Kirkpatrick Park Apartments Grand Opening marks first Envision Cayce's mixed income development in Nashville

L-R: State Senator Brenda Gilmore, Mayor David Briley and HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett Photo credit: MDHA.

L-R: Metro City Councilman, HUD Construction Analyst Howard Roberts, MDHA Executive Director Jim Harbison, HUD Nashville PIH Director Tosha LeSure, HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett, Kathy Boggs of Congressman Cooper's Office, HUD Nashville Field Office Director Sernorma Mitchell, and State Senator Brenda Gilmore Photo credit: MDHA

Kirkpatrick Park Apartments, (Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency) 94 Unit mixed use townhome-style complex. Photo credit: MDHA

Nashville Mayor David Briley, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Region IV Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett, state leaders and local officials to include Cayce Place residents and affordable housing stakeholders joined Metro Development and Housing Agency recently for the Kirkpatrick Park Apartments grand opening celebration. The new development features 94 townhomes and will house families of all incomes. "The City of Nashville and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency clearly demonstrate the kind of forward-thinking leadership and innovation necessary to address the housing affordability challenge in Nashville," said HUD Southeast Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett. "Kirkpatrick Park is an ambitious and worthwhile endeavor expanding on Cayce Place that will provide more affordable housing as a platform of stability and hopefully upward mobility for those we mutually serve."

"Creating more affordable housing so that people who already live in our city can stay in their neighborhoods and live near their work is critical as our city continues to grow. My Under One Roof 2029 initiative is the most ambitious program we've ever undertaken to build more affordable housing and supporting the Envision Cayce project is a key component of it," said Mayor David Briley. "Kirkpatrick Park Apartments is Envision Cayce's first mixed-income development, an important step forward as we know that deconcentrating poverty increases positive outcomes for everyone. I am grateful for the continued hard work of MDHA and other partners as we move forward together to address our city's affordable housing needs."

"I so appreciate the public private partnerships that MDHA is creating in Nashville with its affordable housing," said State Senator Brenda Gilmore. "Affordable Housing benefits the community in so many ways, including helping individuals to live near where they work and to continue to live in areas that they have been living in for a very long time. Most importantly, it provides a place where the city can value and appreciate diversity of race, gender, age and economic levels. Thank you MDHA for helping to make Nashville a better place."

The development, which is being constructed by RG Anderson, is being financed with a HUD insured loan, and supported by HOME funding and funding from Nashville's Capital Improvements Budget. The features and design of Kirkpatrick Park Apartments were created by Smith Gee Studio based on input from Cayce residents, neighbors, community members and stakeholders. An essential land swap with Metro Parks for nine acres at Kirkpatrick Park also made the development possible.

"My new home is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I am just overjoyed," said Cayce Place resident Geraldine Watkins. "Thank you to everyone involved in making Envision Cayce a reality. And to MDHA, thank you for keeping your promise to not only provide us with a new home, but also allowing us to help design a home we could be proud of."

Kirkpatrick Park Apartments is part of the plan to rebuild Cayce Place and create a mixed-use, mixed-income community. The Envision Cayce Master Plan calls for more than 2,000 units and ensures a one-for-one replacement of the subsidized units while adding new affordable, workforce and market-rate units. The goal of Envision Cayce is to create more than housing. It's to create a community, and that starts with MDHA's current residents.

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