Could Old Hickory be the next East Nashville?
With Nashville’s first proposed light rail route a few miles away, the Music City Star commuter train in the other direction and Old Hickory Lake for a backyard, suburban Old Hickory is poised to become the next neighborhood on Nashville’s east side to find itself in the development spotlight.
“We think it’s going to be the next East Nashville,” said Brock Rust, who is launching Village Green of Old Hickory, a mixed-use neighborhood of single-family homes on Hadley Avenue in Old Hickory.
Sales are kicking off and the first of Village Green’s 46 single-family homes will be completed this summer. The neighborhood will also feature 5,600 square feet of retail space and five two-bedroom apartments. A model home is expected to open in about a month.
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Homes will range from 1,327 square feet to about 1,550 square feet and will have initial prices ranging from $224,900 to $254,900. The houses will have three bedrooms and three baths, open floor plans, tile in the master baths, granite countertops and hardwood floors, said Rust, president of Providence Land Co. and a partner in Village Green of Old Hickory LLC.
Village Green’s prices are around $170 per square foot, “well under” the median home price in the Nashville region, said Richard Van Kluyve, a Realtor for Regal Realty Group. The median home price in the region was $279,142 in May, according to Greater Nashville Realtors.
Other neighborhoods between downtown and Old Hickory have seen a surge of investment. Now it’s Old Hickory’s turn, said Kluyve.
“It trickles out” from the center of the city, he said. “Old Hickory is the best-kept secret in town, but it’s leaking out.”
Village Green is expected to attract home buyers who are priced out of hot neighborhoods in East Nashville, said Metro Council member Larry Hagar, whose district includes Old Hickory.
“People are moving to our area because East Nashville is so congested. The prices are lower than East Nashville,” he said.
One of the first people planning to buy a home in Village Green is selling a house in East Nashville in order to move to Old Hickory, but the sale of his house had not been completed last week, said Kluyve.
Village Green is a traditional neighborhood with sidewalks and street lights as well as pocket parks. Homes will have alley-entry attached parking. Rust said the community is designed to be walkable and compared it to Westhaven in Franklin.
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Village Green shares features with another development in Franklin — Vandalia, the popular cottage community close to that city’s historic Town Square. Like Vandalia, homes in Village Green will have extremely small yards. Community green spaces will be available for a farmers market and activities including outdoor movies.
“It’s a higher density development” than surrounding neighborhoods in Old Hickory, said Hagar. “For a young couple or an older couple who do not want to take care of a large yard, it’s perfect.”
He compared Village Green to Lenox Village, the mixed-use neighborhood on Nolensville Road where residents walk to shopping and restaurants.
“That’s what people want,” said Hagar.
Village Green is designed to “be respectful” of the architectural styles in the Old Hickory Village neighborhood, where a number of houses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Village Green’s houses will have similar front porches and two-story floor plans.
“I love the area. It’s so authentic,” said Kluyve.
Village Green is located on the site of the former Old Hickory Village shopping center, which had a fire several years ago. Rust expects Village Green to attract additional commercial investment.
“Coffee shops are starting to spring up next door,” he said.
The redevelopment of the shopping center site is welcome news, said Jared Throneberry, president of the Old Hickory Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We have been anxiously awaiting the development of this site and are delighted to hear that so much consideration has been given to respecting the neighborhood’s history and character,” he said.