City planners for years have been struggling with how to spur redevelopment in retail areas across Nashville that are long past their prime.
A group of University of Tennessee architecture and design students have been hard at work in recent months studying some of those areas, from Antioch to Bellevue, to come up with ideas for projects that could add momentum to those efforts.
The Metro Planning Department identified about a dozen areas across Nashville for the students in Knoxville and at the Georgia Institute of Technology to develop concepts for bringing economic growth, connections to public transit, and more urban-style affordable housing to the areas.
The students’ projects were showcased recently by the Nashville Civic Design Center, a nonprofit group that promotes public involvement in urban planning and development projects.
Bellevue Mall area
The rundown mall has long been a focus of Metro planners. Student Laura Flores incorporated ideas to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use community and expanded on that idea, focusing on a retail strip south of the mall. The proposal calls for rethinking the retail corridor to the south of the mall, implementing green space into mixed-use parcels that allow easier transition between the retail environment and nearby neighborhoods.
Bellevue Civic
A student called for rethinking the connection between the civic center at Bellevue Middle School and creating a more uniform landscape between it, the new library, and Red Caboose Park. Student Melissa Dooley suggested adding landscaping that tied in all of these components so that they worked together to create a sense of place.
Bordeaux
Student Kyle Nichols proposed redeveloping an underused supermarket retail center on Clarksville Pike at West Hamilton Avenue into more residential housing, revamping the corridor with improved streetscaping and building more roads for better connectivity and to handle traffic from new residents more effectively. The proposal also calls for transit-oriented affordable housing.
Talbot’s Corner
Near the intersection of West Trinity Lane and Interstate 65, student Kyle Jenkins proposed redeveloping an old hotel to establish a mixed-use walkable community, with green space and plenty of square feet for new uses. The proposal also called for adding better transitions and better roads to adjacent neighborhoods.
Wedgewood at Interstate 65
The area that is wedged between the interstate and a CSX rail line is an industrial hub that is quite isolated. Student Dylan Buc proposed forming a creative corridor for this part of Nashville just south of downtown that offers a better transition into the Wedgewood Houston residential neighborhood to the east with better roadway connections into and out of the district.
Reach Josh Brown at 615-726-5964 and on Twitter @joshbrownnews.
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