How East Bank development will change parking for Titans fans, TPAC patrons, residents

Over the next decade, intense redevelopment will transform parking lots and industrial property along the east bank of the Cumberland River into Nashville's newest neighborhood, with housing, parks, hotels, retail and office space, capped by a brand-new stadium for the Titans and a new Tennessee Performing Arts Center facility.

Around 130 acres of city-owned land on the East Bank are mainly devoted to the current Nissan Stadium and the parking lots that surround it. The land's metamorphosis will shrink the number of available stadium-adjacent parking spaces significantly, steering patrons toward other forms of transportation and nearby parking alternatives.

The Titans anticipate the new, enclosed stadium will draw about 48 major events each year (including 10 football games), bringing an estimated 2 million people to the fledgling development zone, President and CEO Burke Nihill told The Tennessean. TPAC serves "several hundred thousand audience members each year," according to its website.

An initial 30 acres of city-owned land will be developed by The Fallon Company to ultimately include 1,550 residential units with ground-level retail, hotels, offices and a transit center for WeGo buses. The first residential building, a 300-unit income-restricted apartment complex, is slated for completion around spring 2028.

Plans for how all of these people will move in and out of the East Bank are developing. Here's what to know.

How many parking spots will be available at Nissan Stadium?

Nissan Stadium's on-campus parking offerings will drop from 7,400 spaces to around 3,700 this year.

The new stadium is under construction on former parking lots directly behind the existing Nissan Stadium, and additional lots will be used for construction staging for various developments. The new stadium is expected to open in spring 2027.

The city is required to provide at least 2,000 spaces for Titans use on game and event days, and plans to meet that requirement using existing surface parking for as long as possible.

There are 20,000 parking spaces within a mile radius of the stadium, mostly accessible by the pedestrian bridge across the river, Nihill said, and the Titans are forging partnerships to make those spaces more easily accessible to stadium patrons.

Plans for redeveloping the first 30 acres of the East Bank include enhancing the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and extending it to reach a plaza area outside the new Nissan Stadium.

What is parking at the stadium like now?

According to Nihill, not great.

In fact, parking consistently ranks as the worst aspect of Titans fans' experiences at Nissan Stadium.

"It's just a math problem," he said. "There are 7,000-ish cars arriving at about the same time and leaving at about the same time through the same two tunnels on the highway, and it's not a great experience."

Congestion getting in and out of Nissan Stadium's parking lots has led some patrons who have assigned parking to choose to park across the river and use the pedestrian bridge to get to the game instead. About half of stadium attendees already park downtown for games and events, Nihill said.

Parking Management Company, a Nashville-based company that has managed game day and event parking for Nissan Stadium for the past decade, will provide thousands of parking spaces within walking distance of the stadium, the team announced on May 8. Through the exclusive partnership, PMC lots near the stadium will serve as additional parking locations for fans on game and event days. Fans can prepay and reserve parking spots on PMC's website, with prices ranging from $15 to $60. Season parking subscriptions covering all 10 home games are also available from PMC for Titans season ticket holders (from $150 to $400).

"It's not pulling into the stadium parking lot, but it's pulling into an assigned space where they have it in advance," Nihill said. "We actually think if people can live through this paradigm shift and we can communicate this well, it's actually an improved experience."

What about tailgating?

Fans who park at the stadium can still tailgate there during football games, according to Titans spokesperson Kate Guerra.

The team also offers "tailgating" options sans vehicles at the Pinnacle TitanUp Tailgate, a free public area with live music, games, food and beverages for purchase and a photo booth. Ticketed tailgate options with all-you-can-eat food and open bars are available through companies like Tailgreeter.

The team plans to craft other options for fans as fall approaches.

Will the city build parking garages for Titans fans or TPAC patrons?

The city may ultimately choose to build a parking garage near the new Nissan Stadium to meet its 2,000-space obligation, but that would likely be several years into the future. Parking garages are expensive to build, Metro Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes said, and while surface parking remains available, there's no immediate need to finance a garage with general obligation bonds.

Mendes also said the city is moving toward right-sizing parking, preferring to devote land and resources to other uses.

"Philosophically, we are not going to rush into building a lot of structured parking garages," he said.

TPAC will be responsible for its own parking arrangements. TPAC President and CEO Jennifer Turner said parking is a "big concern" for TPAC and its patrons, but the location of the new facility (on the riverbank next to the pedestrian bridge) will "add alternative paths of travel."

"Depending on the type of amenities that are built into the East Bank, they are going to be coming early and staying late, something that they don't have the opportunity to do now," she said. "The patterns of behavior are going to change for our patrons, but we still have to keep (parking) top of mind."

Turner said TPAC will work with the Titans to coordinate schedules to alleviate congestion as much as possible. The center will also seek out partnerships (similar to its current arrangement with the Downtown Partnership shuttle program) to find new ways to serve the new location.

What parking and transportation solutions are the Titans exploring long-term?

With plans for a new East Bank mobility hub for WeGo buses and other forms of transit (think bikes, rideshare and more) adjacent to the stadium, Nihill is hopeful that public transit could become a boon for Titans fans.

"We're in conversations with WeGo ... about the big dreams" that could fit in with WeGo's expansion plans — perhaps including direct routes that stop at the stadium, Nihill said.

"It won't be in 2024, but eventually (public) transportation will be a really key way of getting people to our stadium," he said.

The team is also encouraging fans to rideshare, ride bikes or walk to the stadium.

What will parking look like in the new neighborhood surrounding the stadium?

The Fallon Company's plans for the city's first 30 acres of development bracketing the stadium include hotels, housing and office space. TPAC's new facility and a plaza adjoining the new stadium will also be located on parcels overseen by Fallon.

"Each building will be self-parked, so we'll build the amount of parking that's needed for the particular building," Fallon President Brian Awe said. "Building parking is expensive, so we want to make sure we ... accommodate what we need, but not do much more than that. What we don't want is turning a bunch of horizontal parking into a bunch of vertical parking."

Parking for the developments will likely be underground. The end goal is as little surface parking as possible.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville East Bank parking: Tennessee Titans fans guaranteed spots