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Icon
in the Gulch is Nashville's largest luxury condominium project
and a pioneer in the renaissance of the area.
The
22-story glass and brick building combines 26,000 squae feet
of retail, 417 condos and an 800 space parking garage on three
acres of property. The project broke ground in February 2006
and opened at the end of May, 2008.
"It is the standard bearer against which everything else
is going to be judged," says Distinguished Deals and
Developments judge Richard Exton, a Nashville appraiser. "That
was probably a tough site to build on."
Icon
was developed in tandem by Bristol Development Group and Marketstreet
Enterprises. Marketstreet, led by Jay Turner, owns much of
the land in the Gulch and is guiding design of the roughly
60-acre area inside the downtown loop.
With the Icon finished, Turner's vision has come to fruition
- almost.
It will be complete, Turner says, once all the retail gets
in and the foot traffic increases in the neighborhood.
"Its been a long road," Turner says. "We started
this in '99. When I go down there on a Friday or Saturday
night, I see the neighborhood we envisiond a decade ago."
The vision will be complete this spring for Turner, he says,
when mild weather makes the pedestrian-friendly area come
to life with patrons coming to dine at the Gulch's growing
list of restaurants or visit its retail shops.
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And as more units are sold in the Icon - 125 so far -
the more activity and foot traffic there will be.
"In terms of the sales process, I'm happy to say
we are still selling uints, but its an incredibly difficult
environment," Turner says. "Today, considering
what's going on, I'm very pleased with it. We've got a
lot of happy residents there now."
Besides the pioneering spirit behind its construction,
another part of the Icon's uniqueness is its amenities,
says Charles Carlisle, CEO of Bristol Development Group.
It's unusual to have a deck with a pool as large as Icon's,
Carlisle says. The deck includes an indoor clubhouse that
overlokos the pool and offers ample space for parties.
The clubhouse has doors that roll open in nice weather.
"A lot of thought has gone into the design of this
thing," Carlisle says.
Condos have floor to ceiling windows and 24-hour security.
Besides two pools and poolside grills and cabanas, Icon
boasts a health and fitness studio and Internet cafes.
Carlise says the Icon sold more than 20 units between
October and Decemebr from buyers who came in off the street.
"If we sell it out in two years, we'd think that
was very successful," he says.
Icon has been named a finalist for a national award by
the National Asociation of Home Builders in the best hi-rise
category. It was also featured in the October 2008 issue
of Urban Land, the publication for the Urban Land Institute.
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