The owner of the Graduate Hotel chain purchased a 1960s-era shopping center in Nashville, Tennessee, and plans to develop new retail and residential space and a hotel on the site.
AJ Capital Partners acquired Belle Meade Plaza for $87 million from BMP Partnership of Nashville, according to public records. AJ Capital earlier this year received approval from local officials for its development plan for the site. It obtained a $45 million loan from Nationwide Life Insurance to finance the land acquisition.
The proposed mixed-use development received some pushback from the surrounding community for the extent of the proposed development and the height of some buildings. AJ Capital made changes to its plan to receive approval from the Nashville city council, including lowering the height of the tallest building from 15 stories to 13 stories, according to documents filed with the Nashville planning commission.
Plans call for 388 multifamily residential units, a 78-key hotel and 80,000 square feet of retail. AJ Capital will also develop a walking path along Richland Creek.
AJ Capital will demolish the main strip mall, which includes a Vanderbilt Health clinic and a Starbucks, and a Kroger supermarket located on the 10-acre site.
For the Record
Hastings Architecture and Hartshorne Plunkard are the architecture firms. Hawkins Partners is the landscape architect. Barge Cauthen & Associates is the civil engineering firm. Perkins Coie is legal counsel on the development.