Killing off one of the few locally-owned bars in downtown Nashville? Great business model for your city.
Downtown Nashville has changed quite a bit over the past decade or so. The locally owned honky tonks have been replaced by corporate owned bars, most themed after country artists and owned by giant hospitality corporations. And instead of up-and-coming country artists trying to make a name for themselves, the stages are filled with cover bands that play more pop and ’80s rock than they do country.
It’s pretty brutal.
One of the few exceptions on Broadway is Acme Feed and Seed, located at 1st Avenue at the end of the street. The bar was opened in 2014 in the home of the former feed store that had been a staple in downtown Nashville for more than 50 years. At the time, current Acme owner Tom Morales bought the building because he wanted to revive the historic landmark:
“My heart was to save the Acme building, which is a postcard of what Nashville once was. When I saw it had been closed for 15 years, I asked, ‘How can we make it viable? How can we save this unique architecture?’ I was leading with my heart.”
And as Broadway has changed into a tourist hotspot over the past decade or so, Acme has not only remained one of the few bars downtown that feature country artists playing original music, but it’s also remained one of the few locally owned bars to survive.
It may not make it much longer though.
In an interview with FOX 17 in Nashville, Morales revealed that a property tax increase of nearly half a million dollars in a single year may force him to make the tough decision to close the Broadway landmark for good:
“It went from $129,000 a year to $600,000 a year. That’s more than our rent and net profit combined. …
We can’t pay it. It’s punitive.”
The prospect of losing one of the few remaining authentic bars in downtown Nashville should be a warning to city leaders.
But in a statement to the local news station, Mayor Freddie O’Connell doesn’t seem too worried about a local business owner being forced out in favor of out-of-town developers who would no doubt build yet another artist-themed bar to cater to tourists.
In fact, O’Connell’s response was downright heartless:
“It’s not up to me whether he keeps that business open. The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close.”
Yeah, if only the mayor were in a position to do something to help businesses…
One city council member apparently didn’t appreciate the mayor’s response either: Jacob Kupin, who represents downtown Nashville, said he was “appalled” by O’Connell’s lack of concern for local business owners like Morales.
“It’s contrary to what my district believes. It was really a disappointing message from the mayor. Our job is not to say, ‘too bad, so sad.’ Our job is to protect these businesses.”
The new property appraisals that were completed in 2024 have raised property taxes to heights that have never been seen before. Rob Mortenson, the head of the Broadway Entertainment Association, told FOX17 last fall that the rising taxes could very well spell the end for some of staples of the Broadway scene:
“These are folks that have been there for 40 years on Broadway, and, you know, they can’t pay the taxes. Their option is, I was told, we’re either going to go bankrupt or go to jail, one of the two, because we literally can’t pay the taxes.”
Layla Vartanian, the owner of Layla’s Honky Tonk on Broadway, previously said that it’s the largest property tax increase she’s seen since she opened up her bar in 1997:
“I’ve never seen an increase of any kind of property tax or any kind of tax in such a short period of time. We’re having an increase of 300-400% on these buildings down here, on our commercial buildings. Even on personal properties, residential properties, the increase is 300% and 400%.”
But luckily the fine folks in city government have a solution for struggling bar owners: Kupin previously said that they can just pass the cost on to customers.
“The building value goes up, the tax bill goes up, and most businesses can’t just eat a couple hundred thousand dollars out of nowhere. That gets passed on somewhere — whether that’s the cost of food, cutting back on employees, or, in some cases, shutting their doors because it’s too expensive.”
Surely that won’t backfire and cause people to just stop coming to Nashville.
It’s embarrassing that our city leaders don’t seem to care about local business owners who actually provide something uniquely Nashville being squeezed out by property taxes. I get that downtown real estate values have soared in recent years, but that doesn’t help bar owners who are now being faced with the prospect of having to close their doors and sell their business because of out of state developers trying to take advantage of the city’s boom.
As Morales said, it’s forcing out the last bit of authenticity left in Nashville:
“The way we survive as a city is embracing what is authentic. Tourists see through make-believe. They see a $17 drink and think ‘tourist trap.’ There are towns across America that wish they were Music City — and we’re trying to be Las Vegas. Why?”
But hey, it’s not up to Mayor Freddie O’Connell whether he closes or not. He’s got better things to do, like issuing strongly worded statements as residents wait weeks for their power to be restored after an ice storm.
What a joke. Unfortunately, Nashville will soon just be the punchline.
