Nashville

Metro Planning OKs Elam Station SP: 110 Multifamily, 77 Lots

Metro Planning on Aug. 13, 2026, approved 2026SP-018-001 Elam Station at 1065 Barnes Road — about 55.6 acres for up to 110 multi-family units and 77 single-family lots, with short-term rentals prohibited.

Tracy King

03 Sep 2026 • 5 min read

Barnes Road / Mill Creek area context for the Elam Station SP — illustrative only.

Nashville’s Metropolitan Planning Commission on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, approved 2026SP-018-001 Elam Station with conditions and disapproval without all conditions, 7-0, including an added condition that the applicant work with staff at final site plan on traffic calming along public street extensions. The preliminary Specific Plan covers approximately 55.6 acres at 1065 Barnes Road — about 54 feet east of Barnes Bend Drive — for a maximum of 110 multi-family residential units and 77 single-family lots. Short-term rental properties, owner-occupied and not owner-occupied, are prohibited in the conditions.

Staff’s report in the draft minutes places the site on the south side of Barnes Road, just north of Mill Creek Park, in Council District 31, under Suburban Neighborhood Evolving (T3 NE) and Conservation policy. Existing zoning is Agricultural/Residential (AR2a). Proposed zoning is Specific Plan–Residential. The verified record is the Aug. 13 PC action, the acreage, the unit and lot caps, the STR ban, and the traffic-calming add-on.

Elam Station SP	Figure	Source
Case	2026SP-018-001 Elam Station	MPC draft minutes Aug. 13, 2026
Address / size	1065 Barnes Road; ~55.6 acres	Same
Ask	AR2a → SP; 110 multi-family units + 77 single-family lots	Same
PC action	Approve with conditions / disapprove without; 7-0; traffic calming add-on	Same
STR	Prohibited (owner-occupied and not)	Conditions
Tree canopy note	~9.68 acres preserved (~26% of site) in staff analysis	Same
Phasing (plan)	Three phases — south, central, then north	Same
30-year fixed (context)	6.66% (Freddie Mac PMMS as of Aug. 27, 2026)	Freddie Mac PMMS

What did Planning approve on Elam Station?

On Aug. 13, 2026, the Metropolitan Planning Commission approved 2026SP-018-001 Elam Station with conditions (and disapproval without all conditions), 7-0, including an added condition for traffic calming on public street extensions. The preliminary SP covers about 55.6 acres at 1065 Barnes Road for up to 110 multi-family units and 77 single-family lots. Short-term rentals are prohibited in the conditions.

Staff analysis says multi-family sits toward Barnes Road on the north while single-family lots concentrate south toward existing single-family fabric, with preserved canopy and a stream buffer separating the two. Single-family lots are described with a minimum 6,000 square feet. Building heights in the plan notes top out at 35 feet (two stories for single-family; two to three stories for multi-family). Those are plan details inside the PC file, not building permits.

Trip estimates in the minutes cite an increase of 427 daily weekday trips, including 20 AM and 25 PM peak-hour trips, versus AR2a. NDOT conditions include a left-turn lane at the Barnes Road site access with a minimum of 50 feet of storage. School-board generation in the report projects 51 additional students versus existing AR2a. Keep those figures tied to the minutes.

Does an SP recommendation reprice my southeast Nashville house?

Not by itself. A Planning Commission SP vote is a recommendation path toward Metro Council, not a closed comparable. Disclose it if a buyer asks about Barnes Road near Mill Creek Park. Price to closed comps, condition, and days on market.

Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey has the 30-year fixed averaging 6.66% as of Aug. 27, 2026. A few basis points will not reprice an Antioch, Cane Ridge, or southeast Nashville house the way a full point would. Waiting for that full point while other Davidson sellers list into the same dip is a different decision than Planning locked Elam Station unit caps on Aug. 13.

How is Elam Station different from Vanderbilt Innovation and the drone bill?

Vanderbilt Innovation SP final passage is a separate story. Drone limits BL2026-1498 is a separate public-safety zoning file. This story is Elam Station on Barnes Road — 55.6 acres, 110 multi-family units and 77 single-family lots under 2026SP-018-001.

Vanderbilt Innovation is a West End SP track already on final votes. The drone bill is BL2026-1498. Elam Station is Barnes Road housing under 2026SP-018-001. Don’t blend 187 planned homes with a university innovation district into a fake countywide density ordinance.

Can I buy the next Nashville house before this one sells?

You can write the offer. A contingent contract on a Davidson County clock is still a maybe when the next seller already has a buyer who is not waiting on an SP. Our proven system puts a written sale date under this house so the next offer is a real buyer. If you need a date certain, ask about a cash offer.

You can write the offer. A contingent contract on a Davidson County clock is still a maybe when the next seller already has a buyer who is not waiting on an SP. Our proven system puts a written sale date under this house so the next offer is a real buyer.* If you need a date certain, ask about a cash offer.

What should Barnes Road and southeast Nashville owners do this week?

Read the Aug. 13 draft minutes for unit caps, STR prohibition, tree-canopy notes, and the traffic-calming condition. Watch Metro Council calendars for the ordinance file. Price to closed comps. Start with a free home evaluation or ask about a cash offer. Call 865-365-2280.

If you own near Barnes Road or Mill Creek Park, keep the Aug. 13 unit caps, STR ban, and traffic-calming condition in the file.
Watch Metro Council calendars for the ordinance that carries the SP forward.
Price your house to closed comps — not to a preliminary SP exhibit.
Start with a home evaluation. Ask about a cash offer if timing is the problem.

Call Kings of Real Estate at 865-365-2280. Nashville-area office: 214 Overlook Circle, Brentwood. Licensed agents: $250/mo desk fee.

Council District 31 neighbors who spoke at the Aug. 13 hearing should keep the conditions list, not the hallway rumor. The Commission’s resolution package caps units, bans short-term rentals, pushes architectural elevations and glazing to final site plan, and now requires traffic-calming coordination on public street extensions. Those conditions travel with the ordinance when Metro Council takes the SP. Until Council acts, treat Elam Station as a Planning recommendation with a dated minutes file — not as a permitted project under construction.

Southeast Nashville sellers near Barnes Road, Sunnywood Drive extensions, or Mill Creek Park should watch how the left-turn-lane and half-section ROW notes on Barnes Road show up in final SP drawings. NDOT’s preliminary conditions are part of the public file. They are not a reason to slash a list price without comps. Pair the SP exhibit with the latest closed sales on similar product and age.

Franklin, Brentwood, and Spring Hill owners should not import Elam Station’s 187 planned homes into a Williamson County pricing story. This file is Davidson County Barnes Road under 2026SP-018-001. Williamson annexation and BOMA clips stay on their own posts.

What's happening in Nashville this week

Metro Council — Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, 6:30 p.m., Historic Metro Courthouse (council schedule)
Elam Station SP — PC approved Aug. 13 with conditions; watch Council for ordinance file (MPC draft minutes)
Related coverage — Vanderbilt Innovation SP final passage; drone limits BL2026-1498 (separate posts)

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*Tracy and seller must agree upon price and possession date. Kings of Real Estate, LLC DBA "Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty"