Paseo South Gulch has created its own hospitality ecosystem within the Gulch, and it's attracted flavors near and far.
Nashville-grown brands like food-truck turned hot spot Maiz de la Vida and lauded mainstays The Catbird Seat and The Patterson House mingle with viral Italy-born All’Antico Vinaio, fresh Florida-based Naked Farmer and New York City-based speakeasy Blind Barber.
The billion-dollar development, spearheaded by SomeraRoad, balanced bringing in ultra luxe brands like Equinox and Pendry with providing a home for the next chapter of legendary Music City brand Carter Vintage Guitars.
“We were targeted on creating something authentic to Nashville. We didn’t really want to do anything cheesy. We wanted tenants that would be impactful to locals and people who have lived here a long time,” said Jonathon Reeser, partner at SomeraRoad. “Obviously, tourism is an important part of Nashville’s growth and economy, and we want to be welcoming to visitors as well, while maintaining that authenticity and local focus.”
While more is still to come in the greater Paseo South Gulch development, at the corner of Eighth Avenue South and Division Street, the Naked Farmer announcement marks the ground-floor retail of Prima being 100% leased.
Large swaths of Nashville neighborhoods are being transformed by adaptive reuse and mixed-use developments. The way developers curate their tenant line-up will directly shape the culture of Music City moving forward.
The Business Journal spoke with Reeser — who fell in love in Maiz de la Vida’s food truck long before its brick-and-mortar — about SomeraRoad’s strategy and intention behind its restaurant and retail tenants.
Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
What does the process look like when you’re looking for a brand to bring to your development?
When we are picking our tenant mix and pursuing tenants, our focus is on what fits best for that market. What was exciting about this market, Nashville, is we live here, we office here, we actually get to create something around our own interests and bring in tenants that we’d want to have outside of our front door.
What is that Nashville pitch, that Paseo South Gulch pitch to brands?
Nashville has grown into a market that speaks for itself. We see it all of the time. Someone who may have a restaurant or clothing store or fitness concept in Los Angeles or Chicago or New York on their list, their obvious next choice is Nashville, even above a lot of other cities that used to be that next choice. There’s a great diversification of industry, really good demographics, a solid foundation of people who have lived here for a long time, but also, young professionals with disposable income. When it comes to Paseo South Gulch, it’s a location that is very accessible for the suburbs to the south, yet still walkable to the convention center and downtown. The radius that Paseo South Gulch has is very attractive to both bringing in locals and tourism.
For SomeraRoad, "authenticity is at the core."
SomeraRoad
What are those key characteristics and values you look for in a brand, regardless of the type of business?
Authenticity is at the core even if you look at what we call “national brands” or “big market brands” that are here. Equinox is not just copy and paste everywhere. Two Hands, which may have a lot more locations than it did a handful of years ago, is still very authentic. … Even if you look at the Pendry Hotel & Residences, they’re refining their design and we are refining our design of the hotel to fit really the authenticity of the market and we want to make sure the Residences aren’t just a copy paste from somewhere else in the country or the world. We want it to feel like you’re in Nashville and you’re at home.
On the development front, you’re helping to shape Nashville and its future. How do you view your role in terms of impact on the city?
I’m on the road all the time and I’m asking friends about, "where should I go, what should I do, what should I see?" Give me your list of restaurants, bars, etc. And, the list we create for Nashville is the same length as a New York City list, right? When I go to another city of similar size [to Nashville], the list of places is going to be a handful. The list that you’re giving someone in Nashville is 30 long. I think that’s pretty special.
We’ve moved a lot of people here, we have almost 18 people I think, in our office now and a lot of those families came from out of town. We’re pretty focused on being good stewards of a city that’s been very welcoming to us. Hopefully the impact that we have on Nashville is treating people the same way that we were treated when we came here, which I think is above everything, the most special thing about Nashville.
What are some lessons you’ve learned from this process?
One lesson is be patient. We’ve got a full neighborhood we’re building and we’re filling spaces as we build them. This is a long-term project and one that needs to stand the test of time and we expect to be successful for a long time. You can’t rush getting done what you want to get done. Be diligent and the right puzzle pieces will fall where they need to.
