Nashville, Tenn. (WKRN) — More parking options could soon come to Wedgewood-Houston.
A lack of parking is something that Nashville has continued to experience as the population has grown.
"It's tough," Wedgewood-Houston resident Jeremy Depoyster said. "They are doing so much construction during the day that the work trucks take up most of the spots."
"It is hard when we have people who come over to try to visit us to get parking," resident Alice Ferrall added. "It's definitely something worth further developing."
In a community meeting with WeHo Social, real estate investment and developer Material Ventures announced a new mixed-use project at the intersection of Hagan and Chestnut Streets.
The plan would bring in new retail and residential buildings as well as innovative parking solutions for both residents and visitors. According to the presentation, the parking would be underground, preserving the pedestrian experience by eliminating the need for curb cuts.
"They talk about the combination of parking for dedicated spots for their residential, but also visitor parking," President of WeHo Social, Chad DiDonato, said.
DiDonato explained that there are already some parking plans in the works.
"They are doing a really nice job of making sure parking is not some big monstrosity parking garage, so they will hide it," DiDonato said. "People may not realize right now that there actually is going to be parking or that there is parking today because it is hidden...We just need to make sure that we are doing a really good job basically calling out where there is available parking."
Resident Emma Boster told News 2 that she hopes plans include affordable or free parking.
"There are so many wonderful small businesses around here, and it is really important to support them and be able to find parking because it can be a big deterrent if you can't find parking," Ferrall explained.
The design plans are expected to be complete and submitted for city approval by early 2025. Potential groundbreaking is expected in early 2026. No further details regarding the project were provided.
News 2 reached out to Material Ventures for more information, but had yet to receive a response as of publication.