Nashville Chapter October Meeting!
Chris Green (Terracon): Chris Green congratulated the Titans and Nashville for being awarded the Super Bowl, noting that a lot of development is happening and some of the projects that were dormant are coming out to make that 2030 deadline for the Super Bowl. He feels that some projects have already missed the deadline. Nationally, the NFL is coming up with more ways of capturing the revenue, the fan experience, with some pockets that are hot, and some pockets that are not as hot with property transactions.
Gregg Riddle (W.E. O’Neil Construction): Gregg said the market has been pretty hot in hospitality, retail, education, and multifamily has been hot, and then it is not, with projects that are idle, interest rates rising, and a lot of inventory despite demand. He also noted that the education market has been big because all the suburban areas are really growing, requiring more schools, police stations, libraries, and fire stations. Gregg has noticed that retail has been really busy in Nashville. He highlighted new retail development with Simon Properties in Thompson Station, a new mall in Gallatin with GBT Realty, and the Green Hills Mall renovation and expansion.
Hunter Johnson (Terracon): Hunter is seeing where larger projects are definitely still moving forward while seeing a slowdown from the due diligence side of things, with multifamily experiencing the ebbs and flows of being really hot and then sitting in a waiting period. He noted that sports franchises make money from what they are earning inside of the stadium, inside of the venue, and the entertainment districts and they are keeping and managing all of the properties in house without league or conference revenue sharing. Hunter feels that Nashville is becoming an entertainment hub centered around the Super Bowl and Bridgestone.
Jeffrey Coats (JS Coats Capital): Jeffrey noted that S&P is hitting records and the treasurers are skyrocketing, which is making things difficult. He has noticed that many of his construction projects have stalled out and are waiting on an equity partner. He is noticing that deals are getting harder to get completed but he is noticing an increase in refinancing. He mentioned that because of good fundamentals in Nashville and being in a good part of the country, it is making things work.
Jim Murphy (Bradley Arant): Jim said that he has clients whose projects are on hold because they were put together in a low interest rate environment, and now they can’t do the deal and are waiting to either get more equity or see interest rates go down.
He noted that he is seeing a lot of work in the data center space particularly in Nashville and it has generated a lot of interest and need for legal assistance and it is having a huge impact on a lot of different areas of the state.
Travis Groth (Maury County Chamber and Economic Alliance): Travis said that he is noticing that LEAD activity is down this year and is the lowest he has seen in ten years . He is fortunate that they have seen a lot of activity with different industrial projects under various stages of construction and continued residential and commercial
development. Travis noted that they are having utility challenges that are complicating projects but they are moving forward. He mentioned that there is a pilot program for the Spring Hill sewer problems that would allow the city to hold some treated water for release or recirculation, with a timeline of 2030-ish. He feels that things that were stuck are moving now.
Ashley Ayub (Barton Malow): Ashley said she is seeing a lot of opportunities with the Super Bowl and she is seeing a lot of growth around these athletic facilities, which have been funded by the state as well. She mentioned that it will be interesting to see what the new governor puts forth and what their priority is going to be. Ashley mentioned that she is seeing a lot of construction in Middle Tennessee in healthcare but with the cuts to Medicare, what is it going to look like.
Isaiah Kegley (Nashville Downtown Partnership): Isaiah said he is seeing 14% office vacancy downtown right now and 3% retail vacancy and a lot of hotel conversions, and they are doing a business census downtown to track development and the health of employees downtown. He feels that with Starbucks taking the last big block of Class A office space that was left that it may be a little while before somebody is brave enough to kick off another office building.
Kel McDowell (Nashville Downtown Partnership): Kel mentioned that they will drop the Q3 market conditions report, so be on the lookout for that. He mentioned that October 28 is their annual meeting and this is their biggest event of the year, recognizing highlights from the past year downtown with awards and recognition. The event will be at the Music City Center with 1000 people in the room, a great group of people taking pride in everything going on downtown.
Richard Sprecher (Resolute Road Hospitality): Richard said his company is looking for opportunities in Nashville every day. Although they have three hotels under development right now but none in Nashville. He emphasized that they are definitely looking for opportunities here and invited the group to share opportunities to buy or develop, noting they work with Hilton, Hyatt, all the major brands and have great relationships.
Thomas Freeland (Freeland CRE): Thomas said they are working with some banks now and they seem pretty aggressive on getting money out the door and financing deals, and they are assessing whether to refinance or take equity out of projects or wait until money is cheaper. He feels that visitor trips are up and he has really strong leads in Middle Tennessee for retail and small bay industrial. It is definitely more competitive in certain areas so they play mostly outside the downtown area because they find it a little less competitive. Overall, he is seeing a good steady positive trajectory but it will be interesting to see how the cost of capital will go through the marketplace, noting that housing is slow, but things are turning along pretty well.
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