Metro Council delays decision on $20.3M land purchase

• The council delayed motion on acquiring 88 Hermitage Ave. for $20.3 million.
• Council associates experienced concerns more than renovation fees.
• In 2019, the council voted from getting the home for $14.4 million.t
• Mayor John Cooper, then an at-substantial council member, voted towards purchasing it.

Metro Council on Thursday deferred a determination on whether or not to purchase a $20.3 million plot of land on Hermitage Avenue to integrate into the public park process amid fears over unknown renovation fees.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper included $20 million in his Oct cash paying out approach for the obtain of point out-owned home at 88 Hermitage Ave., the web-site of the previous Tennessee University for the Blind.

Cooper’s administration has indicated the former school’s historic composition could stand for an opportunity for adaptive reuse, though what that would be is unclear.

Council member Courtney Johnston reported she could not aid shopping for the residence, which will possible involve mitigation for direct-dependent paint and asbestos as very well as in depth developing repairs.

“This is a multi, multi-million renovation to restore this assets, and we you should not even know what we’re going to use it for,” Johnston claimed.

A lot of councilmembers questioned why the land wasn’t bought faster at a decreased rate.

Cooper voted against purchasing the home for $11.3 million in 2019 when he was an at-substantial Metro Council member. Former Mayor David Briley moved to purchase the land for Metro Nashville Community Educational institutions, which intended to demolish the Tennessee Faculty for the Blind to establish a new high college.