Lottery headquarters move to MetroCenter

The Tennessee Lottery is leaving downtown for MetroCenter, vacating its temporary space near the Capitol to take up permanent residence in the former Nortel office building.

A Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC) committee approved the site Thursday out of three choices. The list was narrowed down from 14 proposals submitted last month.

The pyramid-shaped building, located at 200 Athens Way, was the former North American headquarters of Nortel Networks. It is also called Plaza Tower and is owned by USAA Insurance of Texas.

The site was chosen over the former JC Bradford building on Commerce Street and Briley Corners, a building at the intersection of Lebanon Road and Briley Parkway in the airport area.

TELC employees will begin the move from temporary offices in the Tennessee Tower into the MetroCenter location, currently vacant, as early as Monday.

Under stipulations contained in the request for proposal (RFP), lottery employees will be housed free of rent on the eighth and ninth floors temporarily until permanent accommodations can be made on the first and second floors.

The site, while housing statewide lottery operations, will also serve as the Middle Tennessee district claim prize center.

If online tickets go on sale as projected by April, winners may claim their prizes on the first floor there.

TELC Chief Administrative Officer Steve Adams, the former state treasurer, helped in the search along with citizen advisor and real estate developer Ted Welch.

The third floor will be available for the online gaming vendor, which will be chosen in late November.

The site was recommended by Adams due to cost considerations, visibility and accessibility to major Nashville interstates. The building, located near an Interstate 65 exit, is also within one mile of I-40, I-24 and I-440.

The TELC logo, introduced earlier this week, will be displayed on the building and visible from Interstate 65.