A new luxury four-unit residential development in Nashville puts a unique spin on the traditional gated community.
The three spec homes and one custom model that make up Battery Square include high-end touches, bright and airy interiors, and a landscaped courtyard. Built on the 1.42-acre site of a former single-family ranch home in the city’s urban core, the homes recently sold for prices ranging from $1.15 to $1.42 million. Here, BUILDER talks with Seth Argo, president of Focus Builders, about the interesting site design for the dense-but-luxurious development.
Why did you build three of the four houses on spec?
The main reason I insisted on doing it mostly spec is so the design team could have total autonomy over the aesthetics. We assembled a really great team of designers to work on the project. But we also wanted to avoid a “too many cooks in the kitchen” type of situation, which is common on custom projects of this sort. You want each house to be unique in its own way, but you also want there to be some level of consistency and continuity. Had we had four separate homeowners involved, that would have been really hard to achieve.
All four homes have four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, with sizes ranging from 3,924 to 4,583 square feet.
Nick McGuinn
The homes are set close together. What is the reasoning behind that?
The layout is mainly a result of the development concept. Due to a couple of site constraints and the way the site plan was ultimately arranged, all exterior and grounds maintenance is included in a monthly HOA payment, so it’s pretty maintenance-free living. We set two farther up toward the street with smaller floor plans and little yard space, anticipating the buyers would be empty nesters or heavy business travelers.
The units set toward the back have larger backyards and larger footprints, more geared toward families. They all encircle a common courtyard that we hoped would become a community gathering place.
We’ve found urban dwellers are accustomed to structures being closer together and don’t mind that so much. They would rather be closer to neighbors if it yields them common green space. It also has a lot to do with location. To be in a location that’s 12 minutes from downtown Nashville and five minutes to Green Hills, you’re more than likely not going to get much yard elsewhere at this price point.
How have buyers reacted?
All four homes are sold and the buyers, even prospective buyers, responded positively. They love the connectivity. I believe we executed the project on a much higher level than many of the similar options in the surrounding area at the time. We heard a lot of comments like, “I can’t believe this is a spec house,” and a“We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
It sold out pretty quickly, so I think the market was ready for it, which was a bit of a concern in the beginning. Nashville is still a pretty conservative southern town, even with all the growth in the last 20 years. It was a little scary to be the pioneer of a new concept. Overall, I’m glad we stuck to our guns and really pushed to do something we thought was different and special.
