Image Courtesy of Gresham Smith and Partners

Two emerging headquarters buildings downtown are for two HCA subsidiaries (above) and Bridgestone (below).

Image Courtesy of Perkins + Will

Nashville's downtown is moving to the beat of cranes, drills, concrete mixers and some demolition explosives as offices, hotels and residences go up in what will be a record-breaking year for construction in the city.

The action kicked up on Nov. 10-11 with back-to-back news of two major downtown projects:

• Turnberry Associates announced it would build a 35-story, 600-room JW Marriott Hotel and a 400,000-sq-ft office tower across from the Music City Center convention facility that opened a year ago.

• Bridgestone Americas plans to move its U.S. headquarters into a 514,000-sq-ft, 30-story downtown office tower to be built by Highwoods Properties.

"We've issued $1.979 billion in building permits—a new record—and we're projecting $2.2 billion by year's end," Terry Cobb, city director of development services, said on Nov. 17. The previous record, $1.8 billion, was set in 2006.

Cobb doubts either of those buildings will secure permits this year but expects a foundation permit HCA's $200-million headquarters building for two subsidiaries — Parallon Business Solutions and Sarah Cannon Research Institute. It is in the redeveloping North Gulch area, named for the L&N railroad gulch that divides downtown and midtown. The South Gulch has been a hot spot for residential, office and retail construction for approximately 15 years.

Gresham Smith & Partners, Nashville, is the architect, and Skanska, Nashville, is the general contractor for the HCA headquarters. Housing about 2,000 workers and comprising a 16-story tower and other structures, the HQ will include more than 500,000 sq ft of office space, 30,000 sq ft of retail space, a 1,900-vehicle parking garage and surface parking.

Bridgestone will move 1,100 Nashville employees and transfer 600 more from three other cities to its new tower, designed by Perkins + Will, Chicago, and built by Brasfield & Gorrie, Nashville.

Early next year, Turnberry will select a contractor for both buildings on the 3.7-acre site, says Ray Waters, the firm's hospitality division president. Arquitectonia, based in Miami, designed the project.

Other major buildings under construction downtown include the following:

•1201 Demonbreun, a $95-million, 285,000-sq-ft office tower, with ground-floor retail and 940 below- and above- ground parking spaces. Eakin Partners is the developer, Nashville-based Hastings Architecture Associates is the architect, and Brasfield & Gorrie is the contractor. Brasfield & Gorrie, which has leased space there, will move in after the 2016 completion.

• Twelve Twelve, located at 1212 Laurel St., an $80-million, 23-story, 312-unit condominium. Hensler Development Group, Nashville, and Stiles Corp., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are the developers, Hastings Architecture is the architect, and J.E. Dunn Construction is the contractor.