Magic Johnson's Company To Invest $20 Million In Gulch, More Could Follow

Nashville Business Journal
October 11, 2007

Hall of Fame basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson said his firm has $2 billion to invest in projects around the country and he will look for additional opportunities in Nashville.

The former Los Angeles Laker was in Nashville Thursday to announce that his company Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds LLC will invest about $20 million in the Terrazzo condo project that will be built in the Gulch at the corner of 12th and Division.

But he says the 109-unit condo project could be just the beginning of his investment in Nashville.

"We've got capital, now we are looking for great opportunity," Johnson says. "We will look at it on a project-by-project basis to see what makes sense for us and what makes sense for the community."

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund is one of the nation's largest private funds focused on development in urban neighborhoods across the country. The fund has invested in cities that include Brooklyn, Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Terrazzo's developer is Charlotte, N.C.-based Crosland LLC which has divisions in Nashville, Raleigh, Orlando and Tampa.