Nashville Condos & Lofts » Grant Hammond

Nashville Plans Free Wireless Internet for City

Grant Hammond — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:05:36 +0000

Nashville Technology Council President Todd Fetherling has told the Nashville Post that the organization plans to implement a free wireless Internet network in downtown Nashville. The group plans on placing its first transmitter in the central business district and believes that a strong wireless signal should emanate within a 0.9 mile radius. The location of this first transmitter will be the Nashville Technology Council’s headquarters located at Third Avenue and Commerce Street. The planned wireless network is a mesh network, sometimes called a mesh cloud, the system that most cellular companies currently use. According to Wiki, “A mesh network is reliable and offers redundancy. When one node can no longer operate, the rest of the nodes can still communicate with each other, directly or through one or more intermediate nodes.” To start, the program will go through a month-long pilot period that will begin later this month or in early February. The launch will cost about $3,100, which covers...

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Griffin Plaza Condo Site in Gulch Gets Reprieve

Grant Hammond — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:13:00 +0000

In 2007, Crosland Tennessee President Bill Barkley announced plans to develop a 2 acre parcel of land in the Gulch into Griffin Plaza, a $35 million 10 story project with 140 apartments and 32,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. With that announcement, the website went live and the buzz began to build with mentions of urban revitalization, green spaces, LEED certifications and urban pocket parks. However, as most of my readers know, 2007 was the very end of an era and the lender, First Carolina Bank, realized that turning dirt was not a prudent decision.

Fast forward a few years and rumblings of liquidity issues at both Crosland Tennessee and First Carolina Bank begin to emerge as the Southeastern real estate market continues a rather abrupt decline. At some point that Fall, Crosland does miss a $90,500 installment payment on their original $15 million loan and the stage is set. In late October 2009 a foreclosure filing was ordered and Crosland…

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Icon in the Gulch Big Winner or Buyers? 2009 was supposed to be a horrible year for Nashville...
The West End Condos Auction Results John Coleman Hayes successfully sold at least 40 condos...
The Terrazzo Auction Results The results of the Terrazzo auction are in and...

Icon in the Gulch Big Winner or Buyers?

Grant Hammond — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:49:46 +0000

2009 was supposed to be a horrible year for Nashville condo sales, yet the Icon in the Gulch was able to sell and close 84 new condo contracts. By the pure number of closings, the Icon in the Gulch was certainly the big winner in terms of gross number of sales, but many may be surprised to learn that 84 condos only represents about 20% of the 419 unit building, the biggest residential condo building in Nashville. By my calculations the Icon is now 50% closed out leaving over 200 condos yet to be closed and that may represent a liability to current condo owners/buyers whose floor plan has not sold well during 2009.

As an example, the Verge floor plan is a sizable 1,100+ square foot 2 bedroom condo located in the midrise portion of the building and according to the tax record, none sold in 2009. 8 Verge condos did sell in 2008 that ranged in price from $331,000 to $411,250, but that still leaves 40 Verge units that remain to be contracted. Clearly, not many buyers are aware of these eccentricities since…

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Griffin Plaza Condo Site in Gulch Gets Reprieve In 2007, Crosland Tennessee President Bill Barkley announced plans to...
The West End Condos Auction Results John Coleman Hayes successfully sold at least 40 condos...
The Terrazzo Auction Results The results of the Terrazzo auction are in and...

2010 Mortgage Rate Predictions

Grant Hammond — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:41:25 +0000

Nashville mortgage rates ended 2009 above 5 percent, with Freddie Mac reporting 30-year fixed rates at an average 5.14 percent, still very affordable by historical standards. Although higher long-term borrowing costs late in the year could signal further increases for 2010, new data from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and the Mortgage Bankers Association indicates more borrowers are refinancing into 15-year loans in hopes of paying off home debt faster. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 15-year fixed loans accounted for nearly 20 percent of refinance applications in October 2009 – up from 9.1 percent in October 2008 and 7.5 percent in October 2007. The jumbo mortgage market in Nashville will probably see some programs re-introduced, but underwritten more conservatively with larger down payment requirements. No income verification programs may return at premium rates, but from sources other than conventional...

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Nashville Real Estate Market Forecast for 2010

Grant Hammond — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:23:10 +0000

The Nashville housing market will experience an accelerated sales volume in 2010 aided by the government’s extension and expansion of the first time home buyers federal tax credit, more government-backed lending assistance, and historically low mortgage rates according to 90% of major forecasts for 2010. Surrounding real estate markets will improve in the Southeastern U.S. with average housing deflation forecasted at 8.4% regionally. This figure represents the lowest amount of deflation on an annual basis in the past four years (actual price deflation over the past 4 years never reached the predicted decline). Nashville will only feel an estimated 5.2% of deflation overall with the hardest hit sectors being the luxury homes market over $600,000 and developer owned condominiums. Reported unemployment peaked at 10.2% nationally, a number that has not been reached since the Great Depression. Most economists believe an economic recovery has begun, but with a suppressed job recovery anticipated, real estate will continue to experience price...

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Nashville Ranks High in 2009 Economic Studies

Grant Hammond — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:38:45 +0000

There is little debate that Nashville and Tennessee consistently rank atop many economic ranking lists and studies. The last 2 months of 2009 provide no exception with Nashville again being named to several prestigious “best in the United States” lists:

December 2009 – MarketWatch Nashville Ranked as One of the Best Cities for Business Nashville ranked 15th as one of the best U.S. metro for business in the MarketWatch’s 3rd annual survey. Notable cities ranked ahead of Nashville: Des Moines (1), Boston (5), Denver (7), Dallas (9), Houston (11) Notable cities ranked behind Nashville: Austin (17), Pittsburgh (23), Memphis (30), Atlanta (35), Chattanooga (38) December 2009 – Forbes Magazine Nashville One of America’s Fastest Recovering Cities Nashville ranked 19th as one of America’s Fastest Recovering Cities based on diversified industries and relatively stable housing that give residents a measure of economic security. Notable cities ranked ahead of Nashville: Raleigh (1)...

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