Overall the condo market is still struggling but there are pockets of exuberant planning. In the Nashville neighborhood of Belle Meade, Tennessee there are three projects planned that offer luxury housing for empty nesters. Belle Meade is already home to a wide variety of large luxury homes but now developers are betting some of these homeowners might be looking for something a little smaller and less time consuming.
Belle Meade Court offers both condos and townhomes and at prices from $400,000 to $750,000 is the least expensive. It is the only one currently under construction. The Manning at Belle Meade, shown above, which is planning construction by the end of the year, offers two bedrooms under 2,000 square feet up to penthouses over 5,000 square feet. Community amenities include an entertaining salon and dining room, catering kitchen, guest suite, private wine storage, a library, fitness center, business center, pool and croquet lawn. Prices range from $950,000 to $5 million. The third project, 112 Harding Place, is in limbo until the market heats up again but is located near the Belle Meade Country Club and offers units from just under 3,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet and are expected to be priced from $1.3 million to nearly $2.8 million.
Given the current real estate market it does seem likely that at least one of these projects probably won't make it to completion. Their success hinges on the interest of retiring baby boomers willing to invest in condo life.
Nashville, Tennessee is seeing a lot of lavish new builds. Today's estate is one of the most expensive new houses in the area. The Mediterranean-style home is 20,000 square feet positioned on 8.5 acres in the Bancroft area of Forest Hills. A lot of newer homes lack charm but this one with its beautiful hardwood floors and gracious lines is really something special. The kitchen is large enough to film a cooking show and looks like you could actually cook in it. There is an ample exercise room and a big garage which seems to currently serve as some sort of playroom. While the home theater is the usual study in boring beige there is a fantastic office that is open to the floor above. There are seven bedrooms total. It is listed at $6.9 million which is very high for the area but a big discount considering it was once listed at $8.99 million.
Oh wow, NFL cornerback and occasional aspiring wrestler Adam "Pacman" Jones is another athlete hoping for a big sale on his house. The flamboyant former Nashville Titan has moved on to the Dallas Cowboys and so he has put his Franklin, Tennessee home up for sale. And reading the blurb on the Real Estalker I knew I was in for a doozy. I've never seen quite so many gargantuan televisions in one place outside of a sports bar. The five-bedroom home is on 30 acres (the property website is called 30 acres and a lake). I'm not sure quite what to make of this one-- a big brick arch in the middle of a room for no good reason, a bedroom that appears to have a set of home theater seats plunked in front of a massive screen, a bathroom that seems to be designed based on the health clubs and gyms that Pacman Jones has likely seen a few of-- all these things combine to make a home that is many things but welcoming is not one of them. The property includes an eight-stall horse barn and a bucolic dock and lake spoiled by the addition of fountains. No pool but there is an above ground hot tub plunked onto the back deck. There are also two other homes on the property. Jones picked up the home in 2006 from an actress and a producer for $1.575 million and has listed it for $1,799,950 which the listing calls "priced well below market value." Maybe, but it will still be a hard sell.
What is the cut-off for size for boutique hotels? I generally think it is under 150 rooms but a new multi-use project in Knoxville, Tennessee bills itself as having a boutique hotel even though it's got 200 rooms. The Metropolitan Plaza project is actually a fairly large project, including a 15-foor tower with as many as 32 condos above the hotel room as well restaurants, a bank and retail shops on the lobby level. There is also an office tower planned that would stand about 7-8 floors tall. The $78 million project from Knoxville-based Commercial & Investment Properties also includes an enclosed pedestrian bridge linking the complex to the Knoxville Convention Center.
The proposal beat out two other proposals for the redevelopment of the downtown state Supreme Court Building.The project does not have a hotel brand linked to it yet but the developer says that several are interested. Once approved, construction on the project could begin as early as this fall and be completed by early 2010.
Established in 1995 and existing on 2,700 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee, The Elephant Sanctuary is devoted to providing a safe refuge for endangered Asian and African elephants that are old, needy, and sick after being retired from zoos and circuses. It is also passionate about educating others on the crisis facing these large and gentle creatures, and working to stop the capture and training of elephants from their natural habitats to perform in circuses and safaris. They have 23 elephants total in the sanctuary, and you can meet them all by name and picture and either send a general donation or sponsor a specific "girl" after reading each of their bios and getting to know them in photo albums.
Today's home is located in The Governor's Club, one of the most elite communities in middle Tennessee area. In this community the homes run big but this must be one of the largest. It is nearly 20,000 square feet and doesn't just have seven bedrooms it also includes a bowling alley, golf simulator, theater room and a billiards room. The outdoor area is a network of multiple pools with a waterfall, waterslide misting pool and screen-in porch. The home has views of the lake and the golf course. The home sits on 2.42 acres and is listed at $7.9 million which is really high for the area.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have put their Nashville home in a gated community on the market. The story, which I first spotted in Page Six and then People, is that Urban and Kidman aren't leaving Nashville, they are moving into a new home (reportedly they have bought land and are looking to build a farmhouse. The four-bedroom house was bought by Urban in 2005 for $1.7 million. It was built in 2004 and pretty much looks brand new. As the Real Estalker Mama astutely notes, this home is not too distinctive. There's a lot of beige and soft colors and nothing except the gleaming black piano and the plethora of fitness equipment that makes it recognizable as a celebrity home. For your $2.45 million you also get a celeb neighbor, LeeAnn Rimes lives in the neighborhood.
Sales recently opened on One Beale, a dramatic development set to rise in Memphis. The two-tower development is a $175-million mixed use project that consists of two towers, one topping 30 stories and the other at 27 stories. The towers will be home to 150 condos, a Hyatt hotel with 240 rooms and office and retail space. The condos, which range in size from 1,300 to 4,380 square feet, are listed at $554,000 to $1.8 million. Already a fourth of the condos have been reserved, a pretty decent feat in a nationwide condo slump. Construction is set to be completed in 2010.
Bad times for former Senator John Ford. Not only is he scheduled to be sentenced in the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal this month for accepting bribes, now the Feds and his ex-wife are fighting over his diamond Rolex watch. Federal agents seized the watch in 2005 when he was first arrested and have now filed papers to keep the watch because it is ill-gotten gains. Ford's ex, however, Tamara Mitchell-Ford, says Ford promised her the watch as child support payment. The watch is valued at $70,000. Who deserve the watch? Looks like it will be up to the courts to decide.
Today's estate home in Nashville, Tennessee has had the 1970s taken out of it. The brick home has had the exterior surface replaced with stucco and the entire home has been opened up and renovated. The five-bedroom home has a been given a Frenchified makeover with walnut floors, chandeliers, plenty of travertine marble, stainless steel appliances and all sorts of luxury amenities. There is a paneled elevator that travels to four floors. There is a nursery, a home theater, a study, an extensive master suite and a beamed upstairs family room. I wonder what this home looked like before. It is listed at $3.4 million. After the jump, check out the fireplace in the master bathroom.
A luxury resort has made its way to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a place perhaps best known for being the home of Dollywood. The RiverStone Resort & Spa will have a spa, indoor pool, arcade, lazy river and a second phase that will include an outdoor pool. The Mountain Press reports that the first phase of the project also includes 126 condos ranging from one-bedroom units to four-bedroom, four-bath suites. The condos are available for sale or rental and some are designated pet-friendly. Condo prices start at $234,900.
This French chateau wannabe is located in Collierville, Tennessee. The home which was built in 1984 has a home theater, indoor gym with a basketball court, and a game room. The eight-bedroom home sits on 48 acres with four lakes, a gunite pool, fountain, three-hole golf course and an eight-stall barn. It also has in-law quarters with a second kitchen. Judging by the decor and the look of the home I am guessing that it belongs to a sports figure (the gym is the most decorated room in the whole place) Anyone have a guess on whose home this is? It is listed at $4.8 million.
Spoon-bending psychic Uri Geller and two partners have proved victorious in the auction to own Elvis Presley's Tennessee house on Audubon Drive in Memphis. The house went for a final bid of $905,100 on eBay. Geller plans to restore the house and maybe one day turn it into a museum. The four-bedroom house was Elvis's home for a little over a year before he moved to Graceland. Geller had dropped out of the bidding last month when the price started to take off but eventually hooked up with two partners to score the home.
The best hotels in Nashville, Tennessee tend to be on the classic side. That's set to change
when the InterContinental
Nashville is completed. The new luxury hotel will be located on West End Avenue and there will also be an
office tower, condos and retail space. The $250 million project will begin in June and the hotel is set to open in late
2008 or early 2009. The entire project will be two towers, one 23 stories tall and another 25 stories tall. The hotel
will be at the bottom of the shorter tower with 70 condos above. Both towers will share a ground floor building with
shops and restaurants.
This home looks like it
belongs in Florida or Los Angeles but it is actually located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The 10,000 sq. ft. home sits on
10 acres of property on a private hilltop for views of the surrounding countryside. The five-bedroom home has Italian
marble fireplaces, chandeliers, soaring ceilings, a large formal dining room, gourmet kitchen and built-in plasma
televisions. The home has smart house technology and there is an elevator and grand Italian marble staircase. There is
also a separate 2,200-square-foot guest house. The home is for sale by owner for$15 million furnished.
