Nashville Scored an Amazon Prize, But the Long-Term Outcomes for the City Are Less Clear

Cari Wade Gervin reports that Amazon’s announcement of an operations center coming to Nashville was met with some skepticism. Concerns have emerged about how the company’s new facility will affect Nashville, particularly around affordable housing and traffic congestion.

Amazon will be located at the Nashville Yards, a 15-acre commercial and residential development in downtown Nashville. Amazon has pointed to the $230 million investment it says the operations center will be bringing to Nashville, along with 5,000 new jobs.

“Yet [Metro Council Member Bob] Mendes questions how much tax revenue the city will see from the company, as it is renting space (and thus not paying property taxes) and that space is located in a development district where the profits from sales tax go to paying down the city’s new convention center’s bond debt,” reports Gervin.

Local activists also say they are not convinced that many of the new Amazon jobs will go to Nashville residents. In addition, the city’s housing costs are rising, and they are worried that the affordable housing shortage and gentrification will be exacerbated as high-tech workers move into Nashville.