Nashville’s “relaxed luxury homes” are a hit with wealthy buyers

Famous for its music scene, Nashville, TN, is now attracting high earners willing to pay a premium for branded luxury in a walkable, business-friendly neighborhood.

“I call it ‘secret wealth,'” says Corcoran Reverie’s agent Chris Wilderwho is also leading sales of The Residences at The Nashville Edition, a new luxury condominium tower in The Gulch, a trendy neighborhood south of downtown and northeast of Music Row. “It’s this very relaxed luxury that doesn’t seem stuffy.”

Now known for its world-class restaurants, premier retail brands, the Frist Art Museum and the historic Union Station Hotel, The Gulch began its transformation from a gritty industrial neighborhood of mostly parking lots about a quarter century ago.

While downtown Nashville, known for its flashy music venues and bars, has been nicknamed “Nash Vegas,” The Gulch offers a more low-key but still lively scene that Wylder compares to New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. “It’s a very livable area, but also central to everything,” she says.

Real estate investment firm Tidal Real Estate Partners is behind notable residential, commercial and hospitality projects in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY; Savannah, GA; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Nashville is betting big on The Gulch, investing $1.2 billion in real estate projects in the neighborhood.

The Residences at The Nashville Edition, the condominium tower being built atop the 261-room Edition Hotel, a luxury boutique brand founded by Marriott International in partnership with Mogul Ian Schrager, is the company’s first branded condominium in Nashville.

There are only two other branded residences in the city – Four Seasons Private Residences and Residences at Broadwest, which is located on the Conrad Nashville and is part of the Hilton franchise. But none of them are in the middle of the trendy Gulch district.

Condos in Nashville Edition start at $1.62 million for a one-bedroom, one-bath, and powder room unit and range up to $8.65 million for a four-bedroom, four-bath, one-bedroom, flex-room, and powder room unit.

There are two penthouses, both with expansive terraces and four bedrooms, but prices have not yet been released.

“We had really good interest,” said Corcoran Reverie, broker Chris Grimeswho works with Wylder on the sales team, tells Realtor.com® that he calls the Tidal complex the “crown jewel” of Nashville. Agents did not disclose sales percentages for the building, which is not scheduled to be completed until early 2028.

Wylder says most buyers so far have been locals, often migrating from larger homes just outside of town. “It was pretty wild,” she says. “The local buyer really went for (the building).”

Then there are those who come from out of state and are lured by employer giants like Oracle, AllianceBernstein or one of the city’s many healthcare companies.

While Nashville is still known for its country-singing residents, such as: Keith Urban, Faith Hill And Tim McGraw, Jason Aldeanor the late one Dolly Partonit is increasingly a hub for non-music industries such as healthcare, technology and even finance.

Grimes says: “In the past (country stars) Brad Paisley or Dierks Bentley Maybe they came in, but now we’re seeing a lot of executives moving from larger cities who are used to living in an urban core and don’t want to live in a suburb.”

The low-key luxury market in Nashville

Nashville’s luxury market once closely followed national trends, with the top 10% of asking prices (entry-level luxury) hovering around $794,000 in August 2016, while the national price was around $789,000 during the same period – a difference of less than 1% between the two.

But today it’s a different story.

According to data from Realtor.com, the metro area’s entry level for luxury (90th percentile) is now about 38% higher than the national average, at $1.66 million, while the national average is $1.20 million.

This gap narrows in the higher luxury classes, but Music City is still above the national average in both categories. For the top 5% of sales, Nashville prices are about 32% higher than national levels. And in the top 1% – or ultra-luxury level – the Nashville metro is 15% higher than the national average, with a median of $5.96 million versus $5.16 million.

Still, the city doesn’t come to mind as a big luxury market like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Boston. Even a similar-sized metro area – Austin, TX – gets a lot more attention because it’s a hot luxury market.

Grimes, who has been selling real estate in the city for 12 years, says he noticed the trend toward higher levels of luxury with the opening of the Four Seasons condominium building.

Opening in 2022, the 40-story condo tower atop the hotel rises from the upscale SoBro neighborhood (south of Broadway) and is sold out. Prices range from $5.16 million to $33.5 million.

“It’s the branded apartments that high earners are really looking for,” he says. According to Realtracs data, closings lasted just 36 days on average at the Four Seasons and Broadwest, compared to 177 days for the rest of the market.

“Branded residences are trading at over 96% of their asking price on average, while unbranded properties are trading closer to 93%,” he adds.

Typical luxury buildings may outdo each other with breathtaking views, rooftop terraces, high-end fitness centers, pools, and other luxury amenities—but it’s the “Hospitality”-branded residences that can also offer five-star concierge services that the average condo, no matter how luxurious, may not be able to match.

“There’s an option to open the phone and contact the concierge,” Grimes says, imagining a request from a Nashville Edition resident. “Oh my God, I’m so busy with this work call. Can you please arrange a walk with my dog?”

“It’s very exclusive and not like we have 200 units,” adds Wylder. “You can say, ‘I’m going to be gone for two weeks, can every package go in my unit?’ It’s really meant to provide the full service that someone wants.”

While residents may have to pay extra for concierge services of this type, pricing has not yet been determined.

Additional building amenities include a pet spa, large patio with outdoor kitchen, private catering kitchen and dining room, media room, sports simulator room, fitness club with cold plunge pool and sauna, as well as personal training space, game and screening room, and private lounges.

“And if you want red laser beams, we can do it,” Grimes says with a laugh. “This is the level of service The Edition is known for.”

As for the broader local luxury market, Grimes says it’s an exciting time in Nashville: “Before The Gulch, if you wanted to live in the urban core of Nashville, your options were so limited.”

Wyler, who has lived in the city for seven years, adds that the recent price tags of more than $1 million don’t surprise her.

“When I first came here I thought, ‘This city is so underrated for what it is and what it has to offer,'” she says. “It’s exploded from an amenities perspective – the restaurants, the health and wellness options, the shopping. It’s just been incredible to see.”

“To me, (Nashville) is finally being priced where it should be. I’m thinking, ‘Oh, prices have finally caught up with everything this city has to offer.'”