Luxury penthouse offered atop 102-year-old Brodnax Building
The crowning jewel of Downtown’s Brodnax Building — built 102 years ago to house Brodnax Jewelers — is also the last of the ornate structure’s four condos still available for sale.
The 2,300-square-foot Penthouse No. 501 occupies the entire fifth floor of the building best known for Flight, the ground-level restaurant anchoring the southwest corner of Main and Monroe.
In between are second-floor office spaces that Flight uses for special events, two third-floor condos and a condo that takes all of the fourth floor.
The residential spaces were rented as apartments for years after developers Gail Palmer-House and her husband
John Prine already has concrete plans for the afterlife. “I’m gonna have a cocktail: vodka and ginger ale / Gonna smoke a cigarette that’s nine miles long,” he sings on “When I Get to Heaven,” the final, rollicking track on stellar new album “The Tree of Forgiveness,” due out April 13 on his own Oh Boy Records.
A cold, rainy March afternoon in Nashville is far from heavenly, but at Germantown Cafe — located just a few blocks away from his Butcher Shoppe Recording Studio — Prine orders that drink, which he dubbed the “Handsome Johnny” a few decades back.
Next to him on the bench seat is a cane, a souvenir from his recent knee surgery. With two knee replacements, a hip replacement and hardware in his elbow, he’s Nashville’s bionic man. “All the TSA guys know me,” said the masterful singer-songwriter, whose compositions have been recorded by artists like Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Roy Acuff and Miranda Lambert.
Penthouse occupies the entire fifth floor of the 102-year-old Brodnax Building in Downtown Memphis. Originally the home of Brodnax Jewelers, the building anchors the southwest corner of Main and Monroe. The condo’s windows brighten the rooms with sunlight and frame views of Downtown’s tall buildings and street activity below. The penthouse features hardwood floors, chef’s kitchen, an entertainment bar, a luxury master bath, access to the roof deck, and direct-elevator service. $599,000 (Monthly homeowner association fee is $498.) Realtor Chris Garland, Garland Company Real Estate (901) 338-3226
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James House bought the vacant building in 2002, and renovated most of it by 2004 and the penthouse by 2008. They converted the units to condos and sold them in the last year or so.
That fourth-floor unit sold in 2016 as did one of the third-floor units. The other third-floor condo is under contract.
The two-bedroom, two-bath penthouse had been on the market earlier, but was removed to focus on the sales of the other condos, said listing agent Chris Garland of Garland Company Real Estate. The top-floor unit was returned to the market about a month ago, he said.
With a $599,000 list price, the property qualifies as a luxury apartment in many ways.
As luxurious as the direct-access elevator, hardwood floors, 14-foot-tall ceiling, granite counters and gourmet kitchen are, several other qualities stand out.
The penthouse’s main, open space encompasses the living room and dining room on one level, and kitchen and entertainment bar are perched two steps higher on a curved platform.
The entire open space is surrounded by huge windows that admit soft sunlight and views from three sides: To the north is Brinkley Plaza; to the east is the William Len Building and One Commerce Square tower; to the south is a panoramic view of core Downtown’s south side, and below are Monroe and Main street activities that should soon again include the trolleys.
“Tons of natural light,” Garland said. “No direct light. Not hard sunlight coming in with sunrise or sunset. But the unit is constantly filled with light. You don’t have any lights on, and you don’t really need them in the daytime.”
The wall between the master bedroom and master bath features a glassed-in, rectangular opening housing a gas fireplace, so that the fireplace serves both the bedroom and bathroom.
Next to the tub is a shower designed so that neither a shower door nor curtain is needed to contain the splashing water.
“This is kind of an open, Europeanstyle bathroom,” Garland said of the marble and granite space.
The kitchen is designed in what Garland describes as “stages.”
Built into the back wall are the refrigerator, ovens and microwaves. Opposite those is an island with the sink and gas range. And beyond that — closer to the living room — is an entertainment island that houses a wet bar, wine refrigerator, ice maker, beverage refrigerator, and counter for bar stools.
“People can sit there when you’re entertaining,” Garland said. “It’s really a big, entertaining space.”