From the Nashville Post:

Chris McCarthy will retire as president and CEO of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity at the end of this year. The nonprofit group has launched a search for a successor to McCarthy, who led the organization for eight years.

In a statement announcing McCarthy’s plans, Habitat officials called her tenure – which was marked by sixfold growth – “the biggest turnaround for a nonprofit organization in Nashville’s history.”

From the Tennessean:

Circuit Judge Joe Binkley Jr. ruled against the neighbors’ claims in both suits, a decision neighbors say they will appeal.

“We will continue to fight because this project is not in the best interest of our community,” said Kevin Rodriquez, vice president of Concerned Neighbors of Davidson County.
“When you look at the total number of homes in the concentrated area, it becomes a small housing project. Our fight is to reduce the number of bedrooms from five to three.

“We feel Habitat has not looked at it holistically to see what ills will affect our community.”
Neighbors also expressed concerns about the size of the development and say the project’s residents will increase demand on area infrastructure, bring traffic and crime to the area and may decrease property values. They also questioned why Habitat wants to build in an area that already has two of the affordable home communities.

“We applaud the single mothers that want to have a better life for the kids, and we are not objecting to them coming here, but we just want a win-win for both parties,” Rodriquez said.

Officials with Habitat for Humanity say this project will invest almost $3.5 million to provide affordable housing for those who deserve it.

“We put hard-working, quality homeowners in these homes,” said Chris McCarthy, president and chief executive officer of Nashville Area Habitat. 

Coverage from the Nashville City Paper.

The Tennessean has a story today on Habitat’s planned subdivision:

Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity has given up on 60 acres it had expected Metro government to donate for its controversial Park Preserve development, the agency’s chief executive said Monday.

Losing that land could cut the number of planned Habitat homes in the northeast Nashville subdivision from 450 to as low as 400, Habitat President and CEO Chris McCarthy said.
“At this point, in light of all the circumstances, we don’t need it,” McCarthy said. “I’d like it. It’s just not going to happen.”

The Metro Council would have to approve the transfer, which could be difficult because many people in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining about the impact the Habitat project would have. About 300 area residents turned out for a community meeting last week to air their concerns about traffic, crime and property values.

Habitat had planned to get the 60 acres of surplus land from the Metro Development and Housing Agency. But McCarthy said MDHA Executive Director Phil Ryan told her Friday that the land actually belongs to Metro’s central government – which once planned to convert it into a park – so the council has the right to decide who gets it.

“That 60 acres is out of the picture,” said Metro Councilman Walter Hunt, who met with Ryan and aides to Mayor Karl Dean earlier in the week.

220 acres still available
Habitat still plans to build on 220 acres it bought from Hardaway Construction this year for $2.2 million.

McCarthy said she doesn’t know exactly how many homes will still be possible.

Marcus Jordan, who is leading the opposition to Habitat’s plans, said the project is too big.

“People don’t want it, period,” he said. “People are going to fight to the end.”

McCarthy offered to meet with Jordan, who leads the Claymille Station Homeowners Association, and representatives of every other neighborhood that wants a say in how Park Preserve is built.

But Jordan said he doesn’t want to meet unless Habitat cancels a Metro Planning Commission hearing next week on the first phase of its plans, which would allow the nonprofit to build the first 34 houses in Park Preserve next summer.

McCarthy rejected that idea and said Habitat has consistently worked to accommodate its neighbors.

*Update: Here is the latest in today’s Tennessean.