ashville is known for its neighborhood commercial districts. We all know the names - Hillsboro Village, The Gulch, Edgehill, 12 South, Five Points. They're all know for their restaurants, bars, parks and historic buildings.
We situate Dragon Park's venues in these great Nashville neighborhoods. And we're particularly excited about the emergence of Clementine's, because its our own but we also think its pretty unique. For starters, the location suits us - we're in Sylvan Park and on the the edge of The Nations neighborhood, and minutes from downtown and midtown/ Vanderbilt. But it's the historic buildings that front a city park that captured our imagination.
So far, this stretch of Charlotte Avenue has defied being named. We're out to change that. Our vote is for calling it the LOTTE District.
Some history
This historic stretch was intended to become the town center for West Nashville (but called New Town by residents), a city separate from Nashville that was platted in 1889. Richland Park was to be the town square. A parcel was given to a church to build on every block fronting the square. One of these, what I think of as a smaller version of the Ryman (and for which I have another story), was razed several years ago for new apartments at the corner of 46th Street (Murphy Rd). After that unfortunate precedent, this seemed to be the fate of the remaining two churches. The Dark Horse Theater, however, still operates out of one on the corner of 47th, and we occupy the second.
When we purchased the West Nashville United Methodist church in 2017, this section of Charlotte was tired and a bit sketchy, or what realtors call emerging. Thrift stores and industrial tenants dominated.
With the development of Clementine, we continued the historic streetscape which had buildings situated right to the street. This makes the environment more human scale and I think that's why many us us prefer historic districts.
Things began to speed up after we sold the church's Memorial Hall to chef John Stephenson, who redeveloped his property at the same time and opened the restaurant Hathorne to great acclaim. John also continued the streetscape by constructing an outdoor dining patio. Now Hathorne's elevated presence makes for a great neighbor but also a good spot for after event drinks as they are noted for their late night happy hour, appropriately called Joyful Hour.
Why LOTTE?
Young people, who may not have grown up with the name Charlotte when it was common, may be unaware that Lotte is the shortened form of Charlotte. We think It's neither affected in a big city sort of way (WeHo, SoBro) or too literal a name (12 South).
What's happened since Clementine Hall opened?
Seemely every day a new large apartment, hotel, or mixed-use development is announced just outside of our LOTTE district. But things are happening quickly within it as well. In addition to Hathorne, Hugh Baby's opened in 2019 and Nashville's urban grocer, The Turnip Truck, opened in 2020. Streetcar Taps and Garden, a taproom and restaurant, opened in 2023 and is leading the redevelopment of the historic retail storefronts.
