You heard Sting play there. You enjoyed Coldplay from the lawn. Now, developers are hoping you'll shop and live on the site of the now-defunct Starwood Amphitheatre in Antioch.
Pre-sales and leasing have started for the commercial side of things — a planned 421,000-square-foot development for retail, offices and restaurants with a major anchor store such as a Target or Wal-Mart at the site.
Later on, the developer, Vastland Starwood Development LLC, plans to add 250 townhomes with garages and an average selling price of around $150,000. Vastland Realty Group bought the property for $4.2 million last year.
The $100 million project on 65 acres is dubbed Starwood Commons and should be completed three years after nabbing the major anchor, according to the project's development consultant, Ken Renner, who also is an affiliate broker at Crye-Leike Realtors.
Renner said Vastland is in negotiations with potential anchors, but he wouldn't name them.
The developer is billing the project as a "modern alternative" for the aging retail centers in Hickory Hollow and Antioch.
It might seem the absolute worst time to start a mixed-use commercial and residential development, given the slowing economy, but some developers see things otherwise.
Competing developer David McGowan, who is building Lenox Village off Nolensville Road, said there's still demand for good commercial space from retailers. "There are a lot of rooftops and a lot more coming,'' he said. "That's what retailers want. They follow the rooftops."
McGowan speculated that a Wal-Mart, SuperTarget, Kohls, Home Depot or Lowe's would be a perfect anchor for the development, which sits at the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Hobson Pike.
It makes sense to build the housing later, McGowan added.
"All things considered, this is not the best time to do housing. There is an oversupply of housing. Maybe in a few years, there will be a good demand."
The Starwood Commons developers plan to do commercial sales first and put off the housing until later. Renner said that was part of an agreement with Metro Nashville to get the project approved, basically promising to build the commercial infrastructure before starting the homes.
Vastland's other projects include the 650,000-square-foot Glenbrook North Shopping Center in Hendersonville, the $45 million St. Martin Square Luxury Condominiums in Brentwood and the 500-acre Mansker Farms in Hendersonville.
As for Starwood Commons, R. Chris Magill Architects and Civil Site Design Group worked on the site plan. Pre-sales and leasing will be handled by Vastland Realty Group.
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