Dive Brief:

• The Downtown Code Design Review Committee in Nashville, Tennessee, has approved code modifications for two parcels in the city’s Nashville Yards development that will allow Amazon to move forward with construction of its new business operations unit there, according to The Tennessean, an investment previously valued by Amazon at $230 million. 
• Amazon will build two office towers on the 2.25-acre parcel. One 20-story office tower will sit on top of a parking structure for which excavation work is underway. The building will feature a green roof amenity deck, bicycle room and daycare center. The second tower will be similar to the first and sit atop an 11-story parking facility, but other design details have not yet been revealed. Both towers will include retail and restaurants and will face a pedestrian avenue, which is expected to win approval from the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County this month. 
• The value of development in Nashville Yards is estimated at $1 billion. There is a 590-room Grand Hyatt under construction there, and the hotel will be open before Amazon moves in. Also scheduled for construction at Nashville Yards is a park and an entertainment complex that will feature a movie theater and a 4,500-capacity music venue. 

Dive Insight:

Amazon included the news of its Nashville move in its October announcement of its choice of two new headquarters, one in Long Island City, New York, and the other in Arlington, Virginia. 

The 50,000 jobs that are supposed to be created between the two new headquarters was a well-publicized talking point during Amazon’s site search, but the Nashville project will generate an additional 5,000 at an average wage of more than $150,000. As part of the Nashville deal, Amazon will receive performance-based direct incentives of up to $102 million based on its ability to create those jobs. The state, county and city stand to rake in more than $1 billion of incremental tax revenue during the next decade based on Amazon’s investment and job creation.

Of course, the construction community in the Nashville area stands to benefit from this investment as well, as do contractors in and around Long Island City and Arlington. Nashville Yards developer Southwest Value Partners, according to the Nashville Business Journal, has tapped Clark Construction, as part of a joint venture with local Nashville company Bell & Associates Construction, to perform construction services for the project, including the Grand Hyatt now in progress.