An affiliate of Miami-based Starwood Capital Group, Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate LLC and Atlanta-based High Street Real Estate Partners announced April 2 that they are developing two hotel towers with 721 total rooms on a 1.3-acre parcel of land directly across from Nashville’s Music City Center, a $625 million convention center.
The hotel design includes a common podium with two hotel towers joined by a four-story lobby, conference area and public restaurant/retail space, including outdoor street-level public dining and a rooftop bar.
Site work has already started on the project, with formal groundbreaking for the two new hotels expected during the second quarter of 2019.
The dual-branded development consists of a 1 Hotel, Starwood Capital Group’s eco-friendly luxury hotel brand, and Embassy Suites that will total 721 keys with over 32,200 square feet of meeting space (including pre-function space). The 30-story Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel tower will feature 506 rooms and rooftop swimming pool, bar and fitness center. The adjoining 18-story 1 Hotel tower will feature 215 rooms with a holistic spa, as well as a rooftop bar and event deck area.
The two-hotel development is a unique hospitality model intended to appeal to business and family travelers and take advantage of week-day convention and business traffic, as well as weekend event and entertainment travelers, according to a news release. The Embassy Suites will feature a main lobby entertainment bar providing live music and entertainment, a large block of rooms with double king beds that appeal to weekend travelers, as well as the traditional Embassy Suites breakfast buffet.
Located on a half-block location on the north side of Demonbreun Street between 7th and 8th avenues, an area known locally as SoBro, commercial real estate experts consider the property one of the most desirable blocks in the “cool and hip” downtown Nashville landscape.
The new hotels will sit directly across the street from the front doors of the 2.1 million square foot Music City Center (MCC), providing convenient access for convention goers. MCC is a hotel room demand generator for downtown Nashville, which now can compete for 75 percent of the nation’s convention business. Additionally, 1 Hotel and the Embassy Suites will be just one block from the Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators, and host to numerous concerts and events. The hotel’s close proximity to Broadway provides easy access to a wide-variety of downtown restaurants and entertainment venues.
“We are excited to invest alongside our partners in Nashville, one of the most vibrant hotel markets in America with diverse and rapidly growing demand drivers. We believe the 1 Hotel fits incredibly well in a high-rated market with limited product differentiation,” said Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital.
“We are excited to enter one of the country’s hottest markets, Nashville, with two excellent hotel brands and a strong and experienced partner in Starwood Capital Group. Our team is thrilled to embark on this world-class project. The combination of 1 Hotel and Embassy Suites fits the Nashville hotel market perfectly and provides a compelling opportunity for our investors,” said Jason Anderson, co-CEO of Crescent.