Distinctive Developments Are Shaping the Future of the Nashville Region

©Journal Communications/Jeff Adkins

The Nashville Region’s newest mixed-use developments are creating distinctive neighborhoods and residential, office, shopping and entertainment destinations reaching from the heart of the city to the suburbs. 

Transforming Nashville: New Developments and Urban Revitalization

At Nashville Yards, gleaming glass towers and inviting open spaces have transformed a vacant rail yard on the west side of Nashville’s downtown into a vibrant community. 

In Nashville’s historic Germantown neighborhood, the site of the century-old Neuhoff meatpacking plant is being repurposed. Rock Harbor Marina will become a vibrant mixed-use destination for locals and visitors in the western suburbs. In Nashville’s Antioch community, Century Farms is bringing more than 300 acres of retail, office, multifamily and office space to one of the fastest-growing areas of Nashville. Century Farms is home to Tanger Outlets, which opened in October 2023. 

Unique developments like these not only help meet the demand for space as the city grows but also create extraordinary experiences for visitors and people moving to Nashville. 

“Nashville is cool and hip — the place to be,” says Jeff Hite, chief economic development officer for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s welcoming, affordable and safe. There’s an energy here that a lot of cities don’t have. People want to be in this city.” 

In the past 10 years, 330,000 new residents have moved to the region. Hite says seventy percent of the Nashville skyline has been built since 2014. 

Nashville Yards: A Vibrant Hub for Live, Work, and Play

Nashville Yards is one of the latest additions. The 19-acre mixed-use development includes Class A-plus office, retail, entertainment, hospitality and residential space, pedestrian pathways, open spaces, and plazas. It is expected to average 20,000 people on-site every day in its live, work and play community. 

The major development will have more than 3 million square feet of office and creative space, 100,000 square feet of group and convention meeting space, 350,000 square feet of space for retail, entertainment and food and beverage, and more than 7,000 parking spaces. 

Nashville Yards will include more than 7 acres of open plazas, courtyards and green spaces, more than 2,000 residential units, more than 1,000 hotel rooms and a 4,500-person music venue named The Pinnacle. 

“That is the ultimate campus in the heart of downtown. It’s the gateway on the west side of downtown,” Hite says. 

Courtesy of Amazon Economic Development

Neuhoff: A Historic Site Reimagined

A few blocks away, the repurposed Neuhoff site offers a distinctive mixed-use community on the west bank of the Cumberland River. In 2019, New City Properties acquired the 14-acre Neuhoff site. The property was constructed in the early 1920s as a meatpacking facility and later served as a mixed-use space, housing the Nashville Jazz Workshop and the Nashville Cultural Arts Project, among other uses. 

Neuhoff will have more than 914,000 square feet of office, retail and residential space. The LEED-certified development incorporates architectural elements of the original facility. Tech company Oracle is expected to construct a pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River connecting Germantown with its campus on the east side of the river. 

“When you think about the legacy of Neuhoff, keeping its relationship with Germantown and Nashville, it’s great to see it holding on to the history with a good mix of the new and the old,” Hite says. 

©Journal Communications/Nathan Lambrecht

Century Farms: A Mixed-Use Community in Antioch

Century Farms, located about 10 miles from downtown, is home to a practice facility for Nashville SC, the city’s Major League Soccer team, apartments, an HCA Healthcare medical plaza and emergency facility, and offices for Community Health Systems. 

The open-air shopping center, Tanger Nashville, features 60 retail stores across seven buildings and The Green, a central outdoor community space. 

Rock Harbor Marina: Activating the Riverfront

Rock Harbor Marina offers unique potential for redevelopment as a mixed-use destination in the city’s western suburbs. With nearly 29 acres of boating facilities, it is Nashville’s only full-service marina that is located directly on the Cumberland River. 

“You’re activating the river, becoming more of a destination,” Hite says. 

“We always talk about how important the quality of life is. We’re growing talent with 20-plus universities and attracting talent with people moving here,” he says. “We can retain talent by making sure our young professionals don’t leave us for another city. Developments like these help us attract and retain talent.”