Kirkpatrick Park is the first mixed-income housing in Nashville, combining low-income, workforce, and market-rate units side-by-side. The project is the first phase of a comprehensive master plan to redevelop Cayce Place, Nashville’s largest and one of its oldest public housing developments, into a mixed-use, mixed-income community. As the keystone project for the Envision Cayce plan, Kirkpatrick Park sets the standard for high quality, financeable, mixed-income development and represents a new model for public housing in Nashville. Through a robust community engagement process, Nashville’s Metropolitan Development & Housing Agency (MDHA) committed to a one-for-one replacement of all low-income housing without displacement of existing residents. To achieve this promise, MDHA identified an adjacent underutilized public park (Kirkpatrick Park – the project’s namesake) for Phase I construction to begin. Building Phase 1 in Kirkpatrick Park enabled existing residents to remain in their homes until their new units were completed.

Due to the site’s steep topography, it was quickly determined that no single prototype design would accommodate the project’s programming. Kirkpatrick Park consists of fifteen distinct two- to three-story residential buildings with 94 one, two, three, and four-bedroom units in a variety of styles and colors, avoiding the visual repetition of most public housing of the past, and blending seamlessly into the existing historic neighborhood. All the units in Kirkpatrick Park were designed to the same market rate standards and are comprised of 36 units of PBRA (Project-Based Rental Assistance)/subsidized units, 20 Workforce Housing units with rents affordable to residents making 60-120% AMI, and 38 Market Rate Housing units. MDHA’s mixed-income financing model, in which the rents of higher-income residents help support the rents of lower-income residents, and increased density over the full public housing property, have enabled Kirkpatrick Park to project that it will be able to sustain its affordable housing indefinitely. The apartments are LEED for Homes Silver standard and feature market rate finishes and appliances in all the units, regardless of residents’ income.

Kirkpatrick Park is designed as part of a walkable, mixed-use community that encourages reduced auto dependency by facilitating walking, biking, and taking public transportation. Re-establishing the grid and providing a continuous street and sidewalk network, the design intentionally reconnects the site to the surrounding neighborhood. Convenient access points to existing transit routes are within a ¼-mile walking distance and bike parking areas are provided throughout the site. A new pedestrian-oriented street or “woonerf” allows cars to pass through and park but is designed to induce a slower pace where families and neighbors can talk or enjoy a nice walk. The woonerf has become the community’s greatest asset, acting as an epicenter of neighborhood events, hangouts, block parties, or a game of tag.  As Cayce residents are predominately minority (91% Black, 64% Female), and over half report zero income, this development represents a new model for how public housing can prioritize racial equity and inclusion.

Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Developer: Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency of Nashville, TN