August 29, 2024

Metro Council approved the final reading of ordinances for the East Bank and Global Mall redevelopment plans at its Tuesday meeting.

An ordinance approving a private act by the state that establishes the East Bank Development Authority passed unanimously. The board will consist of nine members who can enter into contracts, manage property, issue bonds and exercise powers of authorities such as industrial development, housing, parking and port. The board is charged with administering the master developer agreement that Metro has already passed regarding the East Bank property with the Fallon Company.

Mayor Freddie O’Connell will appoint five members of the authority and the Metro Council will appoint two. The state also has a say in who will sit on the board with the speaker of the House and Senate or their designees serving as ex officio voting members. The mayor will also appoint the first CEO of the authority, who will serve the board of directors. Future CEOs will be decided by the authority board.

Also regarding the East Bank, council approved an ordinance on third reading to change the Metro Zoning Ordinance by adding the East Bank Subdistrict to the Downtown Code. For now, that subdistrict covers only land in Metro’s

initial development area on the East Bank. Council also approved on third reading a separate ordinance that officially rezones the initial development area of the East Bank from mixed-use intensive (MUI) to the new downtown code (DTC).

In a similar vein of zoning for redevelopment, Metro approved on third reading several bills that will move the Global Mall plans forward. The zoning will change from shopping center regional (SCR) to specific plan (SP) and follow the Global Mall Master Plan, which was officially approved by the planning commission in July.

Dry language describing Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s proposed transit upgrades may take less than 30 seconds to read when Nashvillians see it in a voting booth on Nov. 5. The official description, stamped last month by the Davidson County Election Commission, legally outlines a complex transaction proposed by O’Connell to his constituents.

He needs voters to approve the plan, officially branded “Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety.” Per state law, O’Connell’s proposed 0.5 percent sales tax increase requires a referendum — direct democracy for direct taxation — to add to the state’s 7 percent flat tax and 2.25 percent in existing county sales taxes. A 9.75 percent total sales tax rate will bring the city in line with conservative neighbors Wilson, Williamson and Rutherford counties. Critics point out the raw financial burden of adding an extra 50 cents to every $100 grocery bill. Unlike taxes on income or capital gains, sales taxes ask the same dollar amount at the register from the teacher, the bartender and the banker — a burden that hits lower earners harder than higher earners.

The plan also requires city bonds, state assistance, federal funding and fare revenue. Metro Council approved the plan, officially dubbed a “transit improvement program,” in July.

Once tapped, sales tax money flows to every transit mode operating in Davidson County and, crucially, to none

that doesn’t. Rather than go for light rail, a contentious feature of former Mayor Megan Barry’s failed 2018 referendum Let’s Move Nashville, O’Connell’s plan doubles down on what people already know: buses, cars and pedestrians.

Expanded bus routes that crisscross the county used to be the plan’s top-line selling point. The plan promises a 60 percent increase in bus service with added routes, extended lines and expanded hours of operation. WeGo, currently funded with yearly allocations, commands the bulk of

the plan’s total $3.1 billion price tag. About $1.3 billion goes toward turning major arteries like Gallatin Avenue, Murfreesboro Pike and West End Avenue into “All Access Corridors,” with dedicated lanes running buses every 15 minutes for “walk-up” service.

Several other transit centers, including new facilities on the county perimeter meant to catch commuter traffic, will build out crosstown capacity. It’s a welcome investment for the Nashvillians who rely on the bus — about 30,000 a week and growing — with potential to attract new users.

“Where I’m from, public transit wasn’t widely available, so upon moving to Nashville, I wanted to go visit some friends downtown from East Nashville,” says 24-year-old Hayden Davis, who moved from rural Alabama last year. “I saw it took 40 stops, an hour-and-a-half to get downtown.”

Minutes earlier, Davis had shared, with shock and dismay, the annual maintenance cost for his car quoted that day by his mechanic. “If there are more widely available options, I would use it. It’s easier and better for the environment.”

The plan tacks on traffic management infrastructure, like signals that can adapt to traffic flow, and supports the new Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure traffic management office. Such strategies were adopted by cities across the country decades ago. O’Connell also promises to double the pace of sidewalk construction, focusing both on the proposed All Access Corridors and the city’s hefty sidewalk backlog.

The line from O’Connell’s early days on the WeGo (then MTA) board to the Nov. 5 vote could not be much straighter. The mayor’s typical stump speech starts with a well-worn anecdote about how, as a 20-something, he got around Nashville without a car to save money for a down payment on a house. As a candidate, he sold himself as the nuts-and-bolts city manager who knew how to bend the vast Metro bureaucracy away from tourists and toward real people. For the mayor, this vote is personal.

The “Choose How You Move” referendum will be on the ballot this November, as Nashvillians will decide to approve or reject the $3.1 billion transit plan.

It’s a complex plan, hitting on several areas, including sidewalks, traffic signals and public transportation.

To provide more information, The News sister publication the Nashville Scene put together a comprehensive look at all aspects of the plan.

Read all of the stories at www. NashvilleScene.com.

Trousdale Turner draws federal investigation into prison conditions

Department of Justice opens probe into Tennessee’s largest prison following reports of violence, understaffing and sexual abuse

The Department of Justice has announced a formal investigation into prison conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility, a 2,500-plus-bed facility managed by CoreCivic. Henry C. Leventis, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, and Kristin Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the DOJ’s civil rights division, cited a pattern of mismanagement at Trousdale Turner.

“People are incarcerated at Trousdale Turner as punishment for their crimes, but in our legal system, punishment does not and cannot include violence and sexual abuse,” says Clarke in a statement

released Tuesday morning. “The Justice Department is launching this comprehensive investigation to determine if there are systemic constitutional violations regarding the treatment of people in this privately run correctional facility.”

As the local U.S. attorney, Leventis would help prosecute a future case for violations of inmates’ constitutional rights. Defendants could include CoreCivic as well as the state of Tennessee, which contracts with private operators via the Tennessee Department of Correction.

“Publicly available information suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued

by serious problems since it first opened its doors,” says Leventis. “This includes reports of staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188 percent turnover rate among prison guards just last year. Although CoreCivic owns and operates Trousdale, the State of Tennessee is ultimately responsible for the safety of the people incarcerated there. This investigation seeks to determine whether Tennessee is meeting its constitutional obligations.”

CoreCivic has faced multiple lawsuits related to inmate deaths at the facility in recent years. State auditors found understaffing, inadequate facilities,

noncompliance with state policies and insufficient medical care in successive 2017, 2020 and 2023 audits. A comptroller report from December confirmed “unprecedented staffing issues” with “record-high vacancy and turnover rates” in Tennessee prisons led by Trousdale Turner, where the report found one officer responsible for 360 beds.

The publicly traded prison operator was founded 40 years ago as Corrections Corporation of America in Nashville with help from then-Gov. and future U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

HAWK signal on Dickerson Pike PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Metro police arrested a 24-year-old for pouring a ‘black paint-like liquid’ onto the intersection

HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

Metro Nashville police have arrested a Murfreesboro man who they say admitted to vandalizing East Nashville’s rainbow crosswalk on July 2.

According to a release, 24-year-old Isaiah D. Tester was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of vandalizing government property for pouring a “black paint-like liquid” on the crosswalk at the intersection of South 14th and Woodland streets.

The vandalism occurred just days after the crosswalk was painted on June 29 during a community celebration that marked the end of Pride Month. The crosswalk was repainted on July 13. Police believe the liquid was windshield prep primer. The release notes that Tester was identified as a suspect following a Nashville Crime Stoppers tip.

Tester worked for an unspecified vehicle window replacement company, and was

driving a company van when the vandalism occurred. The company has reportedly fired Tester.

“Tester is alleged to have admitted to the vandalism after being confronted by a co-worker,” the release reads. “Tester also admitted to the vandalism in an interview with detectives this afternoon.”

“We have got to stand up for our LGBTQ neighbors,” District 6 Councilmember Clay Capp told reporters following the vandalism.

“An attack on anyone’s equality is an attack on all of our equality.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

The rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of 14th and Woodland streets

PHOTO: AIDEN O’NEILL

Talking transit with the mayor Diving into the details of ‘Choose How You Move’ with Mayor Freddie O’Connel l

NICOLLE S. PRAINO

The News sister publication the Nashville Scene sat down with Mayor Freddie O’Connell to talk about his proposed transit plan, and what pieces he thinks are important for Nashvillians to consider when voting in November.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST THING YOU WANT A VOTER TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE TRANSIT PLAN?

The biggest-picture thing is the overall program should not only help you as somebody in the city — it should help the entire city. Even if you are very committed to your current commute pattern and you drive by yourself, almost everywhere you go, you’re gonna get more green lights out of this program. If you’re in a neighborhood that is challenged because you’ve got a corridor that runs right by where you live, and it’s got a broken sidewalk network, and you have to walk on dirt paths, you’re gonna get something out of this. If you are spending two hours on your commute because you’re transit-dependent right now, this is probably going to bring either better frequency and more likely even that point-to-point opportunity to not just have to come into downtown everywhere. So child care gets closer, groceries get closer, health care gets closer. If you’re working a third shift, you’re finally going to be able to actually have an opportunity to catch a bus after 1 a.m. We really did try to structure the program to meet people where they are and offer them better options, no matter how they’re moving around the city.

WHAT DO YOU TELL PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT SOME OF THE BASICS OF THE PLAN AND SEE ONLY THE BUS IMPROVEMENTS AND THINK IT WON’T HELP THEM?

I come back to: That’s not the only thing that’s in it. That’s why we have from the jump called it a transportation improvement program because it’s full of improved infrastructure. We expect that overall crashes on our roadways are going to go down. We do expect that almost everybody in the city is going to get to reclaim more time if this gets approved, because there will simply be smarter traffic flow around the entire city that is moving people through safer corridors and intersections. If the only thing that you’re looking at in this plan and seeing are the transit elements, the bus elements, there’s definitely more to the story there.

CAN YOU DELVE INTO SIGNALING IN PARTICULAR, SINCE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE CAR-DEPENDENT WANT TO KNOW HOW THAT WILL WORK FOR THEM?

We had started to see some of this work. In fact, we’re picking up on a thread that came up in Mayor [John] Cooper’s transportation plan, which absolutely informed our overall program. When we started the Nashville Department of Transportation out of what used to be Public Works, there was this idea of traffic management centers. So we’ve got a smaller one that’s a combined police substation and TMC about to open on Broadway,

quickly, with the best overall cost-benefit analysis from Nashvillians, and frankly just the sheer cost is what made the decision not easy, but necessary.

And I would add to that, when we went into this conversation six years ago, it was [before the plan to partially fund a new Titans stadium with public money]. Where it might be nice to have a balanced financing approach that included hotel/motel tax, after we just added a percent to the hotel/motel tax, I think that would have been pretty difficult for the hospitality scenario in the city. So what we’re left with is a very simple lower overall financial envelope program that just can’t support light rail meaningfully.

SINCE THE PLAN’S DEDICATED FUNDING OPENS UP THE CHANCE FOR MORE FEDERAL DOLLARS, IS THERE ANY POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT RAIL EXPANSION IF THIS PASSES AND THE CITY CAN THEN TAP INTO THOSE FUNDS?

and then a more comprehensive one over at the Howard Office Building. Every time we convert signals to this, it’s a grid. It’s not even just that at your traffic signal that you might otherwise be stopped at a red light when no cars are coming the other way. Now, because of understanding traffic patterns with each one that comes online, it may be the entirety of Broadway, for instance, where a whole network of lights stays green after a special event to help traffic flow. It not only knows that you’re at this intersection — it probably knows, “Oh, you’re trying to get on the interstate to head back home after something.” It will ultimately literally mean a larger number of Nashvillians have more green lights than red lights as they’re traveling around the city. The program lets us, over the period that it’s in effect, modernize two-thirds of our signalized intersections.

MANY PEOPLE HAD EXPECTED LIGHT RAIL IN THE PLAN. WHY DID YOU DECIDE NOT TO INCLUDE IT?

Fundamentally, it’s a math question. Even the single light rail possibility from the airport to downtown at a probably minimum cost of $300 million per mile that you would need for implementation of a light rail corridor would mean that that single corridor would effectively consume all of the financial envelope for the program. Basically, we could do one light rail route for a key corridor, or a program with citywide impact. We just wanted to design a program that could have the most impact the most

Absolutely. What we kind of guided both WeGo, NDOT and our consultant team to design — and Metro Planning right alongside them — was to ensure that all of these corridors were actually rail-ready. So that you could imagine a corridor that when we look at a federal program … when we get to local, preferred alternatives suggest this would be a great corridor for rail. We’ll be ready to make that decision on the basis of federal funding availability.

THE ABILITY TO UNLOCK THIS AMOUNT OF FEDERAL FUNDING COULD GO AWAY AFTER THIS YEAR. COULD YOU SPEAK TO WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO PASS THE PLAN NOW TO BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE THAT FUNDING?

I want to be clear: We do expect that over the 15-year life of this, there will be multiple federal funding opportunities. There’s just never in my lifetime — and I don’t know if we’ll see it again in my lifetime — been an opportunity as extraordinary as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Every single time I’ve interacted with USDOT partners in the past year since I took office, they always say, “Are your applications in?” They want to see us implement successful projects, but they also know that right now, we can’t qualify for all of the programs that some of our peer cities are eligible for on the basis of our lack of dedicated local funding.

WHAT’S YOUR ARGUMENT FOR THE PLAN WHEN SOME MIGHT SAY THEY DON’T WANT TO OR CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY FOR IT RIGHT NOW?

I think there are a couple ways to look at it. One, there’s a tremendous amount of financial accountability built into the way the state created bipartisan legislation to let us do this in the first place. We had to go get our accounting process approved

Mayor Freddie O’Connel PHOTO: MICHAEL W. BUNCH

by the state comptroller. We had to go get an independent audit for the financing plan. We have to show you what we’re doing. This isn’t us just asking for money and it’s like a blank check. This money is directly aligned with all of these improvements. Now, if you don’t want to pay for it, then you get exactly what we’ve been doing for the past quartercentury, which is little better than nothing. And it’s why we ranked as one of the worst commutes in the country earlier this year in a report that came out in Forbes magazine. That’s not what I want for the city. We are continuing to see growth that … started a couple of years ago continue, and we’ve got to interact with it more successfully. I’d also say for most households, this is going to be $6 or $7 a month. When you go into Target and spend $50, you’ll throw a quarter in the jar to pay for this program. And the majority of the program’s local revenues are actually going to come from out-of-county residents. This actually lets us capture the success of Nashville’s destination economy.

So I understand the overall concern. But meanwhile, all along the way, we’re trying to tackle affordability. Already today, if you live within a quarter-mile of our somewhat limited transit system, you’re on average saving $200 a year more than people who don’t have meaningful access to transit. If you expand that number to tens of thousands of people across the city, suddenly you have a big net savings for a lot of households in the city. In addition to that, the regional opportunities should relieve pressure, even for people coming in from out of county. I think that while there is a cost, we’re also trying to do everything we can on the affordable-housing front. We continue to build our toolkit there. Just this summer we launched the Nashville Catalyst Fund to sit right next to the Barnes Affordable Housing Trust Fund. We’re bringing thousands of units online, and now we’ll have a preservation tool alongside that. We’re actively trying to tackle cost of living even while we know we’re asking you to invest. But we’re showing exactly what we’re going to pay for, and the state legislation requires that that’s what we do.

HOW DO YOU FIGHT BACK AGAINST OPPOSITION GROUPS?

THAT WAS A PROBLEM FOR THE LAST TRANSIT PLAN WITH A LOT OF MONEY IN OPPOSITION, AND THERE IS AT LEAST ONE GROUP THIS TIME AROUND THAT MAINLY FOCUSES ON THE SALES TAX.

We think we’ve gotten the program to meet Nashvillians’ needs. I think a lot of previous efforts maybe under-accounted for how Nashvillians are experiencing moving around the city, and so we really did want to build a plan that has something for everybody embedded in it. But I think the easiest way to talk about this is: As people go to the polls this November, our hope and expectation is that we’re trying to get the green light for more green lights. And I think that’s one thing that’s been missing from the conversation. This isn’t a program

that’s intent is to produce a bigger volume of empty buses. This really is a program that is trying to create more options for people who have told us for more than a decade that they desperately want them, and in some cases desperately need them.

WHAT’S THE LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE OF PLACING THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACES THAT HAVEN’T HAD IT BEFORE?

We really are going to have to take this on a corridor-by-corridor, block-by-block basis to figure out where today, right now, we could start engineering in some places, because we know we’ve got the curb-to-curb width to do stuff, that the sidewalk network may already be in reasonably good shape. There are other places where you’re going to have to deal with complex complications of things — like, there’s a rail crossing here, or we have to acquire a bunch of right-of-way to put a sidewalk into place. That’s also one of the reasons why, on one hand, we know we’re going to be able to deliver some things that you can see, touch, feel, experience in year one. But we also know that across 15 years, that’s one of the reasons why dedicated funding is actually so important — so you can do that long-term planning and know that while we’re delivering a sidewalk over here in the first couple of years, we’ve got to be doing right-of-way acquisition and corridor design and something else out here [that] may happen in year six or seven. But if we can’t depend on that [dedicated funding], we also can’t go as easily to our state and federal partners, and so the dedicated funding element lets us do these longer-term looks at corridors that may have some more complexity to them.

WHAT’S THE IMPORTANCE OF THESE CORRIDORS?

One of the things that we heard over and over again in reflections on the last time we’ve looked at something was, “Where is the regional connectivity?” One of the best parts about this is, we started this conversation with awareness that Nashville is at the heart of a growing region. And so while we’re not paying for everybody who lives out of county all the way — we are making sure that we have park-andride locations, that we’re increasing some express service, that even the WeGo Star with a recent study is going to get some attention with nights and weekend service improvements. Seeing the level of regional thinking in the implementation has been enough to earn the support of the Regional Transportation Authority, enough to earn the support of the Greater Nashville Regional Council. Again, just like we think we’ve gotten this right for Nashville and Nashvillians, we also think we’ve gotten this right in a way that our regional partners are going to appreciate and benefit from. This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

NOTICE TO BELLE MEADE RESIDENTS PUBLIC HEARING LEGAL NOTICE

A public hearing will be held during the regular Board of Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. at Belle Meade City Hall, 4705 Harding Road, Nashville, for consideration of the following proposed Ordinance, with caption as follows:

CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE 2024-14, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE BELLE MEADE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADOPT A NEW ZONING ORDINANCE AND MAP AND REPEAL THE EXISTING ZONING ORDINANCE AND MAP,” FOR ADOPTION ON SECOND AND FINAL READING.

Public comments will be accepted at this public hearing. Parties wishing to speak on these issues shall be present at the meeting or submit comments to the Office of the City Recorder, 4705 Harding Rd, Nashville TN or via email to Rterry@citybellemeade.org on or before the public hearing date and time. Copies of the Ordinance are available for inspection at City Hall during normal business hours, Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or online at www.citybellemeade.org

Jennifer Moody, City Manager City of Belle Meade

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Nashville Community Fridge seeks new home

After five years, the fridge is no longer operating outside of Elephant Gallery

KELSEY BEYELER

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Email neighbornews@theNEWStn.com and let us know what neighborhood you are interested in and include a few writing samples.

After five years and more than 8,000 meals served, the Nashville Community Fridge is looking for a new location. The fridge — which is located outside Elephant Gallery at 1411 Buchanan St. but is currently on a hiatus until it can secure a new home — provides an easy and dignified way for people to give and get food. Those dropping off food must follow simple healthrelated guidelines when adding to the fridge, and anyone can take what they need, 24/7.

The fridge has been filled with fresh produce from farmers markets, beautifully prepared meals from local chefs and restaurants and everything in between.

Nashville Community Fridge representatives tell the Scene they’re grateful to Elephant Gallery owner Alex Lockwood for hosting it all these years, along with all the “dedicated volunteers and gracious donors who have kept the fridge running.”

They also expressed appreciation for community support and suggestions as they work to find a new host.

“We understand the importance of this resource in the community, and we are committed to resuming operations as soon

as possible,” says the Nashville Community Fridge team. “We will announce the new host and location once confirmed. Thank you for your continued support and patience during this transition.”

Those interested in hosting the fridge can DM the group on Instagram (@ nashvillecommunityfridge) or reach out to nashvillecommunityfridge@gmail.com.

The 2024 Vanderbilt Child Health Poll shows that food insecurity affects more than 40 percent of families across the state of Tennessee. Last year, using a food insecurity index from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, The Tennessean reported that 12.4 percent of Davidson County families struggle with food insecurity, and the issue is most concentrated in North Nashville. While the new location of the Nashville Community Fridge remains to be seen, organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank, The Nashville Food Project, The Branch of Nashville and many others are also doing important food justice work across the city.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

The Nashville Community Fridge in 2022 PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

Nashville Republican Women christen West End headquarters

For a certain set of Nashvillians, nothing speaks louder than West End real estate. The historic connector between Belle Meade and downtown has always commanded upmarket prices — and with them an air of importance. While the city’s recent booms have largely struck formerly low-rent districts like 12South and Germantown, you can’t move a road, and West End’s convenience still draws gridlocked inbound and outbound traffic, making its storefronts equal parts billboard.

Earlier this summer, the Nashville Republican Women moved quickly to secure an election season headquarters at West End’s former Civic Bank & Trust branch. The nearby intersection funnels traffic from Sylvan Park, Green Hills and two I-440 exits, drawing eyeballs from the western half of Davidson County. In the first few days of August, the lawn spawned yard signs and banners for all Republican candidates who safely survived their primaries. The group appears resourceful, organized and committed, and the space itself is a testament to the group’s logistical command.

“After six or seven drafts of the lease, it happened,” said NRW president Mary Obersteadt during her introductory remarks at the group’s Aug. 14 meeting. “It took a long time, but I can tell you, this place came as is — in other words, no air conditioning. But the location, the visibility, the square footage far outweighs the cons. I’ve been asked, ‘How can we afford it?’ Well, we really can’t. But I have a lot of faith that we can sell lots and lots of T-shirts, hats, flags, jewelry, headscarves, koozies, Trump flags, socks and bumper stickers. We’re gonna make it. It’s a prime place for every Republican candidate in Nashville and Davidson County to put their signs and literature. This is for the candidates.”

Polite applause rippled through the audience. The sea of gold jewelry and patterned floral dresses, most of them red, suggested a camaraderie among the group closer to a social club than a political faction. Individual packed lunches had been ordered beforehand and, midway through the speaking lineup, moved through each row of folding chairs. About 20 rows faced a makeshift stage at one end of the bank lobby, part of which had been converted into a booth for Trump-branded merchandise and apparel.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett headlined the event. Just before lunchtime, he delivered a conversational lecture on why Tennessee’s voting security has been emulated and praised throughout the nation. Voting access was one of the few political issues broached by the group. The others — immigration and transgender athletes in sports — formed a trifecta of fear, stoked anew with regular anecdotal comments

about violent acts committed around the country by immigrants. Reproductive rights, a central organizing plank for the Davidson County Democratic Women since Dobbs v. Jackson overturned abortion protections, did not come up.

Hargett, the state’s top elections official, walked a narrow line during his speech. He repeatedly affirmed members’ fears about election security, particularly conspiracies about voter fraud and ballot harvesting, spread by Donald Trump after his 2020 presidential election loss. Republicans, including Hargett, have seized on methods of expanded voting access — like ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting — as sources of voter fraud, attempting to pass isolated incidents or circumstantial conjecture as evidence.

Early in his speech, Hargett explained a recent barrage of mail sent to certain residents questioning their voter eligibility.

“Recently we discovered that there are many people who may potentially be noncitizens on our voter rolls,” Hargett said. “Maybe. We don’t know. So we decided we’re going to mail a letter to these 14,375 people. So now we have put anybody who

is a noncitizen on our voter rolls on notice that noncitizen voting is a felony in the state of Tennessee, and if you vote illegally, we’re going to work with law enforcement officials to make sure you’re prosecuted.”

Hargett also reminded the room that the state offers $1,000 for reporting voter fraud that leads to a conviction. Hargett introduced the bounty system in 2020. In the past 10 years, Tennessee has won three cases of ineligible voting, two of which related to voting by individuals with prior felony convictions. Unprovoked, Hargett assured the room that Tennessee’s airgapped voting system means there is “no way somebody can get into that machine through some server in Venezuela, Iran or North Korea.”

Hargett then helped the room conceptualize a hypothetical voter-fraud scheme perpetrated by Democrats.

“I want you to imagine this,” he said. “If we allow ballot harvesting in the state of Tennessee, a bunch of Gloria Johnson supporters are going out, and they’re knocking on doors and asking for ballots, and they’re looking down at the voter list and they see who the R’s are. They know

who the likely Marsha Blackburn voters are, and they’re going around gathering ballots. Do you think they’re gonna turn those in? No, they wouldn’t turn those in. That’s why we don’t allow ballot harvesting and ballot trafficking in the state of Tennessee.”

With every hypothetical voting breach, Hargett emphasized Tennessee’s uniquely secure elections, assuring the room that the state has earned national acclaim for its election integrity. Hargett proudly cited Tennessee’s No. 1 ranking in election integrity from the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that developed Project 2025. Voting rights groups argue that the same choices earning Hargett top marks from Heritage — requiring extensive residency proof, purging voter lists and limiting absentee voting — have suppressed voter registration and participation, turning Tennessee into a voting desert and putting the state in last place for voter turnout. This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

ELI MOTYCKA

Nashville Republican Women headquarters

PHOTO: ERIC ENGLAND

OPINION

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

TENNESSEE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS LEAVE SMALL BUSINESSES VULNERABLE TO PREDATORY LENDING PRACTICES

Under Tennessee laws, lending institutions are required to notify mortgage loan borrowers a notice of default and provide a cure period prior to enacting contractual default provisions. Borrowers are allowed to remedy the default during the cure period to prevent actions from the bank to raise interest or foreclose on the property. These laws were placed into effect during the housing crisis when banks would lend borrowers money, under conditions that were nearly impossible for them to maintain and later hike up interest rates with eventual foreclosure of the home.

However, no such protections exits for small business owners who often have much more substantial loan amounts than a typical home mortgage. Consequently, borrowers must be cautiously aware of predatory practices of lending institutions and guard themselves against such. One small business owner, Dr. Mark Williams, is now urging legislators to provide similar protections for all Tennessee borrowers, not just homeowners.

Dr. Williams is an otolaryngologist who operates a solo practice in South Nasvhille. It is an uncommon occurrence in certain medical specialties because of the difficulty in negotiating for competitive reimbursement rates from insurance companies. Often, small businesses like his don’t have the resources to engage attorneys to review loan agreements and consequently become targets for predatory lending practices.

Dr. Williams operated his practice out of three locations - two in South Nashville and the other in Goodlettsville. In 2019, he acquired the Goodlettsville property using a loan obtained from ServisFirst Bank. At he time, ServisFirst was just establishing a presence in Nashville and was eager to issue the loan. Unbeknownst to Dr. Williams, the loan agreement contain a cross-collateralization clause. This required that the Goodlettsville property not only secure the loan for that property buy any and every other loan Dr. Williams had with ServisFirst, whether existing at the time or subsequently obtained.

During the COVID Pandemic, Dr. Williams closed the Goodlettsville office to consolidate his expenses. This included refinancing some other loans that were coming to terms. He had established what seemed to be a beneficial relationship with Service First so he refinanced his main office building with them. Hidden within the contract was again the cross-collateralization clause, but also certain affirmative covenants that requires Dr. Williams to transfer his practice’s depository accounts to ServisFirst.

Over the ensuing years, Williams would have conversations with the bank about transferring the ENT accounts but the single location of ServisFirst downtown and remote from Williams’ office made this practically unfeasible. In March 2024, with the rising interest rates and having held the Goodlettsville office unoccupied for 4 years, Williams decided to sell the building. That’s when he became keenly aware of the crosscollateralization clause’s detriment.

While Dr. Williams had plans to use the proceeds to pay off other high interest rate loans, ServisFirst had other plans. They required that he used the proceeds to pay off his low interest rate loan on his secondary Nashville office, despite there being at least 50% equity in that property, more than enough to secure the existing loan.

It soon became clear to Williams that the bank’s motive was not to secure its interests in the loan but rather to acquire funds to lend at current market rates, which were more than twice the fixed rate Williams had on both of his Nashville properties. Without much recourse, Williams agrees to pay the loan offers secondary property with the proceeds from the Goodlettsville sale. This left Williams with a property unencumbered directly by debt.

Williams, still desperate to consolidate other high interest loans, presumed he could now refinance the secondary property to do so. Although the ServisFirst loan on this property was paid in-full, Williams learned that ServisFirst would not release the lien audit primary UCC position, as long as Williams still had a $1.3 million loan on his primary position. Again, the bank’s motives to reallocate the loan monies to higher interest rate loans when they offered to release the secondary property only if Williams refinanced the primary $1.3 million loan at current market rates and while resetting the prepayment penalty timeline to 5 years, after 3 years had already elapsed. ServisFirst was under no obligation to rewrite the primary loan, nor was their requirement to rewrite the loan a concern of security interest. They now had property valued at $3.5 million securing a loan of $1.3 million. They had more than adequate equity position to release the lien on the secondary property, but desperately wanted to reissue loans at the current market rate to produce higher earnings for the bank. After further review of the original loan agreement on the second property, Williams discovered that the agreement would mature in November, 2024. There was no provision that permitted the crosscollateralization clause to survive the loan agreement. Williams argued that under this circumstance the bank, as a matter of goodwill should immediately release the lien. In the worse case scenario, Williams

presumed he would have to wait until November. This is when the predatory practices became more apparent to Williams. After the banker consulted with the bank’s attorneys concerning the expiration of the cross-collateralization agreement, the attorneys found a more definitive way to hike the interest rate. They claimed Williams has defaulted on his loan and consequently it was within their rights to raise the rate. They immediately raised the rates. The basis for their claim of default was Williams’ failure to provide business Financials for 2023, which had not yet been requested by the bank, and an obscure affirmative covenant within the loan agreement that required Williams to transfer his practice’s deposit accounts to ServisFirst. Williams feels these practices intended to force a default which would allow the bank to achieve its goal of increasing the loans interest rate. During the five years that Williams banked with ServisFirst, they would annually request the Financials for his practice and his real estate holding company when they were required. Williams would readily provide them. This year, they never requested them. In retrospect, the loan agreement doesn’t require the bank to request the documents, but they had established a precedent for the manner in which they were delivered. Williams merely followed this protocol until the bank found a way to achieve its goal of forcing a default.

Second, Williams has maintained a depository account for his practice with ServisFirst. Although he maintained a balance in the account, he did not regularly make substantial deposits. He understood this to be sufficient and was never notified otherwise. He certainly was not informed that the bank would consider failure to do more deposits would constitute a default of his loan. Moreover, the bank closed the depository account last year, without Williams foreknowledge or consent.

With the numerous conversations Williams had with the bank in March, as he sold the Goodlettsville office, the bank neither requested financials nor did they require a transfer of Williams’ practice deposit account. It wasn’t until the bank’s other attempts to raise the interest rate on his remaining loan failed that the bank claimed a default of the loan. Eager to execute their new strategy for price gouging Williams, the bank refused any offer of Williams to remedy their alleged default and threatened to throw other loans into default if he didn’t immediately sign the unfair new loan agreement.

Williams, like other small businesses, finds himself at the mercy of a bank who is now threatening to more than double the interest on his business loan simply because they can and because Tennessee law: 1) does not

require a bank to forewarn business lenders of pending default, 2) does not force banks to offer a cure period before enacting loan default remedies and, 3) does not protect bank’s from excessively encumbering real property to overly secure loans written to borrowers like Williams with high credit-worthiness. Williams hopes that by bringing light to this issue he might help other small business owners protect their assets from similar predatory lending practices. He also encourages lawmakers to take affirmative steps to help protect the small businesses that are vital to Tennessee’s and America’s economy.

Mark A. Williams, M.D., Ph. Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists of Nashville, PLC

LOGAN BUTTS ASSOCIATE EDITOR

HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS NEWS REPORTER AND PHOTOJOURNALIST

NICOLLE S. PRAINO STAFF REPORTER

LISA BOLD PRODUCTION MANAGER

CHELON HASTY

SALES OPERATIONS MANAGER

ELIZABETH JONES CORPORATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

TODD PATTON CFO

MIKE SMITH PRESIDENT AND CEO

BILL FREEMAN OWNER

OPINION

TICKED

WEST MEADE TRAGEDY

It is, for sure, sad when anyone gets killed in any type of accident. However, there are rules of the road and everyone must follow. The rules apply to bicyclists as well as automobile drivers. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that the two wheelers don’t always obey them. The four cyclists ran the stop sign but one didn’t make it through. Don’t put it back on the car driver that she could have stopped even though she had the right of way. If you haven’t figured out the law of physics yet, a bike can stop quicker than a car. Don’t bemoan the lack of sidewalks, speed bumps, traffic lights, etc is the cure all, and encouraging Metro government will just piss them off and get nothing done. Also, pressuring the police

to enforce ALL traffic rules will fall on deaf ears as the shortage of officers priorities go to the nightly shootings, car jackings, stabbings, etc. Remember back when the infrastructure bill was before the goons of Washington and could have funded roads, bridges, stop signs, but was voted down? Your representatives and senators are the ones that turned it down, but were first in line to take credit for it when it did pass. Just sayin’. There is an election coming up soon, get out there and vote the bums out, but don’t forget to stop at stop signs on your way to the voting booth. Safe travels.

The comments in the Ticked Off column do not reflect the views of FW Publishing.

Entrepreneur Center names finalists for NEXT Awards

The Nashville Entrepreneur Center has announced the finalists for the 2024 NEXT Awards, which will be held Oct. 21 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

The NEXT Awards recognizes entrepreneurs who are transforming industries and strengthening the Middle Tennessee community and beyond.

“We’re excited to bring the entrepreneurial community together for a night of recognition and celebration,” Sam Davidson, Nashville Entrepreneur Center CEO, said in a release. “This event honors the past and current innovators, risk-takers, and visionaries who shape our city and industry’s future.”

Businesses from several industry categories will be represented, including health care, financial services, music, sports, gaming and entertainment, products and services, real estate and construction, and hospitality and retail.

Finalists in this year’s industry awards are as follows:

HEALTH CARE

• Startup: Life Coordinated, Local Infusion, VantageHealth

• Growth: Blessed Beginnings, Psych Hub, Thalamus

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Startup: Hilum Capital, inRev, Raise Financial

• Growth: Celero Commerce, Wealth Access, Wilmoth Financial

Music, Sports, Gaming and Entertainment

• Startup: Absolutely Ridiculous, Affinity

ENTERTAINMENT, TENNESSEE

VOICE OVER STUDIOS

• Growth: Orange Thread Live, Single, Soundstripe

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

• Startup: Flora, HeroWear, Tiny Mighty Communications

• Growth: Covert Results, Pivot Technology School, Redwood Literacy

Real Estate and Construction

• Startup: Ojas Partners, Populace

COMMUNITY STRATEGY, URBAN CAMPUS AND CORE

• Growth: Eshelman Construction, Grade A Construction, Sagemont Real Estate

HOSPITALITY AND RETAIL

• Startup: Creative Soulz Printing, Killjoy, The Modern Dog Company

• Growth: D’Andrews Bakery & Café, The Cordelle, The Nashville Black Market

Two innovative founders across all industries also will receive NEXT Awards: the Startup Entrepreneur of 2024 Award (given to entities fewer than five years in business) and Growth Entrepreneur of 2024 Award (more than five years in business).

STARTUP ENTREPRENEUR OF 2024

• Woody Baum, Local Infusion

• Jennifer Horne, Urban Campus and Core

• Paul Oakley, Tiny Mighty Communications

GROWTH ENTREPRENEUR OF 2024

• Kate Feriante, Redwood Literacy

• Angela Lee, Blessed Beginnings

• Rachelle Reigard, Grade A Construction

BID NOTICE

Sealed bids for Backdoor Pickup for Garbage and Recycling Service for the City of Oak Hill will be received by the City of Oak Hill at the City Office, Nashville, TN 37220 until 2:00 p.m., Thursday, September 5th, 2024 and then at said time and location, publicly opened.

The BID SPECIFICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS may be obtained at the City Office, at the below address. Copies are also available.

CITY OF OAK HILL

Oak Hill Office 5548 Franklin Rd, Suite 101 Nashville TN 37220

The City of Oak Hill reserves the right to reject all bids and to waive all technicalities in bidding.

City of Oak Hill

J. Steven Collie City Manager

Five free and cheap family things to do in Middle Tennessee

AMANDA HAGGARD

This weekend, the best little festival for families will be at Centennial Park. It’s worth hopping in for at least an hour or two — it’s truly a good spot for a first show for even your smallest kids. There are a couple more outdoor choices this week: Head to Lascassas for the Watermelon Festival, or go north for an outdoor concert in White House. The Nashville Public Library also has a few great offerings this week: Two on our list are the Mommy & Me Barbie Workshop, where you can work on your braiding skills, and

‘As

the other is a ballet storytime that is great for your youngest kids.

As part of our series on free cheap things to do with the family, here is our weekly roundup of places to spend time together over the next week:

KIDSVILLE AT CENTENNIAL PARK

At the three-day, family-friendly Musicians Corner, caregivers and parents can bring kids of all ages to enjoy fun, fitness, crafts, and educational musical meet &

greet guests and activities at Kidsville. The concert series begins Thursday evening and is celebrating 15 years in Centennial Park this year. In addition to the kid’s area and music, there will be several vendors and food trucks on site.

MOMMY & ME BARBIE WORKSHOP

At the Richland Park branch of the Nashville Public Library, they’re hosting a Mommy & Me Barbie workshop at 2 p.m.

on Aug. 31. Kids and their grownup can bring their own Barbies to learn how to braid unique hairstyles and bond in a free and safe environment. The hourlong event is best for ages 3-7, and while there’s no registration, attendees must have their own Barbie to join in.

MUSIC UNDER THE STARS

At White House Municipal Park, the Music Under the Stars Summer Concert Series is slated for this weekend. Concerts begin at 6 p.m. on Aug. 31 with band The Pak to round out the final iteration of the series. Food trucks will be on-site, but folks are welcome to bring their own lawn chairs, blankets and snacks as well.

WATERMELON FESTIVAL

The Lascassas Farmers Market’s Watermelon Festival will celebrate all things watermelon on Aug. 31 beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at noon. They’ll have live music, watermelon slushies, sand crafts, and fresh watermelon as well as all the normal goodies that come along with the market.

NASHVILLE BALLET PRESENTS ‘SLEEPING BEAUTY’ STORY TIME

Take your little ones the morning of Aug. 29 to join in with a Nashville Ballet teaching artist as they tell the tale of an evil fairy’s curse on a beautiful young princess doomed to sleep until love’s kiss breaks the spell. The Bordeaux branch of the Nashville Public Library will host kids as they are invited to dance through the tale of Sleeping Beauty and “learn how the ballet has become a timeless, cherished tale through its beautiful music and movement.”

You Like It’ a fitting send-off for Nashville Shakes’ Denice Hicks

The Summer Shakespeare production premieres Aug. 29 at OneC1ty

With its iconic characters, whimsical humor and musical elements, As You Like It may be the perfect selection for Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s annual Summer Shakespeare production. And as it turns out, the Bard’s beloved pastoral comedy also offers an especially fitting send-off for executive artistic director Denice Hicks, who will be stepping down from her position on Sept. 30.

You see, Hicks was there for the festival’s very first performance back in 1988, when an intrepid group of actors known as TheatRevolution presented As You Like It as the city’s first free Shakespeare in the Park. Legend has it the performers had to

pull their trucks up to the stage to light the second act, and that an enthusiastic audience — including Hicks — sat out in the rain, eager to check out the show.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is just the coolest thing — we’ve got guerrilla theater happening in Centennial Park,’” says Hicks, who started working with the company as an actor in 1990 and would eventually take on the role of artistic director — first as a volunteer and then with a full-time position in 2005. “I just loved the spirit behind it all.”

Over the years, Hicks has embodied that can-do spirit. Under her leadership, the festival has thrived — it is consistently acknowledged for its artistic excellence,

creates a host of professional job opportunities, and supports a wide range of educational programs.

“I’m so grateful for the time I’ve spent with the festival,” Hicks says. “It’s really been an honor. And while I’m stepping away, I have every confidence in the current leadership team — including executive managing director Isabel Tipton-Krispin and our new artistic director Jason Spelbring — to keep things growing and moving in the right direction. I’m excited for the future, and look forward to auditioning and continuing my work here in Nashville. I still love this community so very much. I’ve invested 45 years of my life into creating

a thriving professional theater community here, and that commitment is not at all diminished.”

That unwavering commitment is not lost on Cammy Harris, who’s directing this summer’s production of As You Like It

“With this being Denice’s final summer show as artistic director, I think it would have been very natural for her to sort of seize the moment and make it more about herself and her vision,” says Harris, a busy director and dramaturge and the executive director/ founder of the Nashville Theater Link. “It’s just so telling of her generosity and her love for this artistic community that she decided to give me the opportunity.

Kidsville at Musicians Corner PHOTO: MUSICIANS CORNER

That’s Denice — always giving back and setting other people up for success. I’m incredibly grateful.”

Harris says she and Hicks worked closely together in selecting As You Like It, noting the play’s joyful and celebratory tone.

“We talked a lot about the nature of Summer Shakespeare — families and friends gather, there are kids running around and dogs barking and food trucks,” she says. “It always feels like something of a community celebration, so I was excited to find a show that matched that tone.”

Harris says this summer’s production draws inspiration, both aesthetically and musically, from the late 1950s and early ’60s.

“The show opens in Duke Frederick’s court and then moves to the Forest of Arden,” she says. “And there’s a striking contrast between those two worlds. The

court is super controlling and autocratic, while the forest is more open and freeing, offering our characters the opportunity to really think about who they want to be, rather than who society expects them to be. So as we approached the show, I was looking for a period in time that would reflect those big contrasts between the dominant culture with its strict social norms, and then a counterculture that was embracing personal freedom and pastoral imagery. That led us to the late 1950s and early 1960s. And while our production is not set specifically in that time period, we’re drawing a certain visual vocabulary from the era.”

Harris is quick to credit her design team — including set designer Jessie Baldinger, costume designer Bethany Dinkel and lighting designer Phillip Franck — with establishing the production’s dynamic

imagery. She also enlisted the help of local composer and musician Andre Madatian to create a worthy soundscape.

“The music in this play isn’t incidental,” she says. “It fuels ideas, debates and a sense of play. “We’re so fortunate to have Andre providing original music that really serves our story and moves it forward.”

In addition to Hicks, the cast features a great blend of new and familiar faces, including Dani Grace Nissen and Gerold Oliver, along with Kate Drury, Andrew Johnson, Galen Fott, Ethan Jones, Lorenzo Rivera, Aleia Eagleton and more.

Hicks says she’s delighted to be back onstage as Duke Senior, the virtuous leader who finds “good in everything.”

“We’ve actually made Duke Senior a mother to Rosalind rather than father,” she says. “But it’s really nice to be playing such

a good guy, someone who models such principled leadership.

“As You Like It looks at a community that is divided, facing real difficulty,” she adds. “And yet everyone is able to come together to — as my character says — make good use of adversity. Together they find joy and make music and embrace those who have it worse. And that lifts everybody up. To me, that’s what this play is all about.

“So to present As You Like It at this particular time in history, to remind folks that we have the power to make the world a better place — what could be more meaningful? I can’t wait to share this beautiful production with our community.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Scene.

Methodist church fulfills vision of affordable housing North Nashville’s Clark UMC created corporation to build six homes

HANNAH HERNER

The Clark Memorial United Methodist Church in North Nashville has seen a lot in its 160 years, including the gentrifying of the neighborhood where it is located.

On Saturday, the church hosted a ribbon-cutting for six affordable homes offered for families to live across the street from the church.

“What we did notice, having been here for such a long time, is the gentrification,” said Janice Woodard, chair of the board of the Clark UMC Community Development Corp. “A lot of the families, the patriarchs passed on, and then the homes were sold. Then what you see are the tall-and-skinnies. People were priced out of this area.”

The charge to offer affordable housing came from the Rev. Dr. Herbert Lester, who led the church from 2015 until 2021 and died earlier this year. Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who met with Lester regularly during his time as councilmember for the area, spoke at the ribbon-cutting on Saturday.

To make Lester’s vision a reality, the church had to make some strategic business decisions. In 2018, it created a community development corporation with a separate governing board. The church signed the vacant lot on Phillips Street over to the CDC, and gave $50,000 seed money to begin the project. Any debt was incurred by the CDC, rather than the church.

“That was the purpose of forming the Community Development Corporation, because they knew this was a business move, even though it’s church-driven,” said Woodard. “It has some of the same principles as the church, but it’s a business separate from the church.”

In addition, the church got a grant from the Barnes Housing Trust Fund (named for Methodist minister the Rev. Bill Barnes) and loans from Citizens Bank and the United Methodist Foundation. Some contractors,

including project manager Don Harding Group and builder Pitch Pollard, donated a portion of their time or resources.

Clark UMC is not the only church that has offered housing to serve the community onsite. Born Again Church on Trinity Lane is working to open more than 200 units for seniors on its campus, with help from Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund through a ground lease to developers. Glencliff United Methodist Church offers homes for medical respite, and Green Street Church of Christ offers temporary tiny homes and camping spaces for people experiencing homelessness.

Part of the church’s goal is to serve families, with its five three-bedroom, twobath units and one two-bedroom, two-bath unit. The renting will be managed by CryeLeike and rented to families who make 80 percent or less of the area median income as described by the Deptartment of Housing and Urban Development, which amounts to $85,500 for a family of four.

The church’s neighborhood is a desirable area, Woodard points out, with connection to a bus line, access to health care at Matthew Walker Comprehensive Care Center, and a park and grocery store nearby.

It has been a five-year project full of trials, including replacing the water line on the property, but the community development corporation found resilience in its faith.

“Rev. Lester has passed on, but he was a board member with us until he was unable to serve with us,” Woodard said. “He gave us the charge and said, ‘I’m depending on you guys,’ so we just know he’s smiling down on us.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

New affordable units on Phillips St. PHOTO: HANNAH HERNER

Brian Findlen named Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority police chief

F ormer WCS HR manager brings decades of law enforcement

experience to the role

STAFF REPORTS

Brian Findlen, the former Williamson County Schools senior human resources manager of investigations, has been named as the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority’s (MNAA) new chief of police.

Findlen brings with him decades of law enforcement experience, with more than 21 years with the Modesto, Calif., Police Department where he worked in a variety of roles including patrol operations, support services and investigations.

“We are thrilled to welcome Brian to our team,” MNAA President and CEO Doug Kreulen said in a news release. “His extensive background in law enforcement and his leadership experience will be invaluable as we continue to ensure the safety and security of our airport community.”

Findlen began his new role with the airport’s Department of Public Safety on Aug. 12.

Local trucking company reportedly ceases operations

UCS lays off 130 employees as parent company shutters business seemingly with no prior notice

WILLIAM WILLIAMS

Nashville-based trucking company

Universal Capacity Solutions has ceased operations, a move that resulted in about 130 employees losing their jobs, online trade publication FreightWaves reports.

The move comes after Warren, Mich.based UCS parent company Universal Logistics Holdings Inc. (ULH) shuttered UCS (the office for which is located at 565 Marriott Drive) without advance notice, FreightWaves reports, citing sources familiar with the layoffs.

ULH operates multiple subsidiaries providing logistics and transportation services throughout North America. In December 2009, ULH acquired Nashvillebased Cavalry Logistics and renamed the third-party logistics provider UCS in January 2020, according to FreightWaves.

Belmont adds to board of trust

STAFF REPORTS

The Belmont University Board of Trust has added six members for the 2024-25 academic year.

According to a release, the six are: Principal of BLVD Capital and Belmont alumnus Jim Darter; Staff, Executive Services at LBMC and Belmont alumna Mackenzie Gimbel (who is serving as an alumni regent on the board); Founding CEO of SwitchPoint Ventures Ray Guzman; Richard J. and Barbara Naclerio Endowed Chair in Business, Professor of Marketing and Belmont alumnus Jeremy Kees; community member Anna Thornton; and President and CEO for Warner Chappell Nashville and

Belmont alumnus Ben Vaughn.

“We are thrilled to welcome these distinguished individuals to Belmont’s Board of Trust,” Board Chair Milton Johnson said in the release.

“Their diverse backgrounds in business, technology, academia, philanthropy and the music industry bring valuable perspectives that will guide Belmont’s continued growth and success. Each new member embodies Belmont’s values and deep commitments, and we look forward to their contributions in shaping our institution’s bright future.”

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

Lipscomb sets freshman enrollment record

STAFF REPORTS

ULH had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development as of Monday. WARN requires employers with more than 100 employees to notify workers, per federal regulations. In addition, employers must provide employees with a 60-day notice of a massive layoff.

Middle Tennessee has seen other trucking and logistics company layoffs since 2020. In 2021, for example, the Lebanon office of 96-year-old Texas-based Central Freight Lines Inc. laid off 66 employees as operations ceased company-wide. And in July 2023, Yellow Corp. ended business.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

Lipscomb University has enrolled 730 first-time freshman students, the largest such class in the university’s history.

According to a release, for the second consecutive year, Lipscomb surpassed its previous first-time freshman record.

Lipscomb reported 875 total new students, yielding a projected total enrollment of more than 4,800. Final enrollment numbers will be available in mid-September following the university’s official census.

“Our Christ-centered mission, paired with our top-tier academic programs, resonates deeply with students across the country,” Lipscomb President Candice McQueen said in the release.

“They know that Lipscomb is a place

where students flourish and are part of a community that supports their growth in every aspect of life through the transformative experiences they will have here. I am looking forward to a great year.”

Relatedly, Lipscomb has launched a Master of Science degree in Applied AI; a Master of Science degree in sport analytics; an Entertainment, Design and Creative Enterprise Stackable Graduate Certificates program; and an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing degree.

New students moved into residence halls on Aug. 12 and 13.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

Metro Nashville Airport Authority Department of Public Safety Chief of Police Brian Findlen PHOTO: MNAA

Lipscomb University Bison Square PHOTO: LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY

Titans trade Willis to Packers, make roster cuts Team adds seventh-round pick in 2025 NFL Draft

JOHN GLENNON

The saga of the Titans and quarterback Malik Willis ended Monday when the team traded him to Green Bay for a 2025 seventhround draft pick, per multiple reports.

The move answers any question about whether the Titans planned to keep three quarterbacks on the roster this season, as Tennessee will now go with starter Will Levis backed up by Mason Rudolph.

Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons sent a social media message to Willis following the move: “Hate to see you go my brother! Packers got a good one man! On the field and off!!”

Former Titans general manager Jon Robinson drafted Willis in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, considered a project who might — in time — take over the team’s starting quarterback position.

But Willis’ ascendancy toward the starting role never really gained traction, as he struggled to transition from Liberty University to the NFL game.

In 11 appearances over two seasons, Willis posted a 1-2 record as a starter, completing 35-of-66 passes (53 percent) for 350 yards, zero touchdowns, three interceptions and a 49.4 quarterback rating.

Willis was sacked 14 times. The Georgia native ran 32 times for 144 yards and a score, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

When starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was injured in Week 6 last season, Levis, then a rookie, was chosen over Willis as his replacement. Levis threw four touchdowns in his first NFL start and has held the starting role ever since.

Titans coach Brian Callahan said earlier Monday the team had not finalized its plans behind Levis, but logic seemed to point to Willis being cut.

His strong preseason showing likely helped earn the Titans the seventh-round pick. In three games, Willis completed 20of-27 passes (74.1 percent) for 205 yards (7.6 yards per completion), two touchdowns and an interception. He threw a pair of touchdown passes late in the Titans’ comefrom-behind, 30-27 win over the New Orleans Saints, connecting on scoring tosses of 34 and five yards to Bryce Oliver.

Rudolph also had a very good preseason, completing 31-of-49 passes for 365 yards and one touchdown, good for a 92.6 quarterback rating.

The 31-year-old Rudolph had a decided

edge in NFL experience over Willis, as he’s participated in 21 games over four seasons, registering an 8-4-1 record in 13 starts.

“Malik really showed well for himself in that [third preseason] game,” Callahan said. “I thought he played well. He put some really nice throws on tape. You still see his athleticism with the ball in his hand. And then Mason just kind of continues to be the epitome of consistency. Every time he goes in there, the team moves, he completes the ball, and we find success. It’s been really good to see. Both of those guys have competed, and I think they both improved markedly from when we first started in OTAs.”

Green Bay’s starting quarterback is Jordan Love, but the two other quarterbacks currently on the roster have less experience than Willis: Sean Clifford was a fifth-round Packers draft pick in 2023, and Michael Pratt was selected by Green Bay in the seventh round of the 2024 draft.

The Titans also made their first nine cuts Monday, though more than two dozen more were set to come before Tuesday’s 3 p.m. CT deadline to cut the roster down to 53 players. The rest of the cuts did not happen in time for this week’s press deadline.

There were no significant surprises announced among the Titans’ initial releases, which included linebacker JoJo Domann (waived-injured); wide receiver Tre’Shaun Harrison (waived-injured); tackle Brian Dooley; defensive back Tay Gowan; linebacker Mikel Jones; linebacker Thomas Rush; wide receiver Sam Schnee; tight end Steven Stilianos; and punter Ty Zentner.

The Titans’ roster technically stands at 81 players, as wide receiver Colton Dowell takes up a spot while on the active physically unable to perform list. Assuming that Dowell, who suffered a torn ACL, is moved to the reserve/PUP by Tuesday, he would no longer take up a spot on the 53-man roster.

Here are some factors that could impact the shaping of the initial 53-man roster:

• All NFL teams are this year allowed to place up to two players on injured reserve to start the season. Those players will have to miss at least four games before they’re allowed to return. Callahan said Monday the team had not decided whether it would use either of its two injured reserve spots. The argument against using IR spots now is that a team is only allowed to bring back eight players from injured reserve over the course of the entire regular season.

One possibility for an IR spot is rookie linebacker Cedric Gray, the team’s fourthround pick in April, who didn’t play in any of the preseason games and remains sidelined with a nerve-related shoulder injury. Another might be wide receiver Kyle Philips (hamstring), though it seems less likely because the team is deep at this position.

• Inside linebacker Chance Campbell wasn’t necessarily a lock for a Titans roster spot, but he was certainly making a good case for himself before tearing his ACL against New Orleans on Sunday. If the Titans had been penciling Campbell on to the 53-man roster, do they need someone to replace him at that spot? We know Kenneth Murray and Jack Gibbens will start at the position, but which of the next three — James Williams, Otis Reese IV and Luke Gifford — will secure a spot?

• Undrafted free agent David MartinRobinson wasn’t expected to make the team out of camp, but it’s hard to imagine he won’t be included on the 53-man roster after a very impressive preseason that included nine receptions for 113 yards (12.6-yard average). Martin-Robinson’s likely inclusion means a depth player at another position will be cut. Who will it be?

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

Malik Willis PHOTO: DONALD PAGE

Carter Vintage Guitars sees growth in more than space

Instrument retailer opens studio alongside showroom and repair shop in Gulch’s antiques building

NICOLLE S. PRAINO

The old Antiques Building in The Gulch has seen new life since Carter Vintage Guitars moved its showroom from a building across the street on Eighth Avenue.

Outside the space, murals with bright colors on the walls feature guitars that have been sold at the shop. As soon as the door opens, patrons are greeted by the iconic image of Maybelle Carter strumming a

guitar that was once painted along the side of the old guitar shop.

“The thing about the old store is you would walk in and it had that pop; it had that wow factor,” said Ben Montague, CEO of Carter Vintage Guitars. “We really worked hard to try to recreate that here, all while simultaneously trying to make it feel that it was a home from home and that it felt familiar.”

FORMER HOME

Walter and Christie Carter, co-founders of Carter Guitars, own the building that previously housed the vintage guitar shop at 625 Eighth Ave. S. and have yet to say what they plan to do with the property.

Before customers walk into the showroom of the new space, a wall full of pictures greets shoppers who can see Walter, Christie, Ben and famous musicians who have all visited the former Carter space to buy an instrument.

Ben’s favorite memory of the previous space was selling a rare instrument to Kirk Hammett of Metallica.

“We had the whole room set up,” Ben said. “We had the exact amp he liked, at least sort of to his spec. And he came in and started playing this guitar closed door ... You could just hear that it was Kirk Hammett. One of the highlights was Walter, myself and Kirk got to take a photo, which is actually on the wall, of us together before he walks out with the guitar.”

Carter Guitars began to outgrow its previous retail space a few years ago about the time the shop merged with Ben’s company The North American Guitar.

“I remember when we got in that collection of like 250 guitars,” Ben said. “We couldn’t even put them out. So then that becomes a bit of a negative experience for the

customer as well as the consigner.”

Ben first came to Nashville in 2007 as a songwriter and wrote his first album here. He returned in 2019 when The North American Guitar acquired Cotten Music, which was owned by Kim Sherman at the time. Sherman became a managing partner and director of sales under the new brand. Ben and his family officially moved to Nashville (they at one time lived in London) in 2021 just before the merger with Carter.

“I think our job now as sort of custodians of these brands is to continue the legacy within Nashville,” Ben said. “To continue to serve customers in Nashville and outside of Nashville, and to be the finest guitar retailer of vintage instruments in the world. That’s our goal.”

Bringing Carter Vintage Guitars in alongside The North American Guitar and Cotten Music, Ben said it was smooth sailing simply because it felt like the right time with each merger.

“I think putting three brands under one roof can have challenges,” Ben said. “But because Carter’s was such a well-known and loved Nashville brand, it felt right for us to kind of lean into that as the leading brand and the other two to sort of support it.”

Walter and Christie suggested to Ben that the Antiques Building across the street would be the perfect fit for the vintage guitar shop. With the Carters blessing, Ben and his team got to work on turning the building into their new home.

CREATING SPACE

During the design process, Ben said they realized that in moving around some of how they structured office space behind the showroom allowed for a new opportunity to create an open studio space.

“This became an open canvas to be able to do events, content creation and all different style of events that runs from here,” Ben said.

Lianne Montague, Ben’s wife, runs the studio operations. The studio has teamed up with Nashville Basement Stage, a nonprofit that supports local independent musicians, by funding expenses such as studio sessions, album releases and music videos.

Lianne said a California-based band recently visited Nashville for their Opry debut. Relatedly, the moms of all of the artists flew in and the band did something special in the space for them.

“We just set up some seats and it became a concert in the middle of the day,” Lianne said. “We could put all of the blinds down so it was dark and they set up their cameras and it was a lovely vibe.”

The space is even scheduled to host writers sessions called “Carters in the Round” for Americana Fest this year.

Ben and Lianne Montague PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

Ben and Lianne Montague PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

In addition to music, the space has become a place of community, Lianne said. It hosts, for example, yoga sessions and sound baths for the people in the Paseo South Gulch area, such as the new Prima apartment building next door, which is also owned by SomeraRoad.

“It just feels like you’re part of a really lovely community and we’re trying to maintain that within all of the things growing around us,” Lianne said.

“I think it was a real leap of faith from SomeraRoad … us coming here, it was nerve wracking, I’m not going to lie,” Ben said. “To move something that is so loved, and the customers know it so well, it’s been there for a long time — is really scary. So, it felt like a partnership and to see how in that big building they are just building this community here. It’s really encouraging to see.”

But more than just a space for others, Ben said it’s a great space for the people within the company too.

“Everybody in this company, we’re musicians,” Ben said. “And they all can use it as and when they want. If they want to do a music video, they can use it. If they want to do a photo shoot, they can use it. It’s really about trying to give back. … To be able to allow guys to use the space for their own musical careers is pretty cool.”

MOVING IN

The staff was critical in making the move successful, Ben said.

“It took a year to design [the current space]. It took four months to build it and then we moved in four days,” Ben said.

Carter Vintage Guitars staff had about 2,000 guitars to move at that time and Ben made sure to note that without his staff it wouldn’t have been possible.

The new space was designed in a way that the back-end office operations flow around the edges of the showroom, including the repair shop. He calls that piece of the building the brains and the heartbeat of the operation.

“We are literally a chain,” Ben said. “If one chain is not getting the support it needs, then that chain can break. So everybody really works hard at supporting each other.”

With the new system in place, just four months after moving the company processed its greatest number of instruments to date with about 400 added and and about 325 sold during July.

Keeping things efficient and moving smoothly on the operations side was something the staff thought about in the design of the new space.

Ben said that pre-building out case racks in the back was probably the best decision the staff made so that when guitars were added, staff could store them immediately. All cases on the wall are in sequential order, which makes it easier when sales team comes in to look for a specific case.

“We’re working on technology as we grow and more inventory comes in,” Ben said. “We’re building our back end inventory management system. It’s a proprietary

inventory management system that will have a QR code.”

The code will allow the sales team to match displayed guitars with their cases more efficiently. Ben said the store’s inventory is about 85 percent consignment, which means in addition to customers buying guitars there’s a lot of people selling that Ben wants to make sure the company

gives a good experience.

“In terms of the speed at which we can process their guitar, the speed at which we can facilitate the sale for them, to making sure that they’re paid on time and all of these things,” Ben said.

Since acquiring the business in 2022, Ben said the company has almost doubled revenue, but his focus remains on the customer.

“I feel that if you have that customer obsession in terms of your buy side and sell side to your consigners and your buying customers. The rest kind of takes care of itself,” Ben said.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

Crafting one of the instruments at Carter Vintage Guitars PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

Rows of guitars at Carter Vintage PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS

Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Cheese

BY EDIBLE NASHVILLE

These eggplant shells are filled with onion, lamb sausage, feta and eggplant, then topped

INGREDIENTS

1 medium eggplant

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

6 ounces lamb sausage

2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Cut eggplant in half vertically. With a small knife cut a 1-inch border around the eggplant. Scoop out the pulp with a melon baller or small ice cream scoop. Chop and set aside. Rub eggplant shell with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes.

Fresh parsley, basil and mint, chopped

3 ounces fresh or part skim mozzarella cheese, slices

2 ounces Parmesan Cheese, grated

ACROSS

1 Ticketmaster alternative

8 Some exper ts on viruses

15 Longtime home decor chain with a name that anagrams to PIONEER

16 Clean again, as hair

17 Plant with edible sprouts

18 Piling up wins

19 Substitute

20 Small vessel in the deep ocean

21 Symbols of an in-progress text

22 Alfred for whom a coffee chain is named

23 Fabrics retailer

26 Like Brendan Fraser’s character in “The Whale”

30 ___ Jackson a.k.a. Ice Cube

31 Where you might put in dough and take out bread?

34 3/14

35 Joystick-controlled contraption depicted in this puzzle

38 Results of some hard punches, for short

39 Speedway racer

40 ___ school

41 Radio station that produces “Radiolab”

42 Ever so slightly

44 Shed on a frozen lake

DOWN

1 Pur veyors of wellness packages

2 Pinball infraction

3 Soccer org. that runs the Champions League

4 Never-before-seen

5 “Wait!” … or hopeful words while playing a 35-Across?

6 Not suited (for)

7 “Cool ___!”

8 Walk heavily

9 Star t of a counting rhyme

10 Professional who might expect to do well with a 35-Across?

31 Kind of inverter in an electric vehicle

32 “Your” of yore

33 Flaky rock

36 “Always happy to help!”

37 Like an Afro hairstyle

41 Possessive that’s often confused with a contraction

43 Simpleton

44 “Does it look like ___?”

45 Tops that often have spaghetti straps, for short

46 Blow one’s stack

48 Loud bursts of laughter

49 Fashion designer Cohn with an eponymous rhinestone-encrusted suit

50 Blood vessel inser t

52 Showcase

53 “That so?”

55 Bit of shut-eye

ANSWER TO PUZZLE

2. Combine onion, garlic, bell pepper and lamb sausage in a skillet and cook 10 minutes or unti lamb is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Add feta chese and herbs. Pile mixture into eggplants shells, top with mozarella and Parmesan and return to oven for 15-20 minutes.

Follow Edible Nashville on instagram @ediblenashtn and their website ediblenashville.com.

To subscribe to the magazine that comes out 6x/year, go to ediblenashville.com.

47 Complete reversals

51 Neck ar tery

53 Smooth over

54 Setting for a 35-Across

56 Ready to eat

57 Medium for many newsletters

58 N.F.L. reporter Andrews

59 Suffix with winning or losing

60 Biz ___ (corporate team, informally)

61 Collector’s goal

11 Achieve great success

12 Spanish form of Agnes

13 Genesis brother

14 N.B.A. star Nikola Jokic, for one

23 Athletic type

24 Capital of Norway

25 Moments of sudden understanding

27 Cheese from Nor th Holland

28 “___ Love,” 2012 song that became a marriage equality anthem

29 Sized up

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 9,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/ crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/ studentcrosswords.

with mozzarella and Parmesan.

PUZZLE BY SHAUN PHILLIPS

SERVICE & MAINTENANCE

WOODMONT BAPTIST CHURCH

All In for Hygiene Patrons Party

BY CARRINGTON FOX

PHOTOS BY ERIC ENGLAND

The setting of Community Resource Center’s inaugural All in For Hygiene patrons party was spectacular. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the Asurion building showcased the gleaming, growing city as a backdrop for cocktails from Before & Beyond, appetizers by Asurion’s on-site Flik Catering and feather-clad Vegas-style dancers.

But in this flashy preview of the upcoming Aug. 23 All in for Hygiene Casino Night at Rocketown, one small, arguably mundane, detail stood out. In the women’s bathroom near the Asurion cafeteria, the sink countertop held a colorful basket of everyday hygiene products—lotion, wipes, tampons, sanitary pads, toothbrushes and dental floss. In lieu of casino-themed décor, the simple, practical gesture reminded guests why they were there: to fight hygiene insecurity for 300,000 Middle Tennesseans who lack access to basic personal cleaning supplies.

In the Midstate, as many as two in five

people cannot afford hygiene products; onethird of mothers cannot afford diapers and wipes; and one in four students misses school due to insufficient access to period products.

Community Resource Center partners with agencies to bridge those gaps and provide people with everyday hygiene products that are not covered by government assistance. For example, working with Metro Nashville Public Schools Homeless Education Resource Office, CRC provides HERO hygiene kits for 6,000 unhoused students who lack toothpaste, deodorant, soap and shampoo.

At the patrons party, CRC’s chief executive officer Tina Doniger introduced Donna Pack of partner nonprofit Connecting Kindness to share her story of providing hygiene products to the refugee and immigrant community. Pack reduced the complex work to simplest words: “to share the dignity of going to school clean.”

SOCIAL

Headline Homes: July 2024

On the list: An individual who has previously appeared in Headline Homes

AMANDA HAGGARD

In July’s list of the most wealthy homes to sell in the Middle Tennessee area, music industry moguls and business executives secured their pieces of paradise, from a nearly $7 million resort-like retreat in Franklin to a mid-century modern gem reimagined for 2024 in Hillwood. This month, we see a mix of custom homes and older estates breaking from the recent tradition of brand-new, custom abodes.

Below are July’s top 10 home sales in Nashville and the surrounding counties, ranked by sale price.

1. Lilly Valley Trail, Franklin 37064

Buyer: Vidalia Family Land Trust

Sale price: $7.9 million

Seller: Kent J. Giguere Jr. Trustee

Seller’s agent: Tim Thompson, Tim Thompson Premier REALTORS and Martin Warren, Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty

Buyer’s agent: Tom Sullivan, Covey Rise Properties LLC

This giant seven-bedroom estate sprawls across 45 acres in the coveted Leipers Fork area. With state-of-the-art amenities and breathtaking views, the property offers the ultimate in Tennessee living. The primary suite is an oasis with a spacious open concept, sitting area, and luxurious walkin closets. Guests enjoy unique, spacious en-suite bedrooms, while the exterior offers panoramic views, a beautiful pool, and a newly built pool house complete with a workout facility and sauna. Located near the charming Village of Leipers Fork and just a short drive from Historic Franklin, this home is “unrivaled in its beauty and caliber,

featuring state-of-the-art amenities and spectacular views.” The new owners can have the “best of all worlds luxury, privacy and sought after location.”

2. Lionheart Court, Franklin 37067

Buyer: 334 Lionheart Court Trust

Sale price: $6.9 million

Sellers: James & Lynn Harnen

Sellers’ and buyers’ agents: Michelle Maldonado and Erin Mervis-Hoppe, Compass RE President and CEO of Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment / Big Machine Label Group Jimmy Harnen and his wife, Lynn, sold their 12,000-squarefoot abode for almost $7 million. This estate offers a resort-like experience on nearly seven acres. The home features a heated pool, spa, swim-up bar, cabana, and fully equipped outdoor kitchen. This property is ideal for entertaining, with six bedrooms, a wine cellar, and a separate catering kitchen. The renovated primary bath includes an oversized shower, soaking tub, and fireplace. The listing says it’s “built for entertaining as well as everyday moments; this impeccable property must be experienced to be fully appreciated.”

3. Murfreesboro Road, College Grove 37046

Buyer: Triune Development LLC

Sale price: $6,705,000

Seller: Estate Of Bertha W. Cashion & Paula Roberts Cashion

Seller’s agent: George W. Weeks, Team George Weeks Real Estate, LLC

Buyer’s agent: Jody More,

Kings Chapel Realty, Inc.

This estate includes almost 150 acres, which includes 3,000 feet of county road footage and 2,800 feet along a state highway. While the home on the property is only 2,000 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, we’re sure Triune Development LLC will find something to do with all that acreage. The property also has several barns, a large pond and is surrounded by rolling hills.

4. Lanceleaf Drive, College Grove 37046

Buyers: Kaitlyn & Joseph Stuart

Sale price: $6.2 million

Seller: Lot 415 LLC

Seller’s and buyers’ agent: Willis Stelly, III, Discovery Tennessee Realty, LLC

Kaitlyn and Joseph Stuart purchased this custom home at the Troubadour Golf and Field Club. The 7,400-square-foot residence features five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms, with highlights including a theater room with a golf simulator and a recreation room. It sits on less than a half acre.

5. Howell Place, Nashville 37205

Buyer: Samonica Nashville Trust

Sale price: $5.5 million

Seller: Thomas A. Fouce, Fouce Family Trust

Seller’s agent: Emily Lowe, Pinnacle Point Properties & Development

Buyer’s agent: Katie Morrell, Compass RE

This home was sold from one trust to another: On just 1.5 acres, it includes four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms and 5,500 square feet of living space.

6. Jocelyn Hollow Road, Nashville 37205

Buyer: Bhanvadia 2023 Revocable Trust

Sale price: $5,260,922

Seller: K Squared Partners

Seller’s agent: Kristie Gogo, Compass RE

Buyer’s agent: Fran Wolfe, Compass RE

This luxurious 7,000-plus square-foot custom home features a backyard oasis with a pool, high-end finishes, and a layout that blends sophistication with comfort. The property includes a bonus room, office, cocktail room, and a custom-designed kitchen. “Every corner of the home is adorned with high-end finishes that reflect unparalleled attention to detail, creating an atmosphere of sophistication and comfort,” the listing says.

7. Hickory Valley Road, Nashville 37205

Buyers: Gregory & Annie Cicotte

Sale price: $5.25 million

Seller: 6210 Hickory Valley Road Trust

Seller’s agent: Richard B. French, French King Fine Properties

Buyers’ agent: Unknown Gregory Cicotte, former head of U.S. wealth management for Jackson National, purchased this mid-century modern home reimagined for 2024. Cicotte also played three seasons of minor league baseball, going 0-5 with a 5.75 ERA in 31 appearances with Butte, Burlington and Utica, and he and his wife have appeared on this list before. The single-level living space includes a resort-style backyard, a refinished pool, a secure safe room, and luxurious finishes, set on a prime 1.6-acre corner lot in Hillwood.

Jocelyn Hollow Road

PHOTO: ANGELIA CASTILLO

Howell Place

PHOTO: ANGELIA CASTILLO

8. Villa Green Drive, Nashville 37215

Buyers: John J. & Loranne Zeman Ehlenback, trustees of Etta M. O’ree Trust

Sale price: $5.1 million

Seller: Diverse Ventures LLC

Seller’s agent: Josh Henderson and Jesse Thomas Carr, Hodges and Fooshee Realty Inc.

Buyers’ agent: Gabriela Lira Sjogren, Compass RE

This custom-built luxury estate in the Seven Hills neighborhood offers an array of features, including a pool, pool house, au pair suite, elevator, wine storage, and motorized screen for the patio. The 7,800-square-foot home on one acre is designed for comfort and entertainment and is located just minutes from Green Hills’ amenities. It was custom-designed by Allard Ward Architects “for comfort and entertainment in serenity.”

9. Herbert Place, Nashville 37215

Buyers: Randall D. & Patricia J. Balhorn

Sale price: $4.6 million

Sellers: Alan W. & Brittany Horn

Sellers’ agent: Barbara Keith Payne, Pilkerton Realtors

wife Patti, an antique dealer. (They gave this interview about their home in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., in 2009, outlining some of her collection.) They purchased this Belle Meade home from Dr. Alan Horn and his wife, Brittany. The Belle Meade home is set on 1.65 acres and has been restored with luxury finishes and high-end systems.

10. Timberwood Drive, Nashville 37215

Buyer: 2100 Timberwood Drive Trust

Sale price: $4.5 million

Seller: Leslie M. Smith & Ford F. Ebner

Seller’s agent: Tom Andrews, WEICHERT, REALTORS

The Andrews Group

Buyer’s agent: William Alderson, Reliant Realty ERA Powered Nashville architect Robert Anderson designed this modern, one-of-a-kind four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom home and it offers a private six-acre hilltop retreat with panoramic views of downtown. The property features a 60-foot infinity pool, a detached greenhouse, a shop, and a light-filled studio. A trust named for the property purchased the home from Leslie M. Smith and Ford F. Ebner, who both appear to be scientists.

Hillsboro Village-area apartment buildings listed for sale

Two traditionally designed properties offered for $11.1M, sit near Belmont campus

WILLIAM WILLIAMS

Two old-school Hillsboro Village-area apartment buildings have been listed for sale for a collective $11.1 million.

Marketing material notes the offering includes a pre-World War II-constructed building (seemingly opened in the mid1930s) located at 1708 Acklen Ave. The building sits on a two-parcel 0.47-acre site (the other parcel is raw land at 1810 Magnolia Blvd.).

Marlinger Limited owns the property, having paid $450,000 for the three-story building, called The Tarrymore, in 1998, Metro records show. Listed for $5.3 million, the property offers a zoning that allows for multi-family dwellings at 40 units per acre, the marketing packet shows.

A building of similar design and vintage, located across the street at 1707 Acklen Ave., is owned by a different entity and is not included in the listing.

In addition, the $11.1 million offering includes a mid-century modernist structure located at 1626 16th Ave. S., called Belmont

Terrace Apartments. It apparently opened in 1945 and sits on 0.56 acres on the western fringe of the Belmont University campus.

According to Metro records, Grindola Limited Inc. owns that property, having paid $695,000 for it, also in 1998. The property is listed for $5.8 million. Current zoning allows for office and residential uses up to 20 dwelling units per acre.

The two buildings feature primarily brick exteriors with various traditional design elements.

Metro records show Gregory Ramos, an attorney with the local office of North Pursell and Ramos, appears to be affiliated with both Marlinger Limited and Grindola Limited.

The ownership entities have enlisted Jordan Arand, an investment sales advisor with the local office of Charlotte-based Capstone Companies, to handle marketing of the two properties.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.

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