By Kiri Lanice Walton, staff writer
kwalton@williamsonherald.com

The Town Center area — which runs along Franklin Road between Old Hickory Boulevard and Church Street in downtown Brentwood — was designated as a redevelopment zone by the city of Brentwood five years ago.

Officials and citizens hope the pedestrian-friendly town center will offer an urban mix of high-end shops, offices, restaurants and residential facilities. The vision entails buildings that are two to four stories tall, lots of trees and new open green spaces for parks.



The Board of City Commissioners wants it to be a diverse and creative blend of building-types that meet the guidelines in the pattern book they created. For an area that is seen as a significant part of Brentwood’s commercial future, Town Center has a story to tell.

How It Began
For some, Town Center is the key to continued economic stimulation in the city of Brentwood once it is completely commercially built out, which is set to happen within the next few years.

Brentwood developed its 2020 plan in 1998-99 as members of the community began to look towards the future and realize that build out of Maryland Farms office park was swiftly approaching.

“It was a community effort, lots of volunteers looking at how to develop the next 20 years,” said Brentwood City Manager Mike Walker.

“We’re almost there in Maryland Farms,” the northern commercial district of Brentwood.

Once buildout is reached, there will be few avenues to gain revenue from developer fees,

The thinking is that Town Center could increase property value in an area that was developed before incorporation and in turn increase property tax revenues, as well as generating additional sales tax revenue, for the city which will be in need of an additional revenue source once buildout is reached.

The site that is now Town Center was created “when Brentwood was just a crossroads heading out of Nashville going to Alabama before the interstate…just a little two-lane road and there were some gas stations,” Walker said. Several original buildings still stand in the area, as well as some new construction.

The area was established before Brentwood developed the standards it has today and before the city was even incorporated.

Then and Now
As of right now, there have been three buildings approved to be constructed in Town Center. One is the Stroud’s Barbecue restaurant, the other is a retail building and Pinnacle Bank will move to the corner of Franklin Road and Town Center Way.

The city administration has also taken significant measures towards progress on Town Center such as developing a “pattern book,” which is like a guide or a visual interpretation of that zoning district with standards.

Maryland Farms has requirement of 20 percent green space, which will not be required of Town Center.

The buildings can be built to the sidewalk because it will be a pedestrian-friendly district.

What Walker said is “the most significant” action the city has done was to create Town Center Way allows another east-west connection as well as opening up the interior of Town Center exposure.

They also installed a new water line, added a roundabout with a clock, which required them to buy several parcels of land from businesses and spent close to $4 million.

The city also created a new mixed-use development zoning, which is known as C-2. They also allowed higher density standard for this area than it has been in the past.

Walker said they spent a great deal of time working with property owners in an effort to change the zoning.

Though the property owners were supportive, they wanted reassurance that their property would not be condemned or taken from them.

Bobby Campbell, owner of Bobby Campbell Glass Co., has been at his current location at 134-136 Pewitt Drive since 1993, but has worked in the same vicinity since 1977.

When he first moved to Brentwood, Campbell remembers that the city began at the current intersection of Franklin Road and Old Hickory Boulevard and stopped at Church Street.

Campbell has seen the entire town change. In his 32 years in Brentwood, Maryland Farms has been built, as well as the Walgreens, different banks, Corky’s Barbecue. Exxon has remained the same.

Campbell also remembers the now demolished Town Center Way was a regular hangout for country music artists.
“I got to meet a lot of those artists: Jim Ed Brown, Eddy Arnold, Minnie Pearl, Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Rodriguez, Helen Cornelius” and others.

Campbell came to Brentwood to help save a flailing hardware store after leaving a Nashville automotive supply company after 14 years.

Campbell operated the store from 1976-1989.

“The people out here have been good to me,” Campbell said. “I appreciate it. I appreciate the people being good to me, and I love my customers.”

When he first came to his current location on Pewitt Drive, he had no inkling that  it would be the future location of Town Center.

It was not until he was notified that a new road would be constructed that he learned about the Town Center concept, Campbell said.

He, like many residents and officials of Brentwood, along with those interested in investing in Brentwood, have a vision of what Town Center may one day be.

“I’d love to see whoever succeeds me here, not in the glass business, but I’d like to see something really nice put here.”
“Top brands, top restaurants that would draw people. There’s people that could afford that and Brentwood’s got them. They’re going somewhere else to spend their money. Spend it here.”

Challenges
There are definite challenges to the progress of Town Center.

“The challenge has been that the city is not a developer. The city is not in the development business,” Walker said. “Now we can facilitate development and we can encourage development. We can set up rules on how you develop, and we can do infrastructure improvements.”

Many of the locations that have been held up as an example for Town Center had a lot less property owners when they were developing.

“The biggest challenge over there has been since day one is that there are 37 separate property owners. Some of the (parcels) aren’t very wide. (50 feet wide)” said Walker. “The challenge is to get enough land together so you can do a redevelopment.”

Campbell echoed that. “I think it’s an accident waiting to happen” because there are so many different property owners. Campbell said it would be best with one or two main owners. He said it would be best if the current property owners could vocalize their vision of the future of the property and find a viable and realistic way to see those visions unified and come to fruition.

“We need a place to sit down and talk. You need a mediator. You know, you need a mediator,” Campbell said.

City Commissioner Regina Smithson said in a past city commission meeting that the project for the town center is “developer-driven. The city is more than willing to participate, but we have lots of limitations…We wanted to start something the developers could up and run with.”



Investors Equity Holdings LLC owns seven properties, but hopes to eventually own all 53 that will make up the town center. The Brentwood company, with more than 100 Brentwood family partnerships, hopes to own all 53 portions of the land set aside for the center.

Mac Kelton of Investors Equity has been a vocal proponent of swift movement of Town Center and in February 2009, he along with others founded the Citizens for Town Center, which is an organization pushing for swifter development of the area.

“We’re real big believers in how great this can be,” Kelton said.

Kelton also said there should be a master plan developed.

Vision/future
City officials are also excited to see Town Center be completed. However, there is little else the city can do because “all this is driven by economics. It’s not driven by the city. I guess that’s the bottom line here,” Walker said.

“I never told anybody it would happen overnight,” Walker said.

Walker said city officials and department heads are always willing to listen to changes.

The Hill Center in Green Hills is one of the examples often thrown out by those who are interested in the outcome of Town Center. However, a key difference Walker points out is that there is a single property owner there.

It is a free market system, Walker said. No one can be forced to sell their property.

“And, quite frankly, there’s nothing wrong with having a place in town where you can get your lawnmower fixed or you can get your shoes fixed,” Walker said.

There are key factors that need to be covered before someone would invest in Town Center property, Walker said.

These factors are cost of land, expense of demolition, expense of design and approval of new structure. If an interested party pays a large amount for property in which a profitable business is demolished, the party would in turn most likely charge a high rent in order to get a fair return on the investment. Herein lies one of the largest challenges Town Center faces, Walker explained.

If the rent is too high no businesses can survive, Walker said.

“I think it’s going to take a bunch of money to buy the property,” Campbell said.

Campbell believes Brentwood will be built out commercially within the next two to three years.

“Most people who own this property down here, most of them don’t need the money, so they’ve got holding power…for a bigger return on their investments,” said Campbell, who had numerous request from developers interested in his property.

“They either want to pay half of it down and be a partner or want me to give it to them. Now I’m not going to do that. We’ve got to have some people who want to put some money in it and take a chance,” Campbell said. “Now the average person can’t come in here and pay the rent they’re going to have to pay on this. It’s going to take some big name companies and some nice restaurants.”

Because of the economic slowdown, developers may be able to purchase property at lower rates and then afford the subsequent expenses as well, Walker said.

Walker said he expects the city will continue to see incremental change in Town Center similar to what it has seen in the last couple of years with Stroud’s, Pinnacle and the retail building.

Campbell said he thinks once the Pinnacle building and its sister retail building are constructed, Town Center “will take off.” “We had to have something to get it started.”

Campbell envisions the Town Center Way being a place where people could come and enjoy live music or have people selling fresh produce.

“This is the best thing to ever happened to me and my family: being able to be here and stay here as long as I’ve have and the things I’ve reaped from it,” Campbell said. “I’d love to live to see this finished right here. I’d love tomorrow to see it take off. I’d sure like to be here when they have the grand opening for it because this town deserves it.”



 

Posted on: 6/25/2009