Developer Tony Giarratana has added 1,900 apartments and condos to downtown Nashville during the last 30 years, always looking past the problems in front of him to achieve his goal of creating a district in which people could really live, work and play.

There have been a few rough patches along the way, like in 2008 when his 20-story Encore was set to open just as the market crashed. It was one of six condo developments in Nashville with more than 1,000 units facing the same bad timing.

But he never lost faith that places like Encore and his 505 Nashville project on Church Street would appeal to people who work downtown. Now, with employers such as Amazon and Asurion bringing close to 7,000 jobs downtown, there is no way the pandemic is going to stop his focus on apartments.

Developers such as Giarratana continue to bank on multiunit living despite the impact of the coronavirus. But job losses and the economic downtown have landlords and others making rental concessions while reconsidering the future of apartment and condo living.

Select units at 505 are being offered with one month of free rent with management focusing on cleaning and safety precautions. Meanwhile, architect Manuel Zeitlin says now is a good time to reimagine what apartments could be to better fit the needs of a post-pandemic world.

Stay Alfred goes away

Giarratana is working to rent an additional 140 apartments in his mixed-used 505 tower downtown, units that had previously been under contract to Stay Alfred, a short-term rental company that suddenly ceased operations at 505 and at seven other Nashville buildings in April as COVID-19 pummeled the tourism industry.

“They do vacation rentals, and people stopped traveling,” Giarratana says. “They have been a good partner for us since 2017. We are sad for the them, but we have moved on.

“We are converting to brand new studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. The units are getting a complete makeover so they are fresh like we completed them in 2017.”

The bathroom in the one-bedroom model unit at 505 Nashville is compact, appealing to the single renter who may choose to live alone because of the pandemic.

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Those units start at less than $1,500, and Jenny McClain, CMO of Giarratana Development, says it’s an even split in popularity between the studios and the one bedrooms.

“I expect these to be in even higher demand given the current COVID situation,” she explains. “Less people opting for roommate situations.”

Stay Alfred’s departure hit the 505 one year after its other 210 apartment units were offered for sale. The remaining units in the 522-foot tower were already owner-occupied. Giarratana is not closing the door on these new rentals being converted to sales in the future.

“The 210 units are at 96% occupancy, top of the market rent, these have always performed,” he adds. “It is at the heart and soul and geographic epicenter, the epitome of walkability.’’

He projects a bright, post-pandemic future and predicts, with caution, “2022 is going to be a phenomenal year for Nashville, maybe.”

Deals for renters

For now, Giarratana is already at work on two new apartment towers, a 34-story tower at 900 Church St. and a second high-rise at 801 Church St. Combined construction cost for the towers, which will add another 700 apartment units to his downtown tally, is estimated at $300 million.

And more and apartments are coming online, including:

• A 400-unit project in The Nations from Lifestyle Communities

• 450 units from Leftbank Holdings in Marathon Village

• A 31-unit community in Spring Hill from Mission Rock Residential

• A 20-story apartment tower in The Gulch from Albion

Nashville developer Tony Giarratana, a pioneer of downtown Nashville living, is offering studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments at 505 Nashville, 505 Church Street. This photo shows a one-bedroom unit. Selected units are one-month rent free as renters cope with the pandemic crisis.

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After an initial rush of activity following the March tornado, apartments are offering rate reductions and deals to get people in while business has been slow. The Griff in Germantown, for example, is at 90% occupancy and offering two months free. The Cleo in East Nashville is offering one month free with a signed lease.

“Obviously, there was a big demand after the tornado,” says Tifinie Capehart, a Realtor with Parks West Nashville and Land Use Consultant. “Affordability is still an issue. I do see a lot of people asking for temporary housing, like people moving into Nashville for work, and they have to find a home to get settled. They need temporary corporate housing. I have seen that quite a bit.”

Too close for comfort?

One focus multifamily real estate professionals have been coping with is servicing residents in its communities during the COVID-19 crisis.

The Griff, for example, had to close its amenities for a while, and, at 505, Giarratana says he brought in state-of-the-art equipment to clean the air and instituted new protocols for cleaning the elevators, the doors and the fitness equipment.

“There’s a little bit of impatience that we’re maybe not opening up fast enough, but obviously the safety and well-being of all our residents is paramount and we’re moving as fast as we possibly can,” he says. “And I think our residents understand the Herculean efforts that we’re making to make sure that their home is as they envisioned it when they leased it or bought it.

The 505 has separate elevators for its apartment dwellers and condo owners. Each also has its own lobby, its own mail room, its own concierge and staff. They all come together on level seven and share indoor and outdoor amenities, including a dog walk area and pool.

The small, but functional kitchen in the one-bedroom unit at 505 Nashville is suited especially for the renter who might settling in after moving to Nashville for a job with Amazon or Asurion before deciding to buy a larger place.

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“One of the things that is so hard for a project like ours is staffing,” Giarratana says. “During COVID we had to beef up our cleaning, so that required more expenditure. During the unrest in the country, we’ve had to beef up our security personnel. And so we do what’s necessary for the time.

“But at the end of the day, it’s the skilled management, the skilled leasing and sales teams, the skilled maintenance teams that keep the building running properly.”

Different needs, new ideas

Architect Zeitlin says now is a good time to reimagine what apartments could be for people’s new needs in a post-pandemic world. No stranger to multifamily design, he has worked on the Mercury View Lofts in the Gulch and the 79-unit Chelsea in 12South.

Most recently he has had a 200-unit project approved on the former Queen’s Tree Surgery site on Hamilton and Hagan, and a 300-unit collaboration with EOA Architects in Wedgewood-Houston.

“Several of the projects I’ve been looking at have had multiuse space in them, which I think will be really desirable, that people can live and have their jewelry studio or their photography studio or art studio at home where they live,” Zeitlin says.

Other than looking for more ways to use their space, he says outdoor areas will become more common, as well.

“I think having exterior stairs instead of elevators are possible, or an option for an exterior stair is going to be a major thing,” he explains. “And exterior balconies. There’s a project that just finished construction on South Street, just west of Eighth Avenue, that’s got all exterior balconies. It was designed before the pandemic, but it’s sort of a really good model post-pandemic.”

If the unit is two bedrooms, Zeitlin says, we likely will see a bathroom for each bedroom.

And current co-living models in Nashville that have more shared-spaces – small bedrooms with shared kitchen and living spaces – might have trouble appealing to as many people as they did before, at least for the foreseeable future.

“If there’s a vaccine and it becomes just like any other flu, there may not be a huge impact other than thinking about the next pandemic,” Zeitlin adds. “But I think we’ll definitely see that idea of more single units and more apartments where, even if you have a roommate, you have more separate areas.”

Zeitlin says we could also see more flex spaces that will give more people the option to work from home, and possible trade-offs for having smaller living spaces and less shared amenities could be bigger outdoor spaces for the apartments to share.

“People want to engage with other people,” Zeitlin acknowledges. “But if this doesn’t go away I think you’ll want to be alone, you’ll be able to have an affordable unit that’s roommate free, but places will have social engagement in a safe outdoor space, whether that’s on rooftops, taking over the streets, taking over the sidewalks or having more courtyard space.”

Ultimately, it’s the community an apartment setting brings that will keep people gravitating to them Zeitlin says.

Giarratana says safety brings in another element more people will want moving forward as well.

“We have secured our nest, so once our residents pull into their environment, they’re in the parking garage and in the building, they feel a great sense of comfort,” Giarratana says. “They know that ownership and management is looking out for them.”