Speaker Friday, March 6, 2026
Major cities are often defined by the moments when they decide how to use their most valuable land. For Nashville, that moment is unfolding on the East Bank of the Cumberland River. This 550-acre redevelopment initiative will transform an area currently dominated by asphalt and industrial uses into a new urban district guided by a community driven vision. With development already underway and the first buildings moving toward construction, the project offers a rare opportunity to understand how Nashville is planning its future.
The Green Hills Rotary Club will welcome Ben York, Chief Executive Officer of the East Bank Development Authority, for a presentation on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 7:15 a.m. at the Boy Scout Service Center on Hillsboro Road. York will provide an inside look at the ambitious redevelopment effort underway along the East Bank of the Cumberland River, an area that currently consists largely of parking lots, industrial uses, commercial properties, and Nissan Stadium.
Spanning approximately 550 acres, the East Bank redevelopment area stretches from River North and the planned Oracle campus south to Interstate 24 and includes roughly 130 acres of Metro-owned land. The project represents one of the most significant urban redevelopment efforts in Nashville’s history, nearly ten times the size of The Gulch neighborhood. The East Bank Development Authority was established to oversee the planning, design, and implementation of this transformative initiative.
The effort grew out of a two-year community visioning process led by the Nashville Planning Department known as Imagine East Bank. The initiative included one of the most extensive community engagement efforts ever conducted by Metro Nashville and produced a vision plan built directly from the ideas and priorities of Nashville residents. The Metro Planning Commission unanimously approved the plan in October 2022.
In April 2024, Nashville’s Metro Council unanimously approved a Master Developer Agreement with The Fallon Company to develop the first 30 acres of Metro-owned land. Work is now moving forward to prepare the first two buildings for construction while the East Bank Development Authority continues to gather and analyze public feedback regarding East Bank Boulevard, a major north to south corridor that will connect surrounding neighborhoods and help shape the district’s transportation network.
York brings both technical expertise and extensive institutional knowledge to this effort. A 2005 graduate of Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, York obtained his professional engineering licensure in Tennessee in 2013. He began his career in private practice, working at both a civil site engineering firm and a geotechnical and materials testing firm before joining Metro Nashville in 2011.
During his time with Metro, York worked in the Public Works Department and later the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multi-Modal Infrastructure, where he managed the Development Section. In 2021 he joined the East Bank Program Management Team, and with his deep familiarity with the project, he was selected as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the East Bank Development Authority. The EBDA team now leads the visioning, planning, coordination, and program management of the entire redevelopment district.
For more information see https://www.nashville.gov/featured-initiatives/east-bank-development
Recent and Future Speakers
| 4/10/26 | Steve Bland, CEO WEGO Public Transit | ||
| 4/17/26 | William Jeffries, Executive Director, African American Music Museum | ||
| 4/24/26 | Eric, Editor in Chief, Nashville Business Journal | ||
| 5/1/26 | Jim Easter, Healthcare trends in 2026 | ||
| 5/8/26 | Yuri Cunza, CEO Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce |