Design Unveiled for Music City Center Headquarters Hotel and Museum Expansion

NASHVILLE -- Nashville Mayor Karl Dean today was joined by officials from Omni Hotels & Resorts and the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in unveiling the design for the integrated 21-story Omni Nashville Hotel and 200,000-square-foot Museum expansion.

Located on Fifth Avenue South between Demonbreun and Korean Veterans Boulevard, the development will serve as the headquarters hotel for Music City Center, Nashville's new downtown convention center currently under construction and set to open in 2013.

"With the connection between the Omni Nashville Hotel and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville will have a convention center headquarters hotel that embodies our identity as Music City and is unlike any other in the country," Dean said. "This project, combined with the design of the Music City Center, will energize Fifth Avenue South, and turn it into an extension of our world-renowned entertainment district on Lower Broadway."

The Omni Nashville Hotel design is a modern expression of the city's distinct culture and character, incorporating natural materials, exposed steel and regional limestone. The 800-room hotel will be connected to an expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on four levels, sharing meeting and entertainment space and bring additional restaurants and retail venues to the area. Like the Music City Center, the hotel and expansion project is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification.

"The Omni Nashville Hotel and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will become an ideal launching point to enjoy all that is Music City, attracting meetings and leisure guests to Nashville's core," said Mike Deitemeyer, President of Omni Hotels & Resorts. "This unique arrangement is further evidence of our belief in Nashville and our enthusiasm for becoming part of such a vibrant community and destination."

"Before we know it, we will have the most appealing convention center campus anywhere in America for the promotion and attraction of conventions and tourism," said Kyle Young, Executive Director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. "Steve Turner and I are thrilled at the opportunity to expand our offerings to school children, families, and local and international visitors, and be a part of this great vision for the future of our city – Music City! This is our finest hour."

The Omni Nashville Hotel was designed by HKS Hill Glazier Studio, an international architecture firm based in Dallas, TX, which specializes in the design of hotels and resorts including sophisticated urban hotels and unique destination resorts. HKS has undertaken similar hospitality projects in Orlando, Las Vegas, and San Antonio, among other cities worldwide.

Brasfield & Gorrie will serve as general contractor on the project. The full-service contracting and construction management firm is based in Birmingham, Ala.

The $250 million Omni Nashville Hotel represents a public-private partnership that will create 300 new, full-time jobs when open – 200 of which are guaranteed to be filled by Davidson County residents. During construction, Omni has committed to 20 percent diversity business participation and to spend at least 20 percent of the project's construction costs with local businesses. The project is being privately financed by Omni Hotels & Resorts.

Construction on the project is expected to break ground early this summer.

Source: Omni Hotels & Resorts

Published March 25, 2011

Subscribe to Knoxville Daily Sun