NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It was an area left decimated by the March 2020 twister.

The former site of an O’Reilly Auto Parts off of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Monroe now sits on a vacant site, but perhaps not for long.

Plans are in the works for a ten-story building on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, a five-story building on Monroe Street, and a four-story building on 9th Avenue North.

STG Design, the architect and developer of Monroe Nashville, has requested a height modification for the project.

The 801 Monroe multi-family project would sit across from the Germantown Kroger and proposes dozens of apartment units, parking, and two retail spaces on the ground level with outdoor patios along Rosa Parks.

If approved, Niama Walker-Fierce says it’ll be good for business at Germantown Pub.

“I’ve been telling people I think we will get to a point where we don’t have enough seats at any time of day to handle all of the new residents in the neighborhood,” she said. “Business has picked up significantly and once all these new people move in it’s going to be amazing.”

The change in Buena Vista is not accidental.

“My predecessor…expanded the downtown code up Rosa Parks Boulevard and Jefferson with the anticipation this area of north Nashville deserved a bit more capital investment and redevelopment, so I think what we’re seeing now, seeds she planted a decade ago, are starting to grow a little bit,” Freddie O’Connell said, the council member for District 19.

The development is zoned DTC and located within the Phillips-Jackson Street Redevelopment District Overlay. 

“The neighborhood immediately where the project is has been in some ways surprisingly supportive,” O’Connell said, adding that some in the surrounding areas remain reluctant.

“Anything up above five stories starts to feel like something different,’ O’Connell said.

Some Nashvillians say the proposal is simply too tall and it would create too much of a downtown feel. They fear it would change the character, scale, and feel of the historic neighborhood.

“One of the things we desperately need in the city right now is housing so I hope people are thinking about all of the kind of if you’re making a pro and con list, it’s not just about the cons because I think there are a lot of potential pros as well,” O’Connell said.

The 801 Monroe multi-family project is still in the planning stages. The request for an overall height modification was deferred to the February 10th Planning Commission Meeting.