Development replacing old Murfreesboro plant
Nashville Business Journal - by Philip Nannie Nashville Business Journal
A well-known Murfreesboro landmark is coming down to be replaced by a 146,000-square-foot retail/office complex.
Marietta, Ga-based Carpenter Group is under contract to pay $2.5 million for Murfreesboro's vacant Chromalox plant at Ridgely Road and Memorial Boulevard. The development company plans to spend $500,000 to demolish the existing facility and build a retail/office complex called Carpenter Village on its 18 acres.
"The original closing was scheduled Nov. 16 but we decided to delay while details are worked out with a large retail tenant," says Craig Melton, vice president of commercial operations for Carpenter Realty Group.
Melton won't name the potential tenant, but did say he would like to lease 65,000 square feet of the 146,000-square-foot development to that tenant. He says he's willing to subdivide other sections of the project as necessary to attract retail clientele.
Melton plans to include at least 30,000 square feet of office space in the development and is marketing the Memorial Boulevard-side outparcels to several prospects. Leslie White of the Parks Group in Murfreesboro is helping Melton sell the outparcels.
The master plan, says Melton, is to have one large retail anchor tenant for a large block of space and two other tenants occupying 33,000 and 36,000 square feet respectively. The balance of space is slated for offices. No office tenants are now in the mix.
When the Chromalox plant was operational in the early 1970s, 850 workers manufactured heating assemblies for kitchen appliances there. The plant closed in November 1999. The idled plant sits next to the Bank of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.
Melton sought tax incentives from the city of Murfreesboro but was unsuccessful. Despite that, Melton says the chamber of commerce and city officials were helpful during negotiations.
Carpenter Village experienced several incarnations before the current mix of retail and office space was determined.
"They were willing to meet with us through the different iterations of the project and were receptive to changes in design and focus," says Melton.
Jason Lowe, project manager for Nashville-based architecture firm Maxwell Johanson Maher, has been working with Melton through those design changes.
"The intention is to bring characteristics of downtown Murfreesboro to the stretches of the inner city," says Lowe, referring to the proximity of the development to downtown.
Lowe says he wants to recreate the "language of the downtown architecture" and downtown storefront design in Carpenter Village.
pnannie@bizjournals.com, 615-248-2222 ext. 109
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