Parmenter Realty, the owner of the Nashville City Center, has teamed up with Gresham Smith & Partners and R.C. Mathews Contractor to start work on the 475-space underground parking garage adjacent to the downtown office tower. Work on the five-story project is expected to wrap up late next year. The street-level plaza near Sixth Avenue North and Union Street also will look a little different by then.

The Randall and Sadie Baskin Center, which will house the Belmont University College of Law, has been “topped out.”

Belmont officials celebrated the official construction milestone during a ceremony Tuesday. The approximately 71,000-square-foot facility will serve as the college’s permanent home upon its completion in July.

In August 2011, the BU College of Law welcomed a charter class of 132 students representing 14 states.

“From breaking ground on this building to hiring our first faculty members to welcoming our charter class, Belmont’s College of Law has already achieved some incredible milestones,” College of Law founding Dean Jeff Kinsler said in a release. “Today we celebrate another as we ‘top out’ this building.”

The $32 million Baskin Center, located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Acklen and 15th avenues, will include a five-level underground parking garage, a high-end furnished “trial courtroom” outfitted with state-of-the-art AV equipment for mock trials, a two-story law library, three auditorium-style classrooms with tiered seating, classrooms, an appellate courtroom, faculty offices and a Grand Lobby Rotunda. 

Earl Swensson Associates and R.C. Mathews are handling design and construction, respectively.

BU officials are hoping to land silver LEED certification for the Baskin Center.