As Nashville continues to grow, rising property values and housing costs are putting increasing pressure on longtime residents, particularly in historically Black neighborhoods such as Bordeaux and North Nashville.
A group of eight community leaders is working to make sure redevelopment in Bordeaux benefits the people who already call the community home.
The Big Bold Bordeaux Vision, or 3BV, is a community-led initiative focused on housing, economic opportunity, health and cultural preservation. Organizers hope to use hundreds of acres of publicly owned land to create a model for redevelopment that limits displacement while giving residents a greater voice in their neighborhood’s future.
Bordeaux is approximately 58% African American, and organizers say the community has experienced decades of economic disinvestment and health inequities. As Nashville expands, they are concerned that increasing land values could price more longtime residents out of the area.
Vickie Harris, founder/CEO of the nonprofit Community ConneXor and a member of the initiative’s founding board, said the group is working to establish a “whole-person community land trust” involving approximately 494 acres of Metro-owned property, including part of the former Bordeaux landfill.
“We see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to initiate a community-driven initiative to assess the land and to co-design with the community what they would like in the community,” Harris said.
Federal restrictions affecting the property are expected to expire next year, potentially opening the door to redevelopment.
Rather than allowing the land to simply enter the private market, 3BV wants a community land trust to maintain long-term stewardship. Under the concept, land can be held by a nonprofit organization while homes and other improvements are developed for community use. The approach can help insulate property from speculation and preserve affordability over time.
The idea is consistent with Nashville’s broader Unified Housing Strategy, which specifically identifies community land trusts and long-term ground leases as tools for creating long-term or permanently affordable housing.
Harris said the Bordeaux initiative would go beyond housing. Organizers envision working with existing community organizations to develop homes, commercial space for small businesses, green spaces, supportive services and a cultural center while preserving the neighborhood’s history.
“We want to develop and maintain a balanced inventory of housing types, including a mix of rental and ownership options at various price points,” Harris said. “Really want to focus on that missing middle market to support the residents currently being priced out of North Nashville.”
Housing affordability has become a growing problem throughout Davidson County. Metro’s Unified Housing Strategy found that home values have increased more than 40% since 2019 while incomes increased only 19%, putting homeownership increasingly out of reach for households earning less than $100,000.
The problem is particularly acute for Black and Hispanic families, according to the report. It also found that rising housing costs and redevelopment are increasing the risk that longtime residents will be displaced from their neighborhoods.
Metro estimates Nashville will need approximately 90,000 additional homes during the next decade to accommodate projected population growth of more than 175,000 people. About 20,000 of those homes would need to be affordable to households earning 60% or less of the area median income.
For Big Bold Bordeaux Vision, however, housing is only one part of the equation. The organization describes its goal as creating the conditions necessary for residents to thrive, connecting stable housing with health, economic opportunity, community services and neighborhood identity.
Harris said community conditions ultimately have a major influence on residents’ health and quality of life. The initiative therefore seeks to address development and health disparities together rather than treating them as separate issues.
The founding board includes Carlina Bell, Marshall Crawford, Dr. Michelle Cummings Steele, Calvin Dunning II, Harris, Dan Lane, Kerry McKibbens and Andy Zhu.
Organizers say putting residents in the role of co-designers (rather than simply reacting to development after it arrives) could provide Bordeaux with a different path as Nashville continues to grow.
The goal is not to prevent investment, but to ensure revitalization does not come at the expense of the people and culture that have long defined the community.
(Portions of this story were supplied by Tennessee News Service.)
