Acme Feed & Seed, the four-story Lower Broadway venue often credited with helping revive Nashville’s live-music strip, is warning it may have to shut its doors after a steep spike in its property tax bill. Owner Tom Morales says the annual tab jumped from about $129,000 to roughly $600,000, a jump he calls “punitive.” He has filed a formal appeal, but the hearing is set so far out that he worries the business will not make it that long.
Morales laid out the numbers in an interview with FOX 17, saying he also asked Mayor Freddie O’Connell for a sit-down. The mayor told the station, “It’s not up to me whether he keeps that business open.” According to FOX 17, Morales has already appealed the assessment, but the hearing is not scheduled for roughly a year, a timeline he says Acme’s finances cannot absorb.
Reappraisal Fallout Has Hit Downtown
The 2025 countywide reappraisal produced a median value increase of about 45% and sparked more than 15,000 appeals, with many downtown properties pushed into hearings late in 2026 and beyond, Axios Nashville reports. The Metro Assessor’s office, in its public guidance, explains the reappraisal and appeals process and notes that property owners may be required to pay the undisputed portion of their tax bill while an appeal is pending. That timing mismatch has left some small businesses exposed.
Industry groups and hospitality owners told Axios the combination of sharply higher assessed values and a raised levy has delivered serious sticker shock, particularly for tenants on triple-net leases who shoulder property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on top of rent.
Appeal Timeline Could Leave Acme in Limbo
Morales says that by the time his appeal is heard, there may not be a business left to save. FOX 17 reports the hearing is scheduled about a year from now.
Under current rules, the Metropolitan Board of Equalization is working through a crowded calendar. In the meantime, owners typically face a tough choice: pay the full higher bill now and seek a refund later if they win, or make a good-faith payment based on what they believe is a fair value. Morales says for a venue operating on tight margins under a triple-net lease, that is not a real choice at all.
What Acme’s Loss Would Mean
Since Morales reopened the historic riverfront building in 2014, Acme’s four floors of live music, food, and a rooftop with Cumberland River views have become stitched into the fabric of Lower Broadway. The venue’s own history notes that the structure sat vacant for years before Morales and his partners invested in a restoration, preserving original features and bringing the site back into active use.
Preservation advocates say losing places like Acme would peel away a layer of authenticity that sets downtown apart from a generic entertainment strip, undercutting the local character that many Nashvillians and visitors still seek amid the neon and bachelorette parties.
Policy Options and Next Steps
The reappraisal backlash has already nudged state and local officials into early talks about reforms. Axios Nashville reports the state Comptroller is reviewing valuations clustered along Lower Broadway, while trade groups are exploring targeted relief or appraisal tweaks intended to keep independent venues afloat.
Metro leaders have floated ideas such as shortening the reappraisal cycle or crafting special approaches for cultural and hospitality properties. Any of those moves would take time to design and implement. Business owners like Morales say they need something faster, such as an expedited review or a temporary administrative stay, to avoid going under before their appeals are resolved.
How the Appeals Process Works
Metro’s public guidance explains that property owners can first seek an informal review and then request a formal hearing before the Board of Equalization. Those decisions can take a while, and only after a ruling are refunds or adjustments issued.
The trustee’s office notes that owners are expected to pay the undisputed portion of their taxes before they become delinquent in order to preserve appeal rights and avoid interest. Successful appeals lead to refunds once final certificates are issued. In practice, that framework can leave tenants and small operators carrying large tax bills for months, even when a later reduction is likely.
For now, Acme’s future rides on how quickly the appeal calendar moves and whether elected officials or state reviewers act in time to blunt a bill Morales says is unsustainable. Preservation supporters and downtown business owners are watching closely to see whether one of Music City’s signature venues survives the reappraisal shock that many in the hospitality world insist was never meant to punish local culture.
