What’s Next for AJ Capital with $5 billion in global assets, shaping Nashville’s Landscape
Sharing its boundaries with the historic May Hosiery Mills complex – once a thriving business generating a million socks a week, and Nashville Warehouse Co., a brand-new office structure echoing the area’s post-industrial spirit, stands a new multilevel housing complex. These recent contributions to Nashville’s urban landscape are the manifestations of AJ Capital, a Nashville-based real estate company that has been molding the city’s skyline for the last decade.
AJ Capital’s Journey in Nashville
AJ Capital, a real estate firm that relocated its headquarters from Chicago to Nashville in 2020, has been strengthening its local presence since 2014. Having its roots laid deep in Nashville, the company now manages billions of dollars in global assets, right from its Music City office. The firm has recently sold its Graduate Hotel brand to Hilton in a colossal deal worth $210 million. This year also marks the first time people will be residing in the firm’s buildings as the developer’s primary focus has been traditionally on office, retail, and hospitality buildings until now.
In the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, AJ Capital’s principal investment destination, the firm is still at work. “We feel like we’re kind of halfway through a multidecade process,” the firm’s president, Eric Hassberger, stated. “For everything to be fully operational, we’re looking at a 20-year process. That’s the way we prefer to look at things. We build things to last.”
Developments Beyond Wedgwood-Houston
But, AJ Capital’s interest goes beyond one neighborhood in Nashville. Last year, the firm made headlines with its proposal to liftover a 1960s-era shopping center located at the junction of White Bridge Pike and Harding Pike in West Nashville. After protracted controversy and debate, Nashville’s Metro Council approved the rezoning bill and soon, AJ Capital procured the land occupied by Belle Meade Plaza for $87 million. According to the plans, the redevelopment of the nearly 10-acre site would invite increased density with the addition of apartment and condominium units, hotel rooms, and retail space. The firm also aims to ensure easy pedestrian and bike access to Richland Creek and includes broad expanses of public greenspace on the property’s north side.
“When there is that much opposition, I think you know you’re doing something really important,” Hassberger added. “But we really care … we stick to our vision when we feel like we’re on the right path.”
Memoir Residential and Merritt Mansion Redevelopment – The New Phase
Now, AJ Capital has embarked on a journey to reshape the residential sector. The first residential building by AJ Capital, aptly named “Memoir”, is located right in Nashville. Following Nashville, the firm plans to introduce apartment buildings in New Orleans, Austin, Texas, Portland, Oregon, and Miami. Memoir boasts 273 units ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments with luxury-style amenities such as an outdoor pool, a pickle ball court, a putting green, sauna and cold plunge, a fitness center, and a gated dog park. The first residents of Memoir moved in on Tuesday, April 2.
As the firm wraps up the final touches on its first residential project, it is gearing up for its next phase of development in the Wedgewood-Houston area with a focus on Merritt Mansion, a Historic building purchased by AJ Capital in 2021.
“We’re really trying to put a stamp on our first multifamily project,” Hassberger said. “It’s the first time we’ll have people living in our spaces. They’ll be locals. So, we have to get it right.”
As AJ Capital strides ahead with its next phase of development, Hassberger emphasized the strong commitment of the company to the city. He stated, “We’re in it for the long haul. We’re committed. We’re not going anywhere. We want to continue to invest in the city in positive ways.”
