OneC1TY, a healthcare- and technology-focused community under construction on 18.7 acres near Nashville, Tenn., will include a mini retail district made from 21 shipping containers, the first time in this market containers have been repurposed for such use.
The 8x40-foot containers, which are being supplied by New York-based SG Blocks, will coalesce into 8,000 sf of retail selling space, with another 4,000 sf of metal roofing between the containers. The containers will sit on concrete piers, and there will be space underneath their foundations for the installation of plumbing, electrical, and HVAC equipment. A wood deck connecting the containers “will help make everything flush,” says Ryan Doyle, oneC1TY’s general manager. He estimates the containers’ buildout will cost about $2 million.
The Nashville Post reported that Avo, a natural food restaurant, is the first announced tenant for the repurposed container space, which is being called C1TYblox.
C1TYblox should be completed by year’s end. (A local contractor, The Carter Group, is handling the construction.) Cambridge Holdings, this project’s developer, expects C1TYblox to be operational up to the final phase of oneC1TY’s buildout, which is expected to take a couple of years.
The oneC1TY project, with an estimated cost of $400 million, will have eight permanent buildings with 1 million sf of commercial, residential, research, and retail space for heathcare, life sciences and technology sectors. The first building—a four-story, 125,000-sf office space—is under construction, and two other buildings have been permitted. All of the permanent buildings will have retail on the first floor.
Doyle says the main advantages of using containers for the retail district are their flexibility and sustainability. For example, their modular interior design can be adjusted as different retail tenants move in and out. “That increases the investment life of the property,” he explains.
C1TYblox is a bit of a departure for Dallas-based Cambridge Holdings, which specializes in healthcare facilities. But Doyle says that oneC1TY represents an expansion of Cambridge’s portfolio into developing communities that promote healthy lifestyles. (It hopes to attract fitness-related retailers as tenants.) Cambridge is looking for opportunities to place similar, smaller, concepts in large cities like Dallas.
The interior design for this project includes commercial kitchens, bathrooms with showers, and a community conference center “that will be tricked out with the latest technology,” says Doyle. The campus will also include ample green space and recreational areas such as volleyball courts.
Related Stories
| Jan 13, 2015
Steven Holl unveils design for $450 million redevelopment of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts
Holl designed the campus’ north side to be a pedestrian-centered cultural hub on a lively landscape with ample underground parking.
| Jan 12, 2015
23 projects win AIA's highest architecture award
Bjarke Ingels' Danish Maritime Museum and William Rawn's Cambridge Public Library are among the winning projects.
| Jan 9, 2015
Santiago Calatrava talks with BBC about St. Nicholas Church on Ground Zero
Calatrava reveals that he wanted to retain the “tiny home” feel of the original church building that was destroyed with the twin towers on 9/11.
| Jan 9, 2015
Nonresidential construction hiring surges in December 2014
The U.S. construction industry added 48,000 jobs in December, including 22,800 jobs in nonresidential construction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate released Jan. 9.
| Jan 9, 2015
10 surprising lessons Perkins+Will has learned about workplace projects
P+W's Janice Barnes shares some of most unexpected lessons from her firm's work on office design projects, including the importance of post-occupancy evaluations and having a cohesive transition strategy for workers.
| Jan 9, 2015
Technology and media tenants, not financial companies, fill up One World Trade Center
The financial sector has almost no presence in the new tower, with creative and media companies, such as magazine publisher Conde Nast, dominating the vast majority of leased space.
| Jan 8, 2015
Microsoft shutters classic clipart gallery: Reaction from a graphic designer
Microsoft shut down its tried-and-true clipart gallery, ridding the world not only of a trope of graphic design, but a nostalgic piece of digital design history, writes HDR's Dylan Coonrad.
| Jan 8, 2015
The future of alternative work spaces: open-access markets, co-working, and in-between spaces
During the past five years, people have begun to actively seek out third places not just to get a day’s work done, but to develop businesses of a new kind and establish themselves as part of a real-time conversation of diverse entrepreneurs, writes Gensler's Shawn Gehle.
Smart Buildings | Jan 7, 2015
NIBS report: Small commercial buildings offer huge energy efficiency retrofit opportunities
The report identifies several barriers to investment in such retrofits, such as the costs and complexity associated with relatively small loan sizes, and issues many small-building owners have in understanding and trusting predicted retrofit outcomes.
| Jan 7, 2015
University of Chicago releases proposed sites for Obama library bid
There are two proposed sites for the plan, both owned by the Chicago Park District in Chicago’s South Side, near the university’s campus in Hyde Park, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
