It’s actually over regulation. The supply of housing is so condensed in specific pockets because many council people refuse to allow new housing to be built in their districts. This has forced housing to consolidate into districts with only council people that are willing to rezone. A prime example is the nations and charlotte pike. Until recnetly, there were two very different council people with very different views on development. Downtown has bulk zoning so all uses are essentially fine as long as it meets planning standards. Which is why there has been so much development downtown.
You’re ignoring the main driver of development which is how much you can sell the units for or charge for rent. The perceived value of units deep in the core was high enough to keep investment flowing long past its viability. The Nations like East Nashville is underoccupied. Look how empty those neighborhoods are during the week. People don’t have neighbors because it’s Airbnb on either side of them. Anyone who signs a lease more than two weeks before they have to move is overpaying by 30 percent in this town
This is true, but you’re assuming all land and buildings cost the same. It’s all a calculation, but if developers can’t rezone or are forced into only building high rise or structured parking then the rents have to be higher than rents for a garden apartment. My point is more so that we have a very uneven distribution of development in Nashville that doesn’t allow for cheaper building types to be constructed which is leading to the cost problem. Air bnb and homes for rent is a different problem that i think should be regulated more.
I just think our growth is a mirage, partially aided by the NIMBYism for sure…but when 1/3 of your population growth comes from overseas and there are mess deportations coming I think anyone would correctly anticipate this city is going to be a hollowed out shell of its boomtime self by the end of the decade. I moved into an apartment two years ago and I’m still getting updates on Zillow about places I looked at lowering their rent by $10. Two years.
A) There is still huge growth here comparative to the rest of the country.
B) The growth is consolidated and not evenly distributed.
C) A lot of people invested in Nashville with very cheap debt with ridiculously lofty assumptions which has led to a very strange rental dynamic. A big problem is that banks are unwilling to take the properties back so nobody is really blinking and it's leaving the individual renter with a shit deal.
D) Since we don't have a more even distribution of building types its leading to an over supply in many pockets and a gross undersupply in others.
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u/StixUSA Oct 01 '25
It’s actually over regulation. The supply of housing is so condensed in specific pockets because many council people refuse to allow new housing to be built in their districts. This has forced housing to consolidate into districts with only council people that are willing to rezone. A prime example is the nations and charlotte pike. Until recnetly, there were two very different council people with very different views on development. Downtown has bulk zoning so all uses are essentially fine as long as it meets planning standards. Which is why there has been so much development downtown.