NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The historic Starr Piano Building sits in the heart of downtown on Rep. John Lewis Way.
"I mean just look at the front of the building," said Anderson Jarman, president of Jarman Development. "There's nothing like it in Nashville." That's the way he wants to keep it. "I mean — Nashville doesn't have that," he said.
So the developer bought the building for $5 million in 2021. Now construction has begun.
"And little did I know that it was one of the most historic buildings in downtown Nashville," Jarman said.
The Jesse French Piano & Organ Company Building was constructed in 1889. Nashville historian Robert Oermann said it went on to house the Starr Piano Company.
"So this would have been Nashville's first record store," said Oermann. "And this is where you would find the early records by Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Charley Patton."
On its brick facade, you can still read the words: pianos, organs.
"This is where you came to shop. This is where you got your clothes and your furniture and everything, and that building is where you got your piano because every nice home had to have a piano," said Oermann, standing on the corner of Union St. and 5th Ave N.
Now the Starr Piano Building is where you'll find something else.
"Then the decision when I was talking to my wife about it was: 'I'm going to go all AirBnB' and she's like 'Do you even know anything about AirBnB?'" Jarman said.
It will house four apartments, each with four bedrooms. The entrance of the building will feature a mezzanine.
Jarman said the building will also showcase artwork from different local artists.
"Each layer that we peel back about this building we find something new and interesting," said Jarman.
For $2,000 to $3,000 a night, you can sleep in this piece of history too.
"People really, I think, are drawn to old Nashville," said Jarman. "I mean there's not that much left. You know, if we're able to preserve it and then make it modern and make it livable — it lives another 100 years."
Construction is expected to finish next spring.
