Metro Council delays decision on $20.3M land purchase

• The council delayed action on obtaining 88 Hermitage Ave. for $20.3 million.
• Council users experienced fears more than renovation expenses.
• In 2019, the council voted from getting the residence for $14.4 million.t
• Mayor John Cooper, then an at-big council member, voted towards acquiring it.

Metro Council on Thursday deferred a determination on no matter whether to purchase a $20.3 million plot of land on Hermitage Avenue to incorporate into the general public park procedure amid issues more than unidentified renovation expenditures.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper integrated $20 million in his October funds paying program for the order of point out-owned residence at 88 Hermitage Ave., the internet site of the previous Tennessee Faculty for the Blind.

Cooper’s administration has indicated the previous school’s historic structure could symbolize an opportunity for adaptive reuse, however what that would be is unclear.

Council member Courtney Johnston mentioned she could not help obtaining the assets, which will probably demand mitigation for lead-based mostly paint and asbestos as effectively as in depth developing repairs.

“This is a multi, multi-million renovation to restore this home, and we don’t even know what we are likely to use it for,” Johnston mentioned.

Many councilmembers questioned why the land wasn’t acquired sooner at a decrease value.

Cooper voted against obtaining the house for $11.3 million in 2019 when he was an at-large Metro Council member. Previous Mayor David Briley moved to purchase the land for Metro Nashville Community Schools, which supposed to demolish the Tennessee University for the Blind to build a new substantial university.