Baltimore firm pays $36 million for Lower Broadway building
By Drew Hutchinson - Nashville Business Journal
May 13, 2021
A Baltimore firm just cashed in on a Lower Broadway property, and its executives are hungry for more.
Continental Realty Corp. paid $36 million for the mixed-use building at 111 Broadway, which houses Rock Bottom Brewery and three office tenants, according to a statement. Since the building holds 50,303 square feet, that sale price is equal to around $715 per square foot.
Continental Realty previously bought a 320-unit apartment complex in Murfreesboro, but 111 Broadway marks its first investment in Nashville’s urban core. Lower Broadway assets rarely go on the market — 111 Broadway last sold in 2006 to California-based Tower Investments Inc. for $4.25 million. And Josh Dinstein, a senior vice president at Continental, is one of many investors who want to grow roots in the city's booming real estate market. He says his firm is actively looking for more properties here, pointing to its entertainment brand, along with recent company expansions, population growth and no state income tax, as major incentives.
“I think Nashville is special and unique,” he said in an interview. “The Lower Broadway corridor has an extremely high barrier to entry, and 111 Broadway presented a rare opportunity.”
Dinstein said his firm scouted the three-story, fully leased building in 2020 and put it under contract this year. Notably, the development has undergone renovations over the past five years, including improvements to the roof, windows, exterior and elevator systems.
Continental Realty isn’t planning immediate changes to the building, Dinstein said. Rock Bottom Brewery will continue to operate from its ground floor for the foreseeable future.