By Nicole S. Praino
NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville hotel development company Imagine Hospitality has purchased downtown’s Morris Memorial Building for $10 million, the company confirmed to the Post.
The purchase had not been recorded by the Davidson County Register of Deeds as of publication time.
Located at 330 Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Blvd., the building was once eyed for purchase by Metro for a civil rights museum. It is designated on the National Register of Historic Places and is billed as the only building left in downtown Nashville originally associated with the Historic Black Business District. The structure was designed by Black-owned architecture firm McKissack & McKissack on land where Black people were once sold into slavery.
Earlier this week, the National Baptist Convention, which owned the building for more than a century, sold it for $6 million to an LLC managed by Michael Winarski. Winarski owns Brentwood-based WIN Building Group and WIN Development. Imagine Hospitality and Winarski’s group closed the $10 million deal on Friday.
Wisnarski could not be reached for comment.
“I love the building and the history behind it,” Imagine CEO Kal Patel said. “We want to build a boutique hotel and make sure that what we do still honors the history of the Black community.”
There have been efforts by Metro to purchase the building in the past with a push to reinvent it as a civil rights museum. Councilmembers recently have advocated for preservation because of the now-finalized sale. The administration of former Mayor John Cooper put some efforts toward acquiring the building. But a top adviser focused on the effort, Fabian Bedne, told the incoming Freddie O’Connell mayoral administration the acquisition stalled due to costly repairs needed to occupy the building.
O’Connell has said he is open to a public-private partnership of some kind and is interested in the preservation of the building. Talks between Metro and Imagine can now begin on what that partnership could look like.
“My No. 1 goal is securing the preservation of the building,” Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin, whose District 19 includes the structure, told the Post. “Additionally, I think the next steps would be speaking to the groups that have been advocating for saving the Morris Building.”
Added Kupin: “My personal goal is to make sure that this building continues to tell its story, and recognizes and appreciates what has occurred there and what it represents.
Patel said he has met with Kupin and looks forward to working with him, other councilmembers and the mayor to discuss the future of the building. He said Imagine’s priority is to restore the building and honor the history and the architecture.
“I am open to starting dialogue of ways Imagine Hospitality can partner with the city of Nashville in preserving this gem of the city,” Patel said. “Our team will be working to develop a plan and timeline for this exciting project.”
