Nashville-based M Cubed Developments is eyeing a distinctive short-term upscale rental residential building for The Gulch.
To sit on a 0.38-acre parcel at 900 Division St., the seven-story building will offer 22 residential units and be billed as a “boutique group-travel hotel.”
Via an LLC, M Cubed in December 2021 paid $5.5 million (read here) for the property, on which sits a modernist building home to business management and tax consulting services Wiles + Taylor and Co.
Mark McDonald and Mark McGinley comprise M Cubed, with the latter telling the Post the company hopes to break ground on what is currently called 900 Division Street by year’s end.
Los Angeles-based AvantStay, which focuses on cosmopolitan districts in major U.S. cities, will operate the hotel.
“This is such a strong location in The Gulch that we thought it justified doing something truly distinctive,” McGinley said. “Our project will be the first hotel in downtown Nashville designed and purpose-built for large-format group travel. This is a segment of the hospitality market that has been gaining steam for years. And now that COVID is finally receding, we think group travel is set to explode, as friends and families resume traveling together.”
AvantStay operates hundreds of locations (including resort-style properties) in multiple U.S. cities, including Nashville’s 121 Hotel located at 121 30th Ave. N.
“[AvantStay is] focused on delivering exceptional guest experiences in the group travel space, which makes them a perfect fit for this property,” McGinley said. “We think this will end up being among the most attractive locations in their portfolio.”
Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners Architects is designing the building, with Barge Design Solutions serving as the land-planner and engineer.
A document submitted to Metro notes vehicular access will be at Ninth Avenue South. A 3,400-square foot retail space will anchor the building’s corner at Ninth and Division, with the structure to rise about 90 feet tall and feature a swimming pool, some commons area and a one-level underground garage. For comparison and related to height, the Fairfield Inn and Suites, which sits across Division Street from the future mixed-use building, rises about 90 feet (see here).
The team will go before the Metro Planning Department Downtown Code Design Review Committee on May 26 to request approval of the concept plan. No rezoning will be needed. Similarly, no Metro Development and Housing Agency Design Review Committee approval will be required.
Wiles + Taylor will relocate to the Armory Oaks building in the One Hundred Oaks area in South Nashville.
M Cubed has undertaken or is underway with multiple projects in various urban districts throughout the city (read here).
