As living in Nashville gets more expensive — some pockets of homes are still affordable and they’re growing. There is a lot of construction underway in Madison, particularly residential.

District 8 Metro Councilwoman Nancy VanReece says she hopes residents realize that “development is happening for them—not to them.”

“You’re still going to be able to buy a quarter-acre, half-acre, one-acre lot home. Ranch houses are here to stay in Madison,” VanReece says. “But we need to build that density for the sake of the city, for the sake of the diversity of product, and for our businesses to be able to grow and thrive and to have more customers — and so, we want those people moving to Nashville to be looking at Madison as an excellent place to come and live.”

Residential and business growth go hand-in-hand, VanReece explains. 

“Whenever you’re knocking on the door talking to a constituent here in Nashville or in Madison saying, ‘What do you want?’ [People say] ‘Well, we want a better restaurant, we want a better place to shop, we want to be able to walk to stuff like they do in this part of town or that part of town,” VanReece says. “And all that has to do with rooftops, right? So with rooftops, with families, with new people moving here comes more business and more opportunities. So I’m anticipating the commercial growth to start catching up with the residential development as well.”

City planners and developers are being careful to keep the “Nashville momentum” going, while also preserving what’s already in Madison.

“It’s an economic decision for developers, right, and it’s like the land cost is still affordable north of Briley Parkway for about a minute,” Councilmember VanReece told News 2. “Smart folks came and looked at open property that was not yet developed. […] By being able to maintain the conservation overlays [and] put trails and green spaces in each, these developments have been welcome, and we’ve had every single one of these new zonings over the last 36 months has gone through on consent with full community support.”

So what can you expect to see soon in Madison? 

“All the activity that’s happening around Skyline Hospital — you’ve seen our $69 million investment in Skyline itself, back behind we’ve changed the name of Old Due West Avenue to Skyline Ridge Drive,” VanReece said. “260 apartments are going in across the street from Music City Solar back there, which will be extremely exciting.”

MORE: Tristar Skyline Medical Center to undergo expansion project

Another apartment complex, Altitude 41, is going in on the Dickerson Pike side of the hospital, VanReece said. A new hotel and a pizza place are also in the final stages of construction. 

According to VanReece, a second hotel and more commercial properties are also part of the footprint near Skyline. 

VanReece told New 2  she wants to see people who live in her district shopping and spending more family time in Madison, too. She doesn’t think people should have to go to a surrounding community. 

For Nashvillians looking for a new home, she says, you can still buy one in Madison for a reasonable price that has a nice-sized yard and isn’t surrounded by short-term rental properties. 

Financial assistance is available through THDA for first-time homebuyers in certain zip codes, and 37115, Madison, is one of them. To get more information about assistance, click here.