Germantown’s low-slung strip along Second Avenue North could be in for a major growth spurt. Developers have filed plans for a 10-story mixed-use building on the block now home to Plaza Artist Materials at 1205 2nd Ave N, proposing roughly 80 apartments stacked above about 8,000 square feet of street-level retail. If it moves ahead, the project would swap out the single-story art-supply storefront for a taller, denser presence on Second Avenue North.
Project documents list MXB Partners, led by Andrew Marshall, as the developer, with Root Architecture and Dale & Associates handling design and civil engineering. The filing describes a 10-story, 80-unit building with roughly 8,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and notes that MXB would acquire the site from EJ Nash Investments LLC, which paid about $3.5 million for the property in 2022. The team plans to seek preliminary specific-plan approval at the Metro Planning Commission this month, according to the Nashville Post.
Industry coverage and local listings indicate the parcel is roughly 0.44 acres and currently holds a one-story warehouse and surface parking where the art-supply shop operates, as noted by Connect CRE. A commercial listing for 1205 2nd Ave N shows parcel and assessment details, including a roughly 6,400-square-foot building footprint and IR zoning, that align with the site description. LoopNet provides the public listing and tax and parcel context.
Where It Would Sit
The site is a short walk from the Neuhoff District redevelopment and the Cumberland River Greenway, which puts it squarely in the path of a wave of mid- and high-rise projects reshaping east Germantown, according to Neuhoff District project materials. Reporting on the neighborhood’s adaptive-reuse surge, plus new office and residential towers, helps explain why developers are pushing for taller, mixed-use buildings in this pocket, per The Architect's Newspaper.
What Happens Next
The project team is slated to present the preliminary specific-plan application to the Metro Planning Commission on Thursday, May 28, which serves as the next formal milestone in the approval process. If commissioners grant preliminary approval, the developer would move into detailed site-plan and building-permit review with Metro’s planning and codes departments, where items such as setbacks, exterior materials, and streetscape treatments typically get negotiated and refined.
What It Means For The Local Shop
Plaza Artist Materials still lists a Nashville storefront at 1205 2nd Ave N on its official store page, and local directories continue to reference the Germantown location, per the store’s site. Plaza Artist Materials shows the address, while commercial records and listings indicate the property has been marketed in recent years and remains tied to a commercial parcel, according to LoopNet.
Neither the filing nor public records on the listing spell out a relocation plan for the shop, so artists and small-business advocates will likely be watching the planning docket closely for any hints about preservation or transition strategies. We will follow the Metro Planning Commission hearing and share updates after commissioners weigh the preliminary plan.
