Housing Authority Places Claude Darwin Property On Market

Highlands Residential Services has placed its Claude Darwin Apartments property for sale.

The 11.5 acres off Walnut Avenue holds 32 duplexes. Director of Operations Chris Cassetty said multiple potential buyers have expressed interest in the property.

“Part of our board’s vision is to get read of a lot of these old apartment complexes,” Cassetty said. “They’re just not modern now. They’re not built the way they need to be built and even a lot of codes in some cases. So, we’re trading 65-year-old inventory for brand new inventory.”

Cassetty said the land will most likely be used for a high-end apartment complex based on the zoning. Nashville Real Estate Consultant Waddell Wright leads the efforts to find a purchaser. According to the listing and zoning, over 180 units of moderate-density multi-family, two-family or single family residential could be built on the land.

“Any time you are talking about selling property of this size, there is a due diligence period,” Cassetty said. “I expect we would have a contract signed sometime in the spring. (…) While we might very well have an agreement in place in the spring, it might be another six months before the property changes hands.”

Cassetty said the money earned from the sale will help further develop residences off Buffalo Valley Road. Cassetty said the housing authority has plans for other housing projects to go along with Oak Tree Towers and Hickory Valley.

“We have quite a bit of property that we bought over off Buffalo Valley Road, and phase one over there Oak Tree Towers is (completed),” Cassetty said. “Phase two is Hickory Valley, which will soon start vertical construction. We could have as many as another three or four phases over there. The money we get Claude Darwin will be used in those construction developments.”

Wright previously estimated the property could bring in up to $4 million.