The owners of four Second Avenue buildings heavily damaged during the Christmas morning 2020 bombing are offering the properties for sale as they seek to resolve lingering issues related to the buildings and their conservation protections.
According to a document filed with the Davidson County Chancery Court, the two ownership entities are asking the court to rule that the nonprofit Historic Nashville, Inc. has “no rights, titles or interests” in the buildings, which offer addresses of 170, 172, 174 and 176 Second Ave. N.
HNI has held conservation easements related to the facade of the buildings since the 1980s.
Relatedly, the LLC that owns the three damaged buildings located at 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. S. is offering those properties for sale, with the local office of Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield seeking offers, according to marketing materials. Charlie Gibson, Cushman & Wakefield vice chair, is overseeing the effort.
The court document notes 170, 172, and 174 Second Ave. N. were covered by a single policy of insurance valued at $7 million, which has been collected. Pinnacle Bank had a first lien on the three buildings and was named as an additional insured entity. The bank has been paid $779,529.39 to satisfy its lien.
Additionally, and according to the court document, the owner of the 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. N. buildings has paid $883,559.16 to its architects, engineers and contractors related to the stabilization of the buildings. That payment leaves net insurance proceeds of $5,386,911.45 available for the reconstruction of the buildings.
The 176 Second Ave. N. building had insurance valued at $2 million, which also has been collected. Pinnacle Bank had a lien on the building and has been paid $394,927.28 to satisfy that lien. 176 Second Avenue N.’s share of professional services expenses to date total $304,862.90, leaving $1,300,209.82 available for reconstruction.
According to the court document, the owner of 170, 172 and 174 Second Ave. N. has concluded that the extent of the damage to those buildings renders it “impossible or not feasible to repair or reconstruct the buildings using all the remaining insurance proceeds” and that its architect and engineer have agreed. Because of this, the 170-172 easement and the 174 easement terms have lapsed, the plaintiff contends.
Similarly, the owner of the 176 Second Ave. N. property has concluded likewise.
HNI, which holds similar conservation easements with multiple other downtown buildings, emailed the Post the following statement:
"Historic Nashville has worked with this property owner since the 2020 Christmas Day bombing to try to identify avenues for restoration of the impacted buildings, including salvaging materials. Unfortunately, the severity of the damage is such that there was not a clear path to reconstruction within the terms of the easement. Due to the nature of the easement, the parties jointly agreed that a judicial resolution was the most efficient way to settle this matter and move forward."
The suit comes two years after the two ownership entities — LLCs based in Savannah, Ga. — landed Metro Historic Zoning Commission approval for a request for a selective demolition permit (read here).
The owners enlisted the local office of Austin-based STG Design to handle architectural work for the reconstruction and new design effort, with a specific plan zoning having been approved by Metro.
Plans for the future structures would have maximized the amount of salvaged material so that the facades would have resembled as closely as viable the original facades that were destroyed in the blast.
According to a release from October 2021, a proposed pedestrian passageway would cut through the middle of the buildings, connecting Second Avenue with First Avenue.
No on-site work is being done.
The plaintiffs have enlisted Benjamin Johnson and Peter Sales, attorneys with the local office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, for legal representation. The two declined comment.
Margaret Martin, an attorney with Thompson Burton, is representing Historic Nashville Inc.