Nashville’s latest back-and-forth feud is between Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Music City news station FOX 17. Chances are you’ve heard of the property tax problem that many local business owners in downtown Nashville are trying to navigate at the moment. Basically, the new property appraisals that were completed in 2024 have raised property taxes to heights that have never been seen before. So high, in fact, that many Broadway staples are in danger of closing their doors.
It’s no secret that Nashville’s growth has been astronomical, and that growth has resulted in property value – specifically in Davidson County, where the city of Nashville is located – to rise over 40%. You might think, “Oh, that’s great! People’s property is worth more now.” That might be true, but the hidden negative that comes with it: property taxes rise with property value.
Because of the rising property taxes, some locally owned businesses that are located in the downtown area feel as though they are being taxed like corporations just because they are located in a prime location. And one Broadway bar owner is sounding the alarm about the tax increases, and letting it be known that he might not be able to keep his iconic location open much longer.
Acme Feed and Seed, located at 1st and Broadway – right at the end of the bustling street that brings millions of tourists in each year. 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 and keep it alive for generations to come.
As more and more corporate bars and businesses have moved onto Broadway, Acme has stood strong as one of the few locally owned bars in the area, and one of the only ones that still allows country artists to play their own, original music. It’d be an absolute shame if Morales closed down his establishment, but as he told FOX 17 in Nashville, the property tax increase of nearly half a million dollars in a single year is somewhat tying his hands with the decision:
“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.”
That’s sad enough… and when FOX 17 ran their original story, it was a quote they included from Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell that got most of the attention.
When asked about the predicament that locally owned establishments were being put in by the rise in property taxes, Mayor O’Connell didn’t seem too worried about a local business owner being forced out in favor of out-of-town developers with more money than they know what to do with. In fact, his response certainly came off as… well, not caring much at all about the matter:
“It’s not up to me whether he keeps that business open. The market evolves. New businesses start even as beloved old businesses close.”
Yeesh.
As you might imagine, that wasn’t exactly the answer that many Nashvillians who care about local businesses and preserving what’s left of “Old Nashville” were hoping for. One city council member even condemned the way Mayor O’Connell handled the question, and said it was the job of those holding public office to fight for local business owners.
Nashville’s mayor has since come out and said he was misrepresented by FOX 17 News. So how did FOX 17 respond? In classic “roll the tape” fashion, that’s how. The local news station pulled back the curtain on the entire interview response from O’Connell, and instead of the three sentences they used in their story… they shared the video of Mayor O’Connell’s response in it’s entirety.
Though it might provide a tad bit of context, Freddie O’Connell’s answer to question revolving around property tax concerns still very much screamed “tough luck.” The mayor did compliment the Acme Feed and Seed owner for how he’s been able to handle multiple businesses throughout Nashville, but O’Connell still gave off a “that’s up to the business owners to navigate that problem” vibe.
Here’s the full quote from the mayor:
“Well, I mean, I think the hard part for all of us in moments like this, I’m happy to invite the assessor up because, you know, this is a combination of how these things work, but we’ve had the comptroller review these valuations and the comptrollers has determined that downtown’s valuations are reflecting a market value at this point.
It’s an incredibly valuable piece of property. And my understanding is Tom has already entertained some significant offers recognizing that value. So, it’s not up to me whether he is going to keep that business open. It’s up to him as a property owner to determine how to capture the value that’s inherent in the property…
I’ve known Tom for years, it’s been a challenge. I know he opened 5th and Woolworth several years ago and not all of these businesses based on the model, based on timing and the market are possible for survival. I know every landlord has a different approach to this as commercial property owners.
Some of them have you know triple net leases and there are a bunch of different ways for this to work out again. I don’t… I think this is a tough one because you look at businesses all along Broadway, all along Second Avenue, you look the volume of transactions that are there and the prices people are willing to pay for property and it’s tough, it’s competitive.
It’s a place where a lot of people want to be and the market evolves and you know we see new businesses starting even as old businesses, in some cases beloved old businesses are closing. We want to keep as many people enjoying parts of Nashville. We’ve seen other nearby businesses, Arnold’s go through it where they at first thought they were going to sell reopened. I’m sure Tom’s been a creative entrepreneur for a long time, and one single business owner and a bunch of different businesses are going to find a way to thrive in Nashville.”
Doesn’t sound like Mayor O’Connell would be too saddened by “beloved old businesses” closing…
Shoutout to FOX 17 for basically throwing the challenge flag and sending this latest uproar to instant replay. You can watch that very replay below and see what you think about the response from Music City’s mayor:
