Bridgestone sells Broadway development site with high-rise potential

By Adam Sichko  – Senior Reporter, Nashville Business Journal

Dec 3, 2018, 7:12am CST Updated a day ago

A longtime under-the-radar developer in Brentwood has paid $7 million for a downtown Nashville property, on Broadway.

GBT Realty Corp. now owns the site at 1221 Broadway, where Firestone Complete Auto Care operates today. The deal, revealed in newly filed public records, is the latest evidence of GBT and its founder, George Tomlin, striving to seize a higher profile in Nashville’s frenzied real estate development scene.

It’s been a year-and-a-half since Tomlin first detailed his ambition to parlay his widespread success with retail development into urban, mixed-use developments. In that time, he’s opened $65 million of projects in Hillsboro Village and pursued a 16-story development near West End Avenue that has run into some resistance.

The Broadway purchase gives Tomlin easily his most prominent and visible property yet. It’s located at a gateway into downtown, just inside the interstate loop. It’s also surrounded by development projects, as seen on our Crane Watch map.

The property is zoned under the city’s downtown code, which offers the most flexibility for developers and allows them to build the tallest and largest buildings.

Nashville-based FirstBank (NYSE: FBK) loaned $5.2 million to GBT for the purchase, according to public records.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (NYSE: JLL) marketed the site for sale on behalf of a Bridgestone subsidiary. The Firestone store’s last day of business will be Jan. 31, Bridgestone said in a statement. Firestone Complete Auto Care will still have more than 30 locations around the region.