Metro staff outline master development deal with Fallon for East Bank; council presses on parking, affordability and guardrails

Metro administration and Fallon-affiliated developers presented details of a proposed master development agreement for about 30 acres on Nashville's East Bank and answered council members' questions about parking, zoning, affordable-housing mix and oversight.

Bob Mendez (mayor's office) summarized the agreement as the pacing and staging plan for roughly 30 of Metro's 110 developable acres near the pedestrian bridge and stadium, aiming for a mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhood that protects pedestrian and bike mobility, limits short-term rentals and constrains concentrations of bars and hotels in the new district.

On parking, Mendez said Metro currently has roughly 7,500 surface parking spaces and must provide about 2,000 clear spaces during stadium construction. "We can move up to 500 spaces outside the immediate campus, to a different site as long as it's, I think, within a half mile," he said, adding that Titans' construction laydown areas are capped and the team will limit contractors' spread to retain needed spaces.

Councilors pressed about transit and shuttle coordination for game days and large events; Mendez said the Titans, Fallon, Metro and TPAC share an interest in shuttle solutions but that detailed plans are still preliminary and will require further conversations with NDOT and stakeholders.

On governance and legal guardrails, Metro attorney Jeff Oldham said the ordinance authorizing agreements allows the administration to consent, waive or make amendments only if changes are "materially consistent" with the terms before counsel; material deviations must return to council for approval, while immaterial administrative changes can be handled without full council action. "A material deviation would have to come back to counsel for approval," Oldham said.

Council members also pressed on affordable-housing composition. Mendez said negotiations with Fallon and their affordable-housing partner led to an agreement to set a floor for family-sized units: at least 15% of units in all affordable buildings should be two- or three-bedroom units, a level Fallon and Metro consider financeable today. "Going beyond that gets beyond what exists in the market and what is financeable," Mendez said.

Developers represented by Evan Holiday of Holiday Ventures told council they underwrite projects assuming some project-based vouchers (PBVs) and other public subsidies and will seek to deliver as many family-sized affordable units as feasible while avoiding commitments that would make the project unfinanceable.

Other topics included whether a business improvement district (BID) might operate on the East Bank (Metro will study feasibility), the pending East Bank Development Authority legislation at the state level (Metro said it is working with legislators but is not relying on the authority passing), and planning requirements including a public-realm framework plan that Fallon must prepare to show where open spaces and passageways will be located and how they will feel.

Council members also asked whether special noise rules, tree counts and cross-section exhibits should be included; Metro said noise will default to existing ordinances, Imagine East Bank goals will guide green-space expectations, and a planning-led public-realm framework will inform code changes. Officials closed the meeting without taking a formal vote on the master agreement.

The committee deferred any second-reading action to the council meeting scheduled in April and directed staff to return with drafting language and possible amendments on workforce certification, misclassification protections, design-intent language for street standards and the proposed affordable-unit floor.