Nashville's Lower Broad sees property values skyrocket
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Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
Nashville's Lower Broadway has become a twangier take on Times Square, where tourism is fueling astronomical real estate values.
Why it matters: Don't let the sea of neon signs and George Strait covers fool you. This is big business.
- The entertainment district has become a major hub for corporate investment, lucrative licensing deals and record-setting property purchases.
The big picture: Surging real estate values are commonplace nationwide. But few locations in the country tell the story as dramatically as a half-mile stretch of road in the heart of Music City.
Stunning stat: New Nashville property appraisals show that values are still skyrocketing. Twenty-five honky-tonks saw their property values go up by at least 140% over the last four years, according to an Axios analysis.
- Increases in excess of 300% are common. Eric Church's Chief's, which underwent a major renovation before it opened last year, saw its appraised value jump by 741% to $58.3 million.
- Veteran honky-tonks also took gargantuan jumps. Robert's Western World, which is just 6,000 square feet, went up 340% to $9.5 million. Tootsie's Orchid Lounge saw its appraised value increase by 293% to $13.8 million.
By the numbers: Recent transactions demonstrate how valuable the real estate has become. Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves paid $75 million for the Margaritaville building on Lower Broad in December.
- Two Arizona firms partnered last year to spend $16.25 million to purchase a 0.05-acre parking lot on Lower Broadway. The firm detailed plans earlier this month for a 31,000-square-foot honky-tonk, according to the Nashville Business Journal.
Threat level: For honky-tonk owners, the new appraisals rang alarm bells.
Zoom in: At Nudie's Honky Tonk, a Lower Broadway institution known for having the longest bar in Nashville, property value increased 191% in the last four years from $7.2 million to $21.2 million.
Between the lines: Nudie's Honky Tonk is named after the legendary fashion designer Nudie Cohn, whose elaborate "nudie suits" were worn by stars like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Elton John. Some of those dazzling costumes hang on the walls.
- Other, newer honky-tonks have channeled the kind of character seen at Nudie's and other mainstays to create the neon-tinted identity of Lower Broadway.
Yes, but: Nudie's Honky Tonk founder and owner Bill Miller tells Axios that between the updated appraisals and the proposed property tax increase by Mayor Freddie O'Connell, business owners are feeling the pinch.
Friction point: The situation figures to set up high-stakes appeals by property owners seeking to lower their appraisals and their tax bills.
- "We are working with commercial property owners downtown whose appraised value has gone up by as much as three to four hundred percent, Caren Nichol, attorney at the Evans Petree property tax group, tells Axios. "They are looking at a steeply higher property tax bill, and the appeals process is an essential tool to make sure valuations are fair and accurate."
What he's saying: "You can only squeeze so much out of Lower Broadway before there's nothing left to give," Miller told Axios in a statement. "Five years ago, we were hit with a 34% property tax increase in the middle of Covid."
- "This time around, I'm looking at revenues that are flat or down, but Metro is telling me that Nudie's has tripled in four years. Oh, and here's another tax increase. If they keep squeezing, they'll kill the golden goose."