|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
| |
Egerton’s Walden still marches on |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| You’ve got to like Walden. |
Quality rental residential spaces, including live-work units. Food and beverage options. Added density to the tiny Eastland Avenue commercial node home to Eastland Café, Portland Brew and Rosepepper Cantina.
Yes, Walden represents all that is cool about local development — in a city, no less, that not long ago viewed urban infill with a level of gusto voters showed Mike Gravel.
What? Not familiar with Walden? (Or Mike Gravel?) Not a surprise, as the developer of the project has taken a low-key approach from its start.
But that’s March Egerton, the East Nashville-based property owner/landlord known for being unknown. Egerton owns the Five Points buildings housing, among others, Chop Shop, Margot and PizzeReal. He is respected as a non-meddling landlord and a skillful rehabber of deteriorating buildings.
Now we’ll see if Egerton earns respect for Walden.
Across from Rosepepper, the framework of Phase I reveals a substantial two-story building, its corner space reserved for an as-yet-secured restaurant tenant and looming large over 7.26 acres that fuse Eastwood Neighbors, Lockeland Springs and Rolling Acres. Expect a June opening for Phase I, with an existing structure to be the second phase.
Already, Egerton has secured married couple/business partners Courtney and Jarod Delozier to operate Ugly Mugs Coffee & Tea. The owner of a smoothie/fresh juice bar is on board too. Above this duo are eight killer rental units sure to elicit saliva from cosmopolitan urbanites hungry for new units on the east side.
When asked by a local freelance writer if Joe Mugs is needed considering local favorite Portland Brew is a teabag’s throw away, Egerton simply smiles.
Vibrant cities, the iced-coffee lover notes, should be packed with great commercial spaces offering goods
and services.
Walden — derived from a family name — represents Egerton’s first “built-from-scratch” project and a
refreshing change.
“I like re-using old buildings, but it can be tough sledding,” he says.
Sledding, along with the one-man development show, are other smaller, “boutique” operations. The architect is Marathon Village-based Powell Design Group. The Carter Group is the general contractor.
With his background, Egerton offers a dynamic that other smaller developers (many of whom focus overwhelmingly on residential) might not.
“There is a lot less formula to go by for developing commercial space,” he says.
For the Walden formula, Egerton paid about $800,000 for three parcels. He declines to estimate a price tag for the five-phase, five-year project. Clearly, the developer will spend millions, enough to prevent those with weaker constitutions from assuming such risk. “You have to be able to sleep at night,” Egerton says with a chuckle. Sweet dreams, March. CP Contact William Williams at |
| |
 |
Walden, Phase I of which is unfolding in East Nashville, is the creation of March Egerton.
Josh Anderson/ The City Paper |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
