Republican-controlled Tennessee's Population Continues to Grow As Multimillion Dollar Condos Continue to Pop up

When John Megale walked into the dark, brick-lined lobby of the old Phoenix Lofts building in Printer's Alley, he looked past its boarded-up windows and battered, musty 19th-century flooring.



The Virginia native was traveling the country to find the perfect real-estate investment after his family sold its audiology business.



The panoramic rooftop view, historic architecture and central location at 207 3rd Avenue North was just what he'd been hunting: This was his chance to get in on the ground-level of the city's emerging multi-million-dollar luxury penthouse market.



"It just seemed like all the factors were in place in Nashville to do a project like this," Megale said. "In downtown L.A. or Beverly Hills, it just wasn't affordable. A lot of those homes are $5 million just for the property."



So he paid $1.2 million to buy the top three floors of the building he dubbed "207" in 2016, and spent the next two years investing $2 million into a complete overhaul of the space.



His creation hit the market earlier this month for $3.89 million — shy of the $5 million penthouse condos for sale two blocks away at Tony Giarratana's 505 residential skyscraper and at the Icon in the Gulch.