The Listening Room Founder Plans New Hotel and Music Venue in Nashville’s Pie Town
The owner of a well-known downtown Nashville music venue is looking to expand the brand with plans for a new hotel development in the city’s rapidly growing Pie Town neighborhood.
Chris Blair, founder of The Listening Room Cafe, has submitted plans to the Metro Planning Department for a project called The Listening Room Hotel. The proposed development would be located at 801 Ewing Avenue, just a short distance from the venue’s current home on Fourth Avenue South.
The seven-story project is designed to include 151 hotel rooms, nearly 13,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a two-story music venue. According to planning documents, the venue, which would continue operating under The Listening Room Cafe name, is expected to span approximately 23,000 square feet and include mezzanine seating and suite-style spaces.
The project appears to signal a potential relocation of the existing Listening Room Cafe, which currently operates out of leased space owned by local real estate investor Treg Warner. Blair noted that the development is still in the planning phase and that the team is actively seeking partners who align with their vision.
In a statement, Blair said the Listening Room brand has grown steadily over the past two decades and expressed excitement about the opportunity to create a new destination that highlights songwriters and live music in the heart of Nashville.
The development is being designed by Nashville-based Comma Designworks and is expected to feature a 127-space parking garage, a courtyard, and a rooftop restaurant and bar.
An LLC tied to Blair purchased the 0.51-acre property for the project in 2023 for $9.45 million. While relocation plans have not been officially confirmed, sources have previously indicated that moving the venue is likely.
The Listening Room Cafe has relocated several times since it was founded in 2006, with previous locations in Franklin, Cummins Station, and other spots in downtown Nashville before settling at its current Fourth Avenue location.
The proposed hotel and venue project is planned for an area of downtown that is undergoing significant redevelopment. Pie Town, located just east of the Gulch and south of Korean Veterans Boulevard, has become a hotspot for new investment, with multiple residential, hotel, and retail projects already in progress.
Among those developments is a 32-story apartment tower known as Ray Nashville, along with additional retail and restaurant concepts from both local and out-of-town groups.
The Listening Room Hotel proposal is scheduled to go before the Metro Planning Department for approval on April 23.
