The redevelopment of the former site of the old Nashville General Hospital downtown, more than 10 years in the making, has suffered numerous setbacks over the years, the latest being the forced sale on the Metro Courthouse steps Thursday of 72 newly completed condo units sitting empty on a Hermitage Avenue bluff overlooking the Cumberland River.
"I think the market will come back," said Joe Cain, development director for MDHA, standing Thursday between the 19th-century hospital buildings that have been converted into condos. "We are definitely committed to making this a wonderful neighborhood downtown."
The site already lost one developer — Baltimore-based Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse abandoned plans for 42 townhouses and more than 200 apartments when the market softened last year.
MDHA had sold more than an acre of land several years ago to other developers, Green Bay, Wis.-based Direct Development. An affiliate of Direct Development managed to build three of the five buildings planned, one of which collapsed during construction, leaving just an old brick smokestack in the air.
Then the company was unable to close on the sale of the condos in the worst housing crisis in decades and defaulted on its loan. Lead lender Bank of America bought the condo buildings back for $7.28 million Thursday in a foreclosure sale — or roughly $101,000 per unit. That compares to list prices when the condos were on the market of about $200,000 to more than half a million dollars.
The bank will try to market and sell the condos.
MDHA already has spent about $10 million on site improvements such as demolition and environmental cleanup. It plans to continue bringing public and private money into the project, rather than leaving the condos abandoned on the hilltop.
(2 of 2)Renters help fill unsold Nashville condosCalifornia Enjoying Summer Sales Sizzle
