A Look at Cool Springs After its 30th Anniversary

Cool Springs was the brainchild of Southeast Venture founders George Volkert and Dick Sorenson. It’s almost unbelievable to think that it’s been 30 years since ground was broken for the Cool Springs interchange in 1987. The official anniversary was on November 12, 2017, which was serendipitously Dick Sorenson’s birthday.

The Cool Springs area has come a long way in 30 years, from thousands of undeveloped acres of open fields to 7.5 million square feet of office space – a close second to downtown Nashville.

Once the interchange was approved by the Department of Transportation, the partnership sold property to CBL & Associates from Chattanooga to develop the Cool Springs Galleria. That put us on the map as the company responsible for the original master plan and beginning execution of Cool Springs.

A Nashville Post article, published in conjunction with the November anniversary, revealed that the development once was known as Park65, but the name Cool Springs was chosen instead for a nearby landmark, the Cool Springs Farm, which included a historic home, now relocated to Crockett Park.

Former Southeast Venture President George Volkert promised at the groundbreaking that the 1,150-acre Cool Springs project would create 16,000 jobs and more than $200 million in city and county tax revenues over 20 years, and that promise has surely been met.

Breaking ground on the interchange set the stage for a major regional hub outside of Davidson County. Developments have now expanded to both sides of Interstate 65 in Cool Springs, including several luxury hotels, shopping centers (in addition to the mall), business parks, office buildings, big box retailers, low-rise apartments, condominiums, restaurants and car dealerships.

It has become a regional center, drawing people from across Middle Tennessee, southern Kentucky and northern Alabama.

One of our first large-scale projects, we never could have imagined the explosive growth that has taken place in Cool Springs. We look back at this development fondly and are excited to see how the area continues to expand for years to come.

Dimension at Mallory Park Phase II Finds First Tenant in Verus Healthcare

This press release was originally released on March 21, 2017.

Verus Healthcare Anchors Project

NASHVILLE, Tenn. March 21, 2017 – Southeast Venture announced today that Franklin-based Verus Healthcare has signed a lease to occupy 34,561 square feet of office space in the second phase of the project. The healthcare supply company is the first to lease space in the 63,236 square-foot project and plans to move into the space in August.

Mallory Park

“We are thrilled to have found a larger office space with a higher parking ratio that keeps us well-positioned within Brentwood/Cool Springs’ flourishing healthcare center. Our company’s growth necessitated that we move from our current space in Cool Springs in order to continue providing the same high level of care to our patients around the country,” said Rich Roberts, CEO of Verus Healthcare.

Mallory Park

Dimension at Mallory Park was specifically designed to accommodate companies like Verus Healthcare who are looking for higher density office space.

“Verus Healthcare is a perfect fit for the office space in Mallory Park,” said Michael Finucane, principal at Southeast Venture. “The higher parking ratios present a different opportunity than what’s traditionally been available in the Brentwood/Cool Springs office market. For a company experiencing growth like Verus, this space easily allows them to put more people into less space.”

Mallory Park

Dimension at Mallory Park Phase I was leased in full to Quorum Healthcare Corporation and completed last fall.

About Southeast Venture:

Founded in 1981, Southeast Venture is a diversified commercial real estate and design services company guided by a mission of “Building Value by Valuing Relationships.” The firm provides and coordinates the delivery of brokerage, development, architectural and interior design and property management. This unique, comprehensive approach to commercial real estate offers a cost effective and efficient way of meeting its clients’ commercial real estate needs. For more information, visit SoutheastVenture.com, or find Southeast Venture on Twitter @SEVentureCRE.

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Is a Collaborative Workspace Right for Your Company?

One of the most popular interior design trends we’re seeing in commercial real estate is a collaborative workspace. Many of our clients come to us requesting this type of layout for their office. Despite its popularity, it’s not always the best design solution for a business.

To determine if a collaborative workspace is right for your company, let’s look at some of the primary design features.

Open Spaces

A collaborative workspace is designed to be open, spacious and inviting. It’s built on the idea of drawing people together to share new ideas and work with each other. Collaborative workspaces have common areas—sometimes more than one—that are easy to access and welcome both casual and business-focused conversations. These areas are often the center of the design, with small, individual offices on the perimeter, which often have glass walls and doors. These offices give employees quiet space when they need to work alone, while also allowing them to see the common areas and not miss out on what’s happening outside their offices.

From small nooks to large conference rooms, the Rustici Software / Watershed offices have multiple spaces for employees to choose from.

The layout of a space can either hinder or encourage collaboration, so it’s important to design spaces that are conducive to this activity based on your company’s needs. If your work requires you to gather around a computer screen with others, consider having an area with high-top tables and a large screen that everyone can easily see. Or if you need to draw concepts out, include dry erase boards in different areas throughout the office.

Options to Move Around

One of the main advantages of a collaborative workspace is flexibility—having the option to work in different locations throughout the office, both individually and with groups of people. Thanks to the move from stationary PC’s to laptops and tablets, it’s easy for employees to work in many different places, including in their offices, a conference room or a Bistro Cafe. This especially appeals to millennials because this generation prefers a collaborative work culture. Having options to move around helps their creativity and energizes them more than working in a single space all day long.

The breakroom at MediCopy offers a variety of seating options and plenty of sunlight.

Another effective aspect of a collaborative workspace design is having more than one path of travel through the office. Collaboration can happen unintentionally when someone passes by a fellow team member and starts a conversation. Designing multiple routes through the office increases the chances of this happening.

But is a collaborative workspace right for YOUR company?

Because collaboration has become a bit of a buzzword, some companies are quick to assume that this type of office design is what their business needs. But, that’s not always the case. It is vitally important to consider the day-to-day reality of your company and whether or not collaboration is needed or even beneficial.

Some professionals, such as accountants or attorneys, need quiet space to focus on their work. Introducing a collaborative design would likely disrupt their working habits and make it more difficult to focus on tasks.

Alternatives

Fortunately, there are alternatives to a collaborative workspace for companies that are looking for a new office design.

Many companies are deciding to lower their cubicle panels and bring workstations around the perimeter to allow for more daylight. They’re also making individual offices a smaller, standard size—rather than determining the size based on job title—and incorporating more glass walls and doors to encourage transparency and employee engagement.

With low panels, the cubicles at Concept Technology Inc. make the room feel open while giving employees a designated space to work.

When a company asks us to design a collaborative workspace for their employees, we first take time to learn about the daily routines in the office to determine how their space can better accommodate their needs. Companies recognize that rent isn’t cheap, so we strive to help them maximize space in the best ways possible. A well-designed space is proven to improve productivity, organizational performance and employee satisfaction. Determining how to achieve this through design is what we do best.

New High Density Office Space in Mallory Park Alleviates Growing Employer Occupancy Costs

 

 

This press release was originally released on Oct. 10, 2016.

New High Density Office Space in Mallory Park Alleviates Growing Employer Occupancy Costs

Higher parking ratio featured in completed Phase I project

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Oct. 10, 2016 – Southeast Venture has announced the completion of the first phase of a high-density office complex in Brentwood’s Mallory Park. The 87,100-square-foot project at 1573 Mallory Lane is now home to Quorum Healthcare Corporation.  The building type is similar to the Healthspring/Cigna Health campus that Southeast Venture developed in Metro Center in 2010.

The Healthspring/Cigna Health complex ­– a 175,000-square-foot build-to-suit project – filled a need that more and more Middle Tennessee employers are facing today.  Finding office space that can accommodate higher parking densities.

 The solution, said Southeast Venture Principal Michael Finucane, is simple. “Put more people in less office space; however, to do that, buildings need to have more parking spaces.  To maximize the efficiency of our project we simply built more parking spaces.”

 This increase in office density has become increasingly prevalent since the recession, as business owners look for ways to lower occupancy costs per employee. Beginning with the Healthspring/Cigna Health project in Metro Center and now in Mallory Park, Southeast Venture is providing options to resolve this issue, he added.

 “We had tremendous success with our building in Metro Center so we wanted to take that same product to the Brentwood/Cool Springs market. We saw a real need for higher density office space that, quite frankly, did not exist in this market,” Finucane said.

 “Suburban office space typically has a parking ratio that is four parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space,” he added. “The ratio for our Mallory Park project is six parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space. A tenant with 100 employees can rent 16,667 square feet in our project, versus 20,000 square feet in a building with four spaces per 1,000 square feet. Based on current office rents, that’s a $100,000 or more savings in occupancy costs per year. In addition, because these buildings have no shared common lobbies, exit corridors or elevators, each tenant only leases the space they occupy, which makes our buildings even more efficient.”

 Phase II of Southeast Venture’s Mallory Park project broke ground this spring and will include 68,000 square feet of one-story office space designed for multiple points of entry and parking around the perimeter of the building. The shell of Phase II will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2016 and could be ready for tenants as early as the first quarter of 2017.

 About Southeast Venture:

Founded in 1981, Southeast Venture is a diversified commercial real estate and design services company guided by a mission of “Building Value by Valuing Relationships.” The firm provides and coordinates the delivery of brokerage, development, architectural and interior design and property management. This unique, comprehensive approach to commercial real estate offers a cost effective and efficient way of meeting its clients’ commercial real estate needs. For more information, visit SoutheastVenture.com, or find Southeast Venture on Twitter @SEVentureCRE.

Southeast Venture brokers sale of Music Square property

In July 2014, Southeast Venture Principal Todd Alexander and Broker Jimmy Pickel represented the Bradley family and Chet Atkins trust in the sale of the building and property at 30 Music Square West, Nashville.

The 20,886-square-foot, three-story office building was built in 1969 and sits on 0.81 acres of land. Brentwood-based developer Bravo Development Group, LLC purchased the property for $4.075 million. Matt Kwasek of Kwasek Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer.

The site is zoned for both office and residential use.

Services Provided

• Brokerage

Project Scale

• 20,886 SF / 0.81 AC

Project Timeframe

• 2014

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of Dec. 2

Nashville CRE Links

1. AmSurg plans new HQ in Green Hills — Nashville Business Journal (link)
2. Brentwood medical office building sells for $9.2M — Nashville Business Journal (link)
3. Historic auto factory finds new life as retail, office hub — Nashville Business Journal (link)
4. Metro to acquire 600 acres for Donelson park — Nashville Business Journal (link)
5. Planners name 5 top goals for SoBro plan — Nashville Business Journal (link)

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of Sept. 30

Nashville CRE Links

1. $100 million Carothers Building sale could be biggest this year — Tennessean (link)
2. Centerstone starts work on outpatient center at Craighead corner — Nashville Post (link)
3. Mayor Dean to open 28th Avenue Connector today — Nashville Business Journal (link)
4. More restaurants sprouting up as big retailers sell off parcels — Tennessean (link)
5. Regions’ shift south shuffles mix of Nashville office space — Nashville Business Journal (link)

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of August 12

Nashville CRE Links

1. $12M permit issued for work on HCA’s Antioch property — Nashville Business Journal (link)
2. Atlanta developer eyes mixed-use Germantown project — Nashville Business Journal (link)
3. Developers break ground for office building, apartments at Franklin Park in Cool Springs — Tennessean (link)
4. NHI pays $25.2M for Washington senior living campus — Nashville Businesss Journal (link)
5. Pittsburgh firm to lead SoBro plan — Tennessean (link)

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of July 1

Nashville CRE Links

1. Antioch retail strip sells for $3.5 million — Nashville Business Journal (link)
2. Green Hills office building sells for $2.8 million — Nashville Business Journal (link)
3. Nashville’s retail real estate market lags other sectors — Nashville Business Journal (link)
4. Rolling Mill Hill slated for next residential building — Nashville Post (link)
5. Velocity sale more proof of Nashville’s white-hot rental scene — Nashville Business Journal (link)

Nashville CRE Week in Review: Week of June 24

Nashville CRE Links

1. Brentwood planners consider Virginia Way office buildings — Tennessean (link)
2. Fontanel owner buys MetroCenter warehouse — Nashville Business Journal (link)
3. Hickory Hollow’s revival needs heart (and money) to succeed — Tennessean (link)
4. Nashville commercial real estate sales activity up 77 percent — Nashville Business Journal (link)
5. Report: Nashville’s office and industrial real estate markets see growth — Nashville Business Journal (link)