A Look at 1865 Condos
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1865 Condos | North Nashville
We recently completed construction of the 1865 Condos, a much-anticipated development along the CSX tracks on 21st Avenue in North Nashville. We worked on it with Cottage Partners and Quirk Designs.
For this adaptive reuse project, we renovated a four-story, 28,800-square-foot, Civil-War-era tobacco warehouse into 34 condominiums. We also added a second, complementary building with 12 more residences, as well as a parking lot. The development offers one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, and we’re excited to share that all 46 units have already been sold.
The development is aptly named for the year the original building was
constructed: 1865. The former warehouse wasactively used for at least 90 years. Sanborn maps from 1914 identify the building as the Weyman-Bruton Tobacco warehouse. It remained a tobacco warehouse for US Tobacco until at least 1944, according to Metro Historical Commission research. By 1957, the Sanborn maps indicate that it was a warehouse for Cullom & Ghertner Co. printers and lithographers. It then sat abandoned for 20-30 years before Cottage Partners purchased the property in 2016. At that time it was the oldest non-repurposed commercial structure in Nashville.
Historical renovations come with their own set of challenges, and this project was no different. In the late 1800s, things just weren’t built the same way they are now. However, we’re no stranger to renovating historic buildings. Our other adaptive reuse projects include L&L Market, Hi-Fi Clyde’s, Martin’s BBQ in SoBro and, currently underway, Silo Studios in The Nations.
We’re proud that we were able to work with Cottage Partners to save a building that, while not on the historic registry, is steeped in local North Nashville history.
From the President
We take pride in our work, and we often see the results of our labor once a project is completed. That is something I love about my career, and I have never been prouder of a project than our work at the 1865 Condos, a historic tobacco warehouse that we have converted into a condo development. Our involvement began by a chance meeting a few years ago with Richard Bacon at Calhoun’s Restaurant in Knoxville following a UT football game. Richard and I knew each other but it had been 15 or 20 years since we had crossed paths. While we waited for a table, we talked construction. A year later Richard called and said he had a project he would like to talk about, and, as we say, the rest is history.
Thank you, Richard, and Cottage Partners, for making us a part of your team that repurposed 1865 Condos.
On another note, I want to share some encouragement as our community and industry regain momentum. In early March we were preparing to begin construction on four projects when the owners put them on hold due to COVID-19 and an unpredictable future. Within the last two weeks, we have been released to start work on all of these projects, and we are pricing several new projects. Business is not the same as it was at the beginning of the year, but hope is alive, and hope will keep our team working together. In the meantime, be kind, help someone and be grateful for all things.
– Glynn Dowdle, president of Dowdle Construction Group
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