Nashville Mayor David Briley, representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, state and local officials and Cayce Place residents and stakeholders joined MDHA for the Kirkpatrick Park Apartments grand opening celebration. This new development, located along Sylvan St. between South Eighth and Ninth Streets, features 94 townhome-like apartments and will house families of all incomes.
“Creating more affordable housing so that people who already live in our city can stay in their neighborhoods and live near their work is critical as our city continues to grow. My Under One Roof 2029 initiative is the most ambitious program we’ve ever undertaken to build more affordable housing and supporting the Envision Cayce project is a key component of it,” said Mayor David Briley. “Kirkpatrick Park Apartments is Envision Cayce’s first mixed-income development, an important step forward as we know that deconcentrating poverty increases positive outcomes for everyone. I am grateful for the continued hard work of MDHA and other partners as we move forward together to address our city’s affordable housing needs.”
“The City of Nashville and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency clearly demonstrate the kind of forward thinking leadership and innovation necessary to address the housing affordability challenge in Nashville,” said HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett. “Kirkpatrick Park is an ambitious and worthwhile endeavor expanding on Cayce Place that will provide more affordable housing as a platform of stability and hopefully upward mobility for those we mutually serve.”
The development, which is being constructed by RG Anderson, is being financed with a HUD insured loan, and supported by HOME funding and funding from Nashville’s Capital Improvements Budget. The features and design of Kirkpatrick Park Apartments were created by Smith Gee Studio and were based on feedback from Cayce residents, neighbors, community members and stakeholders. A land swap with Metro Parks for nine acres at Kirkpatrick Park made this development possible.
“I so appreciate the public private partnerships that MDHA is creating in Nashville with its affordable housing, said State Senator Brenda Gilmore. “Affordable Housing benefits the community in so many ways, including helping individuals to live near where they work and to continue to live in areas that they have been living in for a very long time. Most importantly, it provides a place where the city can value and appreciate diversity of race, gender, age and economic levels. Thank you MDHA for helping to make Nashville a better place.”
All of the subsidized units at Kirkpatrick Park Apartments will house current Cayce Place residents, many of whom have been instrumental in the Envision Cayce process, including Geraldine Watkins. Last week, she toured her new home at Kirkpatrick Park Apartments, and she can’t wait to move in.
“My new home is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I am just overjoyed,” said Cayce Place resident Geraldine Watkins. “Thank you to everyone involved in making Envision Cayce a reality. And to MDHA, thank you for keeping your promise to not only provide us with a new home, but also allowing us to help design a home we could be proud of.”
Councilman Brett Withers’ remarks echoed Geraldine Watkins sentiments.
“I recently attended an event, and one key phrase I learned about working with public housing or low-income communities is ‘moving at the speed of trust,’” said Councilman Brett Withers. “I believe that more than anything, the Kirkpatrick Park Apartments development and Envision Cayce as a whole have embodied that principle. We are moving at the speed of trust.”
Kirkpatrick Park Apartments is part of the overall plan to rebuild Cayce Place and create a mixed-use, mixed-income community. The Envision Cayce Master Plan calls for more than 2,000 units and ensures a one-for-one replacement of the subsidized units while adding new affordable, workforce and market-rate units.
The goal of Envision Cayce is to create more than housing. It’s to create a community, and that starts with MDHA’s current residents.
“I couldn’t stand here today without remembering my good friend Rev. Bill Barnes. He once told me, ‘Remember the children and do not let them be defined by their location. Concentrated poverty destroys opportunity. Change the environment, and you will change the opportunity.’ I hope what we are doing at MDHA and across the city would make Rev. Barnes proud. I truly believe it would,” said MDHA Executive Director Jim Harbison.
One and two-bedroom workforce and market-rate homes are available at Kirkpatrick Park Apartments. For more information, please visit www.KirkpatrickPark.com or call 615-780-7071.
