NASHVILLE | Signature Tower | 1,030' Pinnacle / 810' Roof | 70 FLOORS | NEVER BUILT

[futuresooner]

Regions is looking for 100,000 sq ft of space, which would make it the anchor tenant by far.

[chrslyp]

^^^ is regions the company who called giarratana shortly after the office element was added to talk about becoming the anchor tenant, or are they the second firm to look at leasing a large number of sq. ft?

[futuresooner]

Originally Posted by chrslyp

^^^ is regions the company who called giarratana shortly after the office element was added to talk about becoming the anchor tenant, or are they the second firm to look at leasing a large number of sq. ft?

He can't comment on that, so we don't know. I wouldn't doubt many looking at it.

[futuresooner]

Tony G. is talking to Wachovia into extending loans for the development. The City of Nashville is looking into reassesing the value of the property which the tower could be built on, which is right now a Premiere Parking lot. I haven't lost total faith, but I don't see this happening really soon, due to the rough economic factors right now. If he does sign an office tenant though, things could happen, and really quickly at that.

Anyways, we still have yet to see what the tower will look like with office space now a part of the project. This of course requires floor plates to be redesigned, and likely made larger, causing the lower half to be larger. If he cAn pull this off, it will be a truly, mixed-use project.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by futuresooner

Tony G. is talking to Wachovia into extending loans for the development.

Wachovia is having serious trouble. I wouldn't bank on them.

[theWatusi]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Wachovia is having serious trouble. I wouldn't bank on them.

har har

[Dale]

Word is Wachovia is in talks with Tony G about borrowing money from him.

[mo1217]

Originally Posted by Dale

Word is Wachovia is in talks with Tony G about borrowing money from him.

Wow, you are hilarious;but probably true .It is unfortunate but Wachovia as we Knew her is over.Tony can go to Citigroup and see whats up with a little cash infusion. Eventhough they bought Wachovia's banking assets they are not in tooo much better financial condition.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by mo1217

Wow, you are hilarious;but probably true .It is unfortunate but Wachovia as we Knew her is over.Tony can go to Citigroup and see whats up with a little cash infusion. Eventhough they bought Wachovia's banking assets they are not in tooo much better financial condition.

Make that Wells Fargo now.

[the architect26]

I HATE NASHVILL for this. I want one in StLouis.

[chrslyp]

i got a question that i was curious of everyone's opinion.

many analyst believe that the economy will bottom out sometime in the beginning of the year and will start to rebound around early spring. i know that giarratana wants to get financing for this project as soon as possible, especially since going back and redesigning the whole tower. however, is it possible that he is telling those who have signed contracts to just hold on? that eventually, they will be able to secure financing?

the only reason i say this, is because, in chicago, as some of you know, there is a half built condo/hotel tower called Waterview Tower. the tower is currently around 29 stories tall, and is made up only of the concrete framing. there are quite a few people who put down deposits more than FOUR years ago, who for several reasons, have decided to keep their money in the projects, although construction has ceased altogether.

could those people who got in early in signature tower be planning to just wait this whole thing out? because, it could quite possibly still be a decent investment?

[photoLith]

So I take it this thing is dead since no one has commented on it forever. I would hope not since it would be an awesome icon for the city. Lord knows it would get filled up pretty quick considering Nashville is kinda like a little Hollywood.

[chrslyp]

according to the tennessean, signature tower as we know it is dead. however, giarratana still plans on a building like signature tower with just 90-100 condo units, that double the average size of units in the original ST design. Units will average 3,500 sq. ft.

[futuresooner]

That is more realistic. I like that it will add density instead of a giant finger to the sky. In almost any city, this would've been hard to build. For in-city condos, those are huge floor plans.

[Hankster]

Originally Posted by futuresooner

That is more realistic. I like that it will add density instead of a giant finger to the sky. In almost any city, this would've been hard to build. For in-city condos, those are huge floor plans.

Look for it to still be really tall finger in the sky. Giarratana stated the the new design will be "a little bit shorter" than the 70 story version. Therefore, my guess is that the new design must still have both the hotel and office components in addition to the huge 90 - 100 condos. My guess is that we're still talking about a 55 - 60 story skyscraper.

[cityguy]

Stop kicking a dead horse.

[Dale]

Yeah, but it's a much smaller horse now. Less horse to feed.

[Hankster]

I think it's too early to pronounce this project dead. Tony Giarratana, the developer, still plans to get this project built, and he's a very, very tenacious developer with a history of getting things done against all odds. The project is now going through a redesign, and will not be a supertall project. Still, the redesign is likely to be a tall design as indicated by Giarratana's quote that it will be "a little bit shorter". The article below was printed in the Nashville Tennessean newspaper just last week. This is not a dead project!!!

Signature Tower won't be 70 stories

By Randy McClain • THE TENNESSEAN • December 3, 2008

Developer Tony Giarratana made a splash nearly four years ago with plans for what morphed into a proposed 70-story condo and hotel project on Church Street at Fifth Avenue North.

The much-ballyhooed Signature Tower was supposed to be the tallest building in the nation outside New York and Chicago.

Now, with credit markets in disarray, Giarratana has decided to downsize the project as he continues to search for financing to build it. Instead of 70 floors and as many as 600 condo units, look for a smaller Signature Tower with no more than 90 to 100 condos.

Giarratana said the ultimate look of his planned tower is still under discussion, but the basics are as follows:

>> The average size of Signature condos will more than double from original plans of roughly 1,500 square feet each to about 3,500 square feet.

>> Prices haven't been set yet, and neither has a timetable for construction.

>> But the final design will be one that targets the luxury market.

"The average price will be substantially more; there will be fewer units but much larger individual units," Giarratana said during Tuesday's "Lunch Money" Webcast at Tennessean.com.

Giarratana said the U.S. recession killed the glitzy 70-story Signature Tower plans, but he still plans to bring a revised concept to fruition.

"I'm glad I'm not coming online with 400 to 600 high-rise condominiums right at this particular moment. The market has changed … and we've re-evaluated the project," he said.

"The next reiteration you see of Signature Tower is going to be very luxurious — 3,500 square feet average units. You'll see the same great architecture, a little bit shorter and a completely different design. No floor plans from the original concept will survive," Giarratana added.

"We think we can find 90 to 100 buyers for a product of this type, and it's a win. This is a market of 1.5 million people, and we're looking for 90 like-minded folks."

[futuresooner]

This size of the tower is NEVER BUILT. Now, when the new design and everything comes out, we can start a new thread with all the new specifics and such. Until then, oh well. Right now, pretty much no city coul support a tower like this, even Atlanta.

[lawfin]

^^^Other than perhaps Chicago or NY