel brand will keep its home at the Shoppes on Fatherland, too. Their demand has just outgrown the space, so they’re opening up shop on the West Side. No word on an opening date yet.
Riveter will be bringing some fine jewelry to the East Side as one of the newest additions to The IDEA Hatchery in 5 Points. They will offer unique, artist-crafted jewelry and jewelry repair. They were slated to have their grand opening this May, but no set date yet.
A couple of food-related developments for the neighborhood this go-around: Lockeland Table’s sous chef Danny Bua Jr. left his post at the eatery this spring to pursue his dream of running a food truck — a taco truck to be exact. No concrete details on this one yet, but we can tell everyone to keep their eyes peeled for “That Awesome Taco Truck” sometime later this summer.
We are still waiting for a definite timeline on the planned new Riverside Village restaurant Fort Louise, which will take over the former Perk & Cork space at 1304 McGavock Pike. Fort Louise will be the second business venture for Jessica Bower, owner of women’s clothing, jewelry, and home décor boutique Steluta, which is also located in Riverside Village. They’re planning a “chef-driven eatery” that will provide a brunch, lunch, and dinner stop for neighborhood patrons in an intimate, dinner-party environment. Bower has tapped Chicago chef Greg Biggers to craft the menu and oversee the kitchen.
Porter House Bistro shuttered back in February after several months of lease negotiations pushed them out of their space at 1115 Porter Road, but now the same space is firing its kitchen back up for another restaurant concept. New York chef Julia Janksic has plans to open Café Roze, an all-day café. There is some construction going on behind those bay doors, and we are waiting for more announcements on this front.
Edley’s is branching out of BBQ. It’s not quite East Nashville, but it’s just over the river. Owners Catherine and Will Newman have plans to open Pancho & Lefty’s Cantina in the old Pub 5 spot, directly across the street from Bridgestone Arena. They will be offering Mexican fare and are anticipating an opening sometime this May. Here’s to hoping they’re open on July 4 to provide that prime rooftop spot for viewing fireworks.
CLOSINGS AND MOVES
Hey Rooster’s General Store, formerly rooted on Gallatin Avenue across from the strip with Camille’s Market (slated to be Sprout’s Market come 2019), left this neck of the woods in February. Owner Courtney Webb has found a new roost in Hillsboro Village. We miss the cute, local-centric shop in these parts, but her new home in the old Bookman/Bookwoman location is an upgrade. She’s shacked up in a portion of that old space, but kept the “Book-Woman” namesake on the storefront as a nod to the beloved former bookstore. The new spot had its grand opening on April 22.
Urban/industrial décor shop The Fuselage closed its doors at the end of March, but if you really miss the shop you’ll still be able to find them one county over in The Factory at Franklin. We lost another East Side shop to The Factory as well; sweet-makers Walker Creek Confections left The IDEA Hatchery at the start of the year.
Pour one out for longtime East Side meatand- three homies Charlie Bob’s. After 65 years, the cheap beer, cheap eats, cheap tunes haunt closed its doors last month. On April 30 the nofrills staple on Dickerson Pike fried its last eggs. Word is the spot has been eyed by a developer for a flats and lofts residential project.