Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–A groundbreaking ceremony was held in the Buchanan Arts District where Crossroads Campus will erect a new residential and retail complex at 1601 and 1603 Buchanan Street.
The nonprofit has operated out of its 4,700 square-foot facility at 707 Monroe St. in Germantown since March 2013, working to better the lives of people and pets “through the healing power of the human-animal bond.”
Crossroads Campus will create 22 units of affordable housing for young adults facing homelessness, along with program and commercial space that will be used to operate nonprofit social enterprises (such as grooming services, a dog treat bakery and cat cafe).
Homeless cats and dogs are cared for at the current facility by the young adults until good homes are found for the animals. This will continue when the new facility is completed.
The ceremony, emceed by Nashville DJ Robert Luke, featured greetings from Crossroads Executive Director Lisa Stetar. She was followed by Crossroads alumnus Tristan Slough, Nashville Mayor John Cooper, Tennessee General Assembly Representative Harold M. Love, Jr., Metro Council Member (and Crossroads dog adopter) Brandon Taylor and Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) Housing Program Manager Toni Shaw.
Demolition of an existing building and construction on the first two buildings is slated to be completed in Sept. 2022. Another building that currently occupies the lot at 1601 Buchanan will be demolished to make room for a third building at a future date. The architect for the project is the Nashville office of Columbus, Ohio-based Moody Nolan; construction will be led by the locally based Carter Group.
According to CEO Lisa Stetar, “Our expansion project is an integral part of a community wide effort to address youth homelessness in Nashville and was specifically named as one of the community’s strategies in Nashville’s 2019 Coordinated Community Plan to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness.
“Our project not only responds to the dire need for affordable housing for young adults in our community,” Stetar said, “but will also provide paid job training, employment and intensive support services to help our young people remain stably housed and provide them with opportunities that can lead to more sustainable futures.”
