The $235-per-square-foot price that a hotel developer paid last week for the second parcel that it needs to build a 10-story Hilton Garden Inn hotel was the highest per-square-foot price ever paid for developable land downtown, real estate analysts said.

 

In some ways, the price Franklin-based Chartwell Hospitality LLC paid reflects growing interest in commercial land and buildings here, including interest from out-of-town investors.

 

This is getting up to be major city prices now, said Mark Bloom, a Nashville real estate investor familiar with downtown land values. It used to be that $100-a-square-foot was a big number.

 

Rob Schaedle, Chartwell’s president, said the nearly 20,000-square-foot tract (.46-acres) his company bought from the Wang family for $4.7 million is critical to linking up with Korean Veterans Boulevard. That’s significant because for projects with frontage on that street south of Broadway, there’s virtually no height restriction, he said.

Tower Investments has sold its Fairfield, Iowa Distribution Center. The sale consisted of 210,000 square feet of distribution warehouse space and 25 acres of adjoining land. Tower owned the property for 6 years and had leased the Distribution Center to Books Are Fun, a Division of Readers Digest.

 

The budget for the new convention center was dealt another blow Friday when a Nashville judge affirmed an earlier jury ruling that said Metro did not pay a fair price for a critical piece of land for the project.

The Metro Development and Housing Agency, which was in charge of acquiring land for the Music City Center, hoped Circuit Court Judge Joe Binkley would reduce a critical July jury verdict in the contentious eminent domain case against development firm Tower Investments. Instead, Binkley agreed with the jury’s verdict that MDHA undervalued the land, which the city condemned and took from Tower to construct the new convention center south of Broadway.

Binkley rejected motions filed by MDHA seeking a new trial or to have the $30.4 million jury verdict reduced.

Tower Investments has sold 7,934 acres of its ranch land in Northern California - to two Indian tribes. Tower Investments had owned and operated these ranches for many years.

 

Yolo County, CA:

Yocha DeHe Wintun Nation: 1,494 acres - added to its ongoing stewardship of its ancestral lands and its culture. The tribe operates diversified farming and ranching operations in Capay Valley, and includes winemaking and olive oil production. The Nation also owns and operates the Cache Creek Casino Resort, the largest private-sector employer in Yolo County.

 

Colusa County, CA:

Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians: 6,440 acres, adding to its diversified ranching and farming operations. The tribe grows crops that include tree crops, grains and field crops, including 2,800 acres of rice. The tribe’s reservation is the Colusa Rancheria, founded in 1907. The tribe also owns and operates the Colusa Casino Resort.

 

(Nashville, Tennessee) -- October 7, 2010 -- After opening to the public exactly four short months ago, the residents of Middle Tennessee have voted the Fontanel Mansion and Farm one of the Top 3 in the category "Best Thing That's Changed in Nashville in the Last Year" in the Nashville Scene's 21st Annual Best of Nashville issue which just hit newsstands. Nashville's newest visitor destination ranked just behind "Volunteer spirit after May flood" and "We are Nashville" in the high-profile readers' poll. In addition the Farm House Restaurant at Fontanel was highlighted in the "Best Culinary Trend: Growing Your Own Food" category in the "Food and Drink 2010: Writer's Picks" in the same issue.

There's a hip new bistro in town, but it has a long history. It's Merchants, the 22-year-old restaurant in a historic building on Lower Broadway.

 

The restaurateur brothers Benjamin and Max Goldberg bought Merchants earlier this year, and spent three months on a complete renovation of both the interior and the menu.

 

The Goldbergs, whose company is called Strategic Hospitality LLC, are known for diverse projects like the chic boite Patterson House and the kitschy, tourist-friendly Paradise Park Trailer Resort.

Over 20 Songwriters Donate Time and Talent for Flood Relief

(Nashville, Tennessee...) -- July 20, 2010 -- The inaugural event at Nashville's newest music venue, the Woods at Fontanel, was christened by some of the world's most influential and revered songwriters Saturday night during Songwriters Sing for Nashville. Patrons gathered on the beautiful grassy hillside to hear music directly from the men and women who created songs recorded by some of the biggest names in music history.

The day kicked off with Marc Beeson, Jaron Boyer, Chuck Cannon, Danny Flowers, James House, Kendell Marvel, Danny Myrick, James Slater and Lari White performing their hits on the Gibson Tunesmith Stage in the Farm House Restaurant at Fontanel. The music transitioned to The Woods outdoor music venue late in the afternoon, where 12 members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame delighted the audience with their own renditions of multi-genre hits spanning six decades.