(Editor's note: This article has been updated to accurately reflect the status of Benchmark Sound.)
A Midtown property home to recording facility OmniSound Studios — and once owned by the late and legendary country and western singer Marty Robbins — has been listed for sale for $4.25 million.
The two-parcel property has addresses of 1806 and 1808 Division St. and covers 0.34 acres. It accommodates two one-story modernist buildings.
Sounds Perfect LLC owns the property, having acquired it for $700,000 in 2007, according to Metro records. The LLC is affiliated with Texas-based Sue Caperton and Steve Caperton, who also own the OmniSound Studios business, according to state documents.
OmniSound Studios began operations in 1986 and has been involved with albums by Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton and Kenny Chesney, among others, according to its website.
Robbins, a multi-instrumentalist who acquired the property in 1978 for $105,000, according to Metro records, recorded 52 studio albums and had 100 singles. During his career, Robbins charted 17 top singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. He died in 1982 of heart complications.
The Capertons have enlisted Chad Poff, a broker and vice president with Colliers International | Nashville, to handle the marketing and sale of the property. The Post was unable to determine at publication time if the Capertons will relocate the studio once the property sells.
The 1806-1808 Division site is zoned to allow for a mixed-use building of up to 15 floors or a maximum of 20 stories if music-related uses are incorporated via the Metro Planning Department’s Music Row Vision Plan.
Over the years, the diminutive OmniSound buildings have been engulfed by taller structures, including those home to Embassy Suites, Bristol on Broadway and the under-construction Kenect Nashville.
OmniSound joins a list of local recording studio properties that have been listed for sale within the last 1.5 years.
In March, The Tracking Room — which has worked with, among others, Chet Atkins, U2 and Donna Summer, and has an address of 2 Music Circle E. — was offered for $4.1 million (read here). It has yet to sell.
In January, the Berry Hill property at 646 Iris Drive and home to Legends Studio (clients have included Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson) was relisted for sale for $1.3 million (read here). The property sold for $1.14 million in April to an LLC, Metro records show.
Somewhat relatedly, in July 2018, the property home to Music Row-based Benchmark Sound (and previously) Emerald Sound Studio at 1033 16th Ave. S. (which has seen multiple heavy-hitters — including Johnny Cash and Olivia Newton-John — record within) hit the market for $3.4 million but for only a few months. It was later taken off the market. Benchmark remains on site and operational.
“We said, ‘Why don’t we test the market out of curiosity?' ” Mark Utley, who owns the property, told the Post. "We had some pretty good responses and a buyer who wanted to go under contract at close to the asking price. We looked for a place to relocate but decided to stay put. The studio is doing well.”
