Tennessee State Building Commission to vote again on mixed-use development in Nashville

Tennessee officials will take another crack at speeding up the process of choosing a developer for state-owned land near the Capitol in Nashville.

The Department of General Services wants to select a master developer to turn several parking lots surrounding the Tennessee Capitol into a mixed-use development with housing, hotel, retail and state employee parking. The lots include the one on which Elon Musk’s Boring Company is building the first phase of its underground tunnel for Tesla vehicles.

Last week, the department brought a waiver before the State Building Commission that would allow General Services to skip the legislative disclosure process for the project. For public-private partnerships, the department is required by law to submit plans during the budget cycle, which the state legislature typically approves in April each year. The department did not submit anything during the 2026 legislative session.

State Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat who is not on the commission, opposed waiving the legislative disclosure during the public comment period of the commission’s meeting.

After her comments, the commission deadlocked in a 3-3 vote, then agreed to meet Monday after taking more time to review the proposal. 

TN officials want waiver to speed up process to choose developer of Nashville parking lots

Campbell said in an interview Thursday, she isn’t opposed to redeveloping the lots, but she worried the department would try to steer the contract to a specific person. 

“This is 10 acres of potentially the most valuable land in the state,” Campbell said. “Why aren’t we going through the normal process?”

The Department of General Services is also seeking a request for qualifications as part of the waiver. This type of deal differs from a request for proposals, giving the department more say in selecting the developer, something that also caught Campbell’s attention. 

Michelle Parks, a department spokesperson, said the RFQ allows the department to “identify developers with the experience and financial capacity to complete this long-term project.” 

The state would retain ownership of the property through a lease agreement with the master developer.