Northwood Buys Nashville Mixed-Use Development for $715M

In one of Nashville’s biggest CRE transactions ever, Northwood Investors has purchased the retail, residential and entertainment hub Fifth + Broadway for $715M from Brookfield Properties.

The transaction was financed by Pacific Life.

Fifth + Broadway, recently developed and operated by Brookfield on the 6.2-acre Nashville Convention Center site, includes the 367K SF 501 Commerce office tower, 381 apartment units in a residential campus known as The Place, and 250K SF of retail and entertainment space, as well as parking for 2,000 vehicles.

The development, the largest mixed-use project in Nashville, also includes the 56K SF National Museum for African American Music. According to Brookfield, since Fifth + Broadway was completed last year, the development—which the company says was “built for a post-COVID world with outdoor space, accessibility, safety and parking in mind”—has been visited a rate that extrapolates to 5M people per year.

The acquisition caps a buying binge in Nashville for Northwood, which has been scooping up retail, residential and office properties in the Music City.

The Fight + Broadway transaction is the fifth acquisition for Northwood in the Nashville market. Other properties include the Conrad Nashville hotel, Capital View apartments, the McEwen Northside mixed-use center and Franklin Park office towers.

“Fifth + Broadway’s energy and integration in the heart of downtown is unparalleled,” said Eric Cannata, managing director of Northwood Investors, in a statement.

“As a mixed-use asset, all its elements work together cohesively, and Brookfield has done a phenomenal job with its development. Our Northwood management team is excited to carry on the torch, engage with the city, and partner with tenants like The National Museum of African American Music, AllianceBernstein, The Twelve Thirty Club, Assembly Food Hall,” Cannata said.

Upon its completion in June, the 234-room Conrad Nashville—Hilton’s first luxury-branded hotel in the market—was sold by co-developers Propst Development and Chartwell Hospitality to Northwood for an undisclosed sum.

The new luxury hotel is part of Broadwest, a $540M, 1.3M SF mixed-use development.

Along with rooms and suites, the Conrad Nashville also features more than 11K SF of meeting space, a third-level outdoor terrace pool, the Blue Aster restaurant and the Thistle and Rye whiskey bar. The Broadwest development project includes 630K SF of Class A office space and 196 luxury condominiums.