June 26, 2018
This major Cool Springs development opens next year
June 26, 2018
The first chunk of a major mixed-use development in the Cool Springs commercial hub will open in fall 2019, now that construction has begun.
The 45-acre McEwen Northside project will initially feature an eight-story building with office space, restaurants and stores, and a 274-unit apartment complex — all across from a 2-acre park. Bell & Associates Construction, of Brentwood, will build the office and retail space. The work is beginning without tenants in hand. That is a generally riskier move showing the confidence that a developer, and its financial backers, have in a particular market.
Those are some of the new details Boyle Investment Co. and Northwood Ravin are disclosing about their project. Last month, the companies cemented $78 million of construction financing from Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. toward the total $140 million of infrastructure and commercial construction set to occur in the first phase of McEwen Northside.
By scale and price tag, the development is one of the biggest active projects in Williamson County. It is among the projects attempting to inject a more urban environment into suburban Cool Springs. The project creates new opportunity to lease space in the region’s longtime corporate office hub, and new apartments to rent in Franklin, which is one of the 10 fastest-growing large cities in the U.S.
Boyle and Northwood Ravin previously said their project would cost $270 million in full, headlined by about 750,000 square feet of office space, 580 apartments and about 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. Construction is imminent on a 150-room SpringHill Suites in the development. Given ongoing surges in construction costs, particularly the pay required to find and keep skilled laborers, the project as fully proposed would likely cost beyond that initial $270 million forecast.
Future phases of McEwen Northside would be dominated by office space, including a potential 220,000-square-foot building at the far east end of the property.
The site is located at 1130 W. McEwen Drive, across from the Whole Foods Market. A traffic light will be installed at McEwen and Aspen Grove Drive, to connect to that Whole Foods-anchored shopping center.