Carter Vintage Guitars is moving across the street to a new-old building at Paseo South Gulch, the $1 billion mixed-use project that has expanded its borders in the past year.
The heralded Nashville guitar shop announced today that it will occupy the entire second floor, or 13,000 square feet, of the vintage Downtown Antique Mall building at 612 Eighth Ave. S. — one of the properties that developer SomeraRoad bought and revitalized as part of its mixed-use Paseo South Gulch project.
The 13,000-square-foot lease has already been signed, and a March 1, 2024, opening date is targeted, SomeraRoad told the Business Journal.
“We’re proud to be able to keep a popular and celebrated destination for music lovers like Carter Vintage Guitars in the neighborhood and have it as a flagship destination within our project,” said Jonathon Reeser, principal and co-head of acquisitions at SomeraRoad, which is co-headquartered in New York and Nashville.
Since the inception of its Paseo South Gulch project, costs for which the company said will likely reach $1 billion, SomeraRoad has steadily expanded both its development plans and its land holdings in the area.
Right now, Carter Vintage Guitars' current location at 625 Eighth Ave. S. is the only property facing Eighth Avenue South between Gleaves Street and Old Division Street that SomeraRoad does not already own or reportedly have under contract. SomeraRoad declined to comment on whether it plans to purchase the property.
Last year, the firm bought a small parking lotcontiguous to Carter Vintage Guitars’ current building, and news brokein January that it also plans to buy meat-and-three Arnold’s Country Kitchen at 605 Eighth Ave. S.
With Carter Vintage Guitars' 13,000-square-foot deal, the Downtown Antique Mall building (now branded simply as the “Antiques building”) is fully leased.
Other tenants in the Antiques building include GoodVets and restaurant Two Hands. Soon to come are speakeasy and barber shop Blind Barber and eatery Maiz de la Vida. The property is across the street from the current location of Carter Vintage Guitars, which was founded in 2012 by Walter and Christie Carter. The Carters purchased the site in 2012 for $717,435.
“The historic Antique building has a great vintage vibe, plus the space to accommodate a growing business, which makes it the perfect future home for Carter Vintage Guitars,” Walter Carter said in a news release.
Paseo South Gulch started with the revitalization of two historical properties — the antique mall and the Voorhees Building, which now holds office space and is the future home of Nashville staples The Catbird Seat and Barista Parlor — and plans for two towers. Construction on the first, a mixed-use building with residential, office and retail space, is expected to conclude by year’s end.
Last year, SomeraRoad expanded project plans to include two additional towers, which will be incorporated into the greater project. The most recent public filings indicate one residential building and one office building at the intersection of Division Street and Eighth Avenue South.
