Nashville’s Convention Center Authority, which operates Music City Center, is expanding its parking capacity. 

The agency on Wednesday closed on a $4.95 million purchase of a lot a few blocks from the convention center in SoBro, next to Primings Cigar Lounge. 

The property, at the corner of Elm Street and Fourth Avenue South, houses a vacant warehouse next to two parking lots the agency bought in 2017 and 2018.  

“We now own three parcels,” said Charles Starks, CEO of the Nashville Convention Center Authority. “We’ve been looking at creating a marshalling yard and additional parking relatively close to us to stage trailers.”

Conventions at Music City Center routinely require hundreds of truck shipments. Holding areas for the vehicles can be difficult to organize, so the lots will be used to help stage the truck deliveries, Starks said. 

In the longer term, the properties may be used for a downtown transit hub.

“MTA has expressed an interest, depending on how quickly transit moves along,” Starks said. “The beauty of location is it connects to other areas of transportation. There’s a Greyhound bus station across the street.”