Commercial real-estate agents, at least those hawking office space in existing properties, can’t be excited to hear the news that the Signature Tower is rightsizing by eliminating half of its condos in favor of other tenants:

Developer Tony Giarratana plans to eliminate more than half of the condos in his proposed 70-story skyscraper, Signature Tower, in a bid to find financing for the project amid a weak real estate market. Giarratana said in an interview that he has decided to cut out 25 floors of condos and will replace them with another business — possibly offices or more hotel rooms — to keep the tower at its proposed height of more than 1,000 feet.

Given that there’s already an excess of vacant office space downtown, the addition of even more — and in a glamorous new building, no less — doesn’t bode well for anyone looking to fill current space. If the tower is built, will it come at the expense of other properties in town? Maybe not, since the economy may well have improved by the time tenants move into the tower (2011 at the earliest), but we’ll see.

I’m pleased to learn that Vanderbilt University is announcing plans today for renovations and upgrades to Dudley Field, Memorial Gym and Hawkins Field. Improvements to Dudley Field, in particular, are long overdue. The rendering published in today’s Tennessean (above) showcases some appealing aesthetic changes to the stadium facade, but I think what’s needed most is a change in stadium seating. I’d love to see the university exchange 3,000 to 5,000 seats of capacity in the current minimalist metal bleachers for folding plastic chairs common at more modern sporting venues. Short of razing the stadium to the ground and exorcising its many gridiron demons before starting over from scratch, this would be a welcome upgrade for Commodore football fans.

Three locals, self-described as “one blacksmith, one woodworker and one potter” are headed to Austin, Texas, tomorrow for the annual Burning Flipside alternative arts and performance festival for a week of counterculture entertainment and excitement. (Flipside is a regional event associated with the better-known Burning Man festival in Nevada.) They have an extra ticket and room for two more people in their car. Email Serra at svbfels[at]gmail.com if you’re interested.

Regional Burning Man events are held across the country and around the world but, alas, not in Tennessee. If you can’t manage a trip to Austin this weekend, there are events held annually in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Missouri, too.

Not yet, but soon. My wife and I are headed to sunny Cozumel, Mexico, in the morning. I’ll be intentionally unplugged for the next several days. See you on the other side.

I thought it was interesting to see The Tennessean cover the increasing difficulty of commercial construction in the wake of a sputtering national economy without mentioning any news about the Signature Tower, the largest proposed commercial construction project in the city.

Like West End Summit developer Alex Palmer, tower developer Tony Giarratana is having to sell more of his planned property than lenders were requiring as recently as a couple of years ago. (It was easy to see this coming a couple of months ago, since activity at the property hass stalled.) It’s strange to read The Tennessean story’s paragraph that seems to beg for an update on the tower’s sales push and not find one following:

While commercial construction continues unabated in the suburbs, these big downtown projects are facing tougher questions than ever about pre-sale requirements, long-term prospects and how likely developers are to pay up if their plans fail, commercial brokers and developers said. “It’s not the small projects, the 10 to 15 million dollar buildings. Those are being financed by local institutions,” said Mark Bloom, a downtown hotel and condo developer. “It’s the large projects where you start talking $100 million and up where you’re at the mercy of the global investment market.”

The Signature Tower’s sales push was announced in mid-March, but The Tennessean hasn’t covered the building (or Giarratana) since February. The tower’s Web site has a listing of media coverage, too, but omits this Fox-17 story from last month reporting that groundbreaking is nearly one-year overdue. In that story, Giarratana says that the very earliest the tower could open is late 2011, contrary to the “Your Neighborhood in 2010″ signage currently at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Church Street.

I’d like to see the tower and West End Summit rise from the ground, but I’m still curious whether they will.

Only time will tell if the City Paper’s Mark McGee is on the money about the Preds: “Now, buoyed by the new ownership group, a drastic change in the marketing plan, a new lease agreement and a fourth straight trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs, this is a team with a bright-looking future.”

I sure hope McGee is right, but it will be awhile before we know for sure. I’m encouraged by the fan response during the end of the regular season and the playoffs and the rising attendance numbers down the stretch. I’m relieved that the new ownership group appears to understand that now is not the time to rest on any laurels:

“Honestly, the number we talk about is not 14,000,” said David Freeman, head of the ownership group. “Our expectation is that we’re shooting in the 15,000 to 16,000 range. We have that much confidence in what this franchise has accomplished in a very short period of time and where we can go from here.”

It remains to be seen whether Nashville will maintain the firm grip it now has on its second chance with the NHL. I want this team to be in town for the long haul and for a long, long time, and I hope there are many people locally who agree … and are willing to continue buying tickets to prove it. I’m pleased that last year’s crisis is in the rearview mirror, and I’m hoping the rekindled fan support can survive–and thrive–when it’s no longer an emergency situation.  Go Preds!!