Ryman Hospitality plans another downtown entertainment venue

• Century-old office building at Third and Broadway the company bought last year could be converted.

The owner of the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium is exploring converting the building at Third and Broadway, which has its Opry Originals retail shop on the ground floor, into an entertainment venue.

"It's something that we are really focused on, and we think that could be an exciting thing," Colin Reed, CEO of Nashville-based Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc., said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday.

He was responding to a question about additional ways the company was looking to capitalize on tourism and hospitality opportunities in Nashville.

"We're also looking at revamping the Wildhorse that we own downtown as well on Second Avenue to take advantage of what is going on here," Reed added. "So yes, we will selectively deploy more capital to take advantage of this tremendous surging business that we're seeing here in Nashville."

His comments come 10 months after Ryman's acquisition of the building at 300 Broadway spurred speculation about its plans.

In addition to the 6,000 square foot Opry Originals shop, the building has three vacant floors. Before Ryman's purchase, those floors housed real estate firms The Mathews Co., R.C. Mathews Contractor and Colliers International's Nashville office.

The more than a century-old former Broadway National Bank building, which has approximately 25,000 square feet, is only two blocks from Ryman Auditorium. Work continues on a $14 million expansion of that venue to add a café, new event space, a multimedia history tour as well as renovations of the box office, restrooms, concessions and merchandising areas.

Brian Abrahamson, Ryman's spokesman, declined to comment further on the entertainment venue being considered for 300 Broadway and upgrades planned for the Wildhorse Saloon restaurant, bar, concert site, dance venue and TV studio.

In the conference call, Reed called the Third and Broadway building one of the best-located in that downtown area.

In his response to the analyst's question, Reed also said the city's brand is being exported to people worldwide including through ABC's "Nashville" TV show. Market demand should continue to boost hospitality and tourism here, he said.

"I have no doubt that this market will continue to grow because the product that people are seeking out is unique to this market," Reed said.

Reed said he's unsure whether Ryman would at this stage want to add to downtown's hotel bed inventory given that Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, which Marriott operates for the real estate investment trust, accounts for just under 10 percent of hotel supply in the Nashville market.

"Opryland is quite a special place and quite unlike anything else you see in the United — Southern United States of America," Reed added.

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.