Construction To Begin: Mainland Companies Granted Luxury Garden Development

Germantown, Tennessee – Construction is set to begin by Mainland Companies. The firm will be building luxury garden estate homes in Germantown, Tennessee. Mainland has received approval to build five 3-story attached residences which will range between 4,400 to 5,600 square feet. 

The Construction Project

Mainland, a Nashville-based developer, enlisted the aid from Manuel Zeitlin Architects. MZA will design the new estate’s use, which will take over the cleared parcel at the corner of 5^th and Monroe . The development will be located on 1301-1305 on 5^th Avenue North. 

MZA, the local Tennessee firm, will take a modern approach to design within the historic neighborhood. The estate homes will have various materials on the facades, brick pathways, gabled roofs, and indoor and outdoor spaces. Modern light wells will be incorporated among the estates to bring in natural light. 

The land was sold to Mainland for $2.4 million in 2021. This is the 3^rd approved Germantown project for the company. Mainland first bought property in Germantown in 1985 for $32,900. 

The developer has recently converted Elliot School into 26 new condos which are completely filled with residences. The units ranged in price from $250,000 to $2.7 million. Elliot Row Homes includes 18 new town homes where 12 of the units have already sold. The remaining  6 units are under construction and are reserved. 

The 2-bedroom carriage house at Elliot Row Homes sold for $1.2 million. Mainland is in the process of filing another development in the near future. 

It is expected that the estate homes at 5^th & Monroe will have a target price tag of $5 million. Mainland stated that they are focused on constructing a product which would appeal to executives and company officers that are relocating to Nashville. Cindy DeFrancesco, Executive Vice President of Mainland Companies stated, “We are very bullish on the Germantown sub-district, we believe it is the nexus of up-and-coming and old-and-historic.” 

Due to nearby shops, downtown establishments, and developments such as Neuhoff District, River North, and Ballpark Village, Mainland believes the luxury estates will be supported and successful. 

The homes will be 4 or 5 bedrooms and will face 5^th Avenue North. Each of the homes will have an elevator, two car garage, 2-level lightwells, custom closets, quartz counters, personal saunas, and millwork packages. A mix of materials will be used including molded brick, standing seam metal, punched windows, extruded steel frames, stucco, and perforated brick screens. 

Duke Design Group will manage the landscape while Barge Civil Associates will supervise the civil development. 

Project History

The Elliott School was built in 1916 by the renowned architectural company Marr & Holman, whose Nashville projects included the main United States Post Office (now the Frist Museum) and the Tennessee State Supreme Court. The school was closed down in 1971. Despite being listed on the National Historic Register in 1979, it remained abandoned until 1995, when it was converted to offices.

Mainland and MZA prioritized maintaining the school’s historic character, collaborating closely with the neighborhood organization, Nashville Historic Zoning Commission, and Tennessee Historical Commission to keep the building on the National Register of Historic Places. Each section was built to complement the old classroom module and to reduce the view of the new roof extension from the street. Wherever feasible, in-filled walls and dropped ceilings were removed, and traditional finishes such as hard wood, glazed brick, and plaster were restored. To restore the building’s original appearance, the outside stonework was cleaned and windows were restored.