The Echo Restaurant Era Begins in Encore Condos

Penthouses for Sale in Belle Meade Today, March 7th, construction has begun in the street-level retail space of Encore condominiums in preparation for the restaurant, Echo. Echo is renowned restaurateur and chef Deb Paquette’s latest submission to the Nashville restaurant scene. Slated to open in the fall of 2012, the 4,000 square foot space will seat 150 patrons and offer a private dining room, full bar, outdoor patio and an open kitchen with bar seating, allowing guest to interact with the much celebrated chef.

Paquette, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has been featured in Bon Appetit, Southern Living and on the Discovery Channel’s Best Chefs of the South. Gourmet Magazine named Zola, Paquette’s last venture, one of the 60 best restaurants in the United States. Furthermore, Paquette has been named “Best Chef” in Nashville a record 16 times by the Nashville Scene readers poll. As an Encore condo owner, I feel very lucky to have such a notable Chef coming to my building and am very proud to see Nashville back on the culinary map.

Will Echo Affect Encore Condo Pricing?

You better believe it.

The Encore features 333 condos with a little more than 20,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Up until now, that retail space has remained 100% unoccupied. It is a proven fact that condo sales are amplified by attractive, well liked and utilized retail space. This fact has been proven out by other developers who have “seeded” their retail space with upscale dinning and shopping establishments. For example, when the Icon condos seeded their retail space with Casablanca Coffee, Cantina Laredo, Urban Flats and Cashmere Salonspa, sales experienced a significant jolt. When sales began to lag in the Gulch, master developer MarketStreet attracted urban grocer Turnip Truck and the rest is condo price increase history.

Echo is simply the beginning for the Encore. I have it on good authority that a local coffee house is considering opening a satellite location in the northeast corner of the building, adjacent to the Pinnacle building. With the impending completion of the Music City Center and Omni Hotel in 2013, I suspect more than 80% of the Encore retail space will be leased within the next twelve months.

Encore Condo Prices Will Increase

The developer only has 6 condos left to sell. Yes, those are listed at a lower price than condo owners would like, but once those condos are sold it will be up to owners to determine the new pricing. Typically, once a high-rise condo project is sold out, there is a natural 4-8% bump in price that occurs immediately as a result of no longer competing with the developer. Moreover, there is NO new condo supply coming to the market in the foreseeable future. The fact that the condo supply will remain static coupled by the fact that demand has not slowed will ultimately lead to a significant price increase in the Encore. Pressed to make a prediction, I would say that Encore pricing may appreciate as much as 18% by the end of 2013.

If you are considering a purchase in the Encore, there may not be a more opportune time to make your purchase a reality. The sales volume and velocity of downtown Nashville condos has been increasing for the past 7 months straight. Inevitably, price will begin to increase very soon as it has in buildings like the Icon and Adelicia.