NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The largest development project in Nashville's history is one of our top stories of the past year.
Nashville's East Bank spans 500 acres, right across from downtown.
It will be home to the new Titans stadium and Oracle's new headquarters.
The city and state are transforming this once industrial area into a new neighborhood.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates has been following the transformation through its Eye on East Bank series of reports.
Back in 1997, people stood along the banks of the Cumberland River to watch one of the final barge launches across from downtown.
Back then, the land was owned by a barge company.
Metro bought the East Bank from the barge company to build the Titans' first stadium.
Things continue to change
What was a barge dock in 1997 is now a park.
Construction on the second Titans stadium is well underway.
It will become the focal point of the new East Bank neighborhood, on some of the most valuable land Nashville has ever had.
In April, develope,r the Fallon Company, released renderings showing a walkway with shops and dinning along the pedestrian bridge from downtown into the East Bank.
It leads to a Grand Stairway at the end of the Pedestrian Bridge near the stadium called The Cumberland Bluffs.
The main road of the development will be East Bank Boulevard.
It will go in front of the new stadium, where the current stadium sits.
The timeline
At the start of the year, NewsChannel 5 Investigates questioned Nashville's Chief Development Officer, Bob Mendes, about the timeline.
"It's going to take a while for us to build out the East Bank, to be everything that it will be," Mendes said in February.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "When you expect those pictures to be a reality?
Mendes responded, "10 to 15 years to be able to get multiple high rise buildings planned, designed built out of the ground and finished."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates also asked about delays and why Metro's own website, Nashville.gov, stated the developer hoped to start construction earlier this year, which clearly did not happen.
Mendes was surprised when we showed him Metro's website.
"I'm not sure where that came from," Mendes said as he looked at the dates on the website.
The website also claimed construction on the new Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) would start earlier this year, which also did not happen.
Metro and TPAC spent most of the year unable to reach a deal.
After our questions the dates were removed.
Delays for TPAC
Speaker of House Cameron Sexton was among those frustrated by the lack of progress on TPAC.
"If you don't want TPAC just tell us, but the clock is running out and that's a huge investment by the state," Sexton said July of this year.
Finally, this month, in December, TPAC and Metro announced a deal—putting TPAC in a prime spot near the new stadium.
"I think all parties sat around the table and said this is good for everybody and they figured it out," said Ben York, who is CEO of the East Bank Authority.
But the TPAC delay points to a bigger problem.
Who will pay to for expensive infrastructure on the East Bank?
Metro backed off previous demands of TPAC, and will now pay to upgrade the Pedestrian Bridge and remove a gas line under the TPAC site.
This spring, Civil Engineer Clint Capp explained the infrastructure challenges.
"This has been a wasteland downtown. This has been cheap, free parking so we could bus you somewhere you actually wanted to be," Capp said.
He pointed to an empty lot that used to be a truck stop.
It needs underground sewer and utility lines, and he questioned what is buried there.
"What is the urban fill that was collected and dumped here for 100 years before we paved over this place?" Capp asked.
Plans also call for lowering the James Robertson Parkway bridge by 25 feet—the elevated bridge blocks the planned wide open East Bank Boulevard.
"Bringing it down to grade allows the connections and it allows the activity and it allows the potential development to thrive," Capp said.
But lowering that main bridge will cause traffic headaches that Metro is not even discussing yet.
Traffic is at the center of another major debate, considering the size of the East Bank Boulevard.
Biking and transit advocates were shocked when Metro started considering a six-lane road instead of a four-lane road.
Traffic studies show huge numbers of cars will use the Boulevard.
Metro keeps putting off that controversial decision, but the size of the road is critical to future building designs.
"At some point you got to quit collecting information and somebody or a number of somebodies have to go ahead and make a decision," said Ed Branding, who is a real estate researcher.
But perhaps the biggest debate is over who will control future decisions for this massive development.
State Rep. Sexton sits on the East Bank Authority Board, but has made it clear he's not happy Metro makes the decisions.
He's threatening a bill next legislative session to take power away from Metro.
"What's the Authority Board there for? Is it just to be a rubber stamp of what the Mayor's office and Metro want to do? That's my question, so come next year there could be some changes," Speaker Sexton said.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates will keep following progress on the East Bank.
