Piggly art

2900 West End Ave. as seen in May 2019

The site of the West End Avenue building home to a Piggly Wiggly grocery store is being considered for redevelopment with a mixed-use building.

Nashville-based H.G. Hill Realty Company owns the grocery building and an empty adjacent structure, with the main address 2900 West End Ave. Included in the real estate holding is a large surface parking lot that runs along 29th Avenue North.

Hill Realty has owned the three-parcel, 1.48-acre site since 1923, according to Metro records. The existing building was constructed in 1950s. Independent grocery stores have operated in the building since 1970, using brands such as  Bi Rite, Apple Market and Piggly Wiggly.

Recently, Hill filed a water and sewer capacity study with Metro. The document notes 36 studio units, 164 one-bedroom residences, 83 two-bedroom units, 18 three-bedroom residences, a swimming pool and 6,000 square feet of retail space.

Any future building would not rise on the sites of the structures accommodating, among other businesses, Indian restaurant Bombay Palace, fashion retailer UAL and Wilson Bank & Trust, as those are owned by non-Hill Realty entities. To the immediate north of the site sits a Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel.

Jimmy Granbery, H.G. Hill Realty chair and CEO, said the effort is in the early stages. He declined to offers specifics such as the possible architect, number of floors and start date.

"Our property located on West End is a highly desirable location at the intersection of 29th Avenue North and West End," Granbery said. "Pre-pandemic, we had a hotel deal that obviously did not come to fruition. We are now exploring all options with our development partners and have no signed deal to date. What we do know is that the site will be built on the existing land and to existing zoning with no requested changes or entitlements.”