Notes: Demo of old-school VU-area buildings looms | Development
Posted on
Demolition looms of the three-building Louise Douglas Apartments on Elliston Place within the Rock Block, as the development company prepping to reinvent the site with a Holiday Inn Express has landed a construction loan.
Elliston Hospitality LLC, which is affiliated with Nashville-based SiLa Developments, has secured the $43.1 million loan from Dallas-based Hall Structured Finance. Mag Mile Capital Senior Vice President Francisco Nacorda sourced the financing for the project, according to a release from HSF and SiLa Developments.
Holiday Inn Express
Courtesy of SiLa, SEV
A March 2024 completion is slated, with the release noting Nashville-based Triumph Hospitality will manage the hotel.
The Holiday Inn Express will sit on a site with addresses of 2221 Elliston Place and 114 and 118 Louise Ave. No renters remain in the three old-school masonry apartment houses comprising Louise Douglas.
“SiLa Developments is excited to position this asset on the historic Rock Block of Nashville,” Janak “Jay” Patel, SiLa Developments principal, said in the release. “We are eager to deliver an exceptional asset that will create meaningful opportunities and positively impact our team and community. Collaborating with Hall Structured Finance has made the process easy. We are motivated to begin construction and deliver this exceptional asset to the Midtown/Vanderbilt market.”
This is the fifth loan that Hall Structured Finance has closed within the last month. The company expects to close more than $1 billion in new construction and bridge loans in 2022, largely targeting the multifamily and hotel sectors, according to the release.
Previously, and as the Post reported in June 2021, a first-quarter 2022 construction start and a late-2023 completion were targeted. Prior to that, the project had been slated to start in the fall of 2020. However, the coronavirus pandemic impacted that start, officials with the project said.
Elliston Hospitality LLC acquired the property for $6.5 million in July 2019, according to Metro records.
The announcement of the project generated some pushback from citizens who opposed the project, including grassroots organization Save the Rock Block, and who wanted to see Louise Douglas Apartments saved and updated.
Designed by Nashville-based Southeast Venture, the Holiday Inn Express hotel building will offer 168 rooms on eight floors. Located across West End Avenue from Vanderbilt University in the general Midtown area, the property was zoned to allow for hotel use.
Patel said in June the team is not ready to disclose the estimated cost to undertake the project.
Holiday Inn Express Elliston Place will be affiliated with IHG Hotel group, owner of, among other brands, InterContinental, Regent Hotels, Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and Candlewood Suites.
Davidson County is home to seven Holiday Inn Express hotels. The one located nearest to the Elliston Place site is on Broadway downtown across from the Frist Art Museum.
Relatedly, Patel and his team continue work on a hotel project at the Music Row site once home to the iconic United Artists Tower. That project (read more here) is unfolding at 50 Music Square W., with the seven-story hotel (a brand for which has yet to be announced) to offer 132 rooms.
BZA OKs variances for project planned for Dickerson Pike
The Metro Board of Zoning Appeals has approved some variances related to setbacks for a project to unfold in East Nashville.
Stamford, Connecticut-based commercial real estate company Forstone Capital owns the property, which offer addresses of 1218-1224-1236 Dickerson Pike and 5 Ligon Ave. and cover a collective 3.3 acres, having paid $10 million for it earlier this year. The company also paid $10 million for the South Nashville building once owned by local furniture retailer Ray Batts.
Brett Wilderman and Brandon Hall founded Forstone in 2007 and have since acquired commercial buildings and land with a collective more than 1.1 million square feet, primarily in Connecticut and the South.
The BZA document notes the future Forstone project on Dickerson Pike will offer four buildings ranging in size from six to 12 stories. Wilderman and Hall could not be reached for comment, and the Post was unable to determine further details or secure an image.
Peabody Union moves forward with $4M permit
Nashville-based developer Ray Hensler and partner Stiles have landed a permit related to their under-construction mixed-use project Peabody Union.
The Metro Codes department permit, valued at about $4 million, will allow for foundation construction. Its issuing comes after Hensler and Stiles in late June secured from Wells Fargo a $247 million loan for the project, which is unfolding in Rolling Mill Hill.
Hensler and Stiles paid $16 million for the 4.57-acre property in March, with the Metro Development and Housing Agency the seller.
Peabody Union
Courtesy of Ray Hensler, Stiles
The main Peabody Union tower will rise 27 stories and offer 354 residential units. In addition, a Class A office building with 251,000 square feet will stand six floors on the site. Also, the overall development will feature 50,000 square feet of retail.
Peabody Union will offer a main address of 30 Peabody St. and overlook the Cumberland River. A fall 2024 completion is eyed, Hensler previously told the Post.
An overall price tag for the project has yet to be finalized.
