Facials in Nolensville, TN

Two local firms are teaming up to bring a first-of-its-kind development to Nolensville.

Land Innovations and Rochford Realty are planning a 27-acre mixed-use development which will serve as the city’s first town square.

“This is going to forever change the future of Nolensville because they’ve never had a place that the town can congregate around,” David Horwath, president of Land Innovations, told the Business Journal. “We want this to be that town square, that gathering place, the heartbeat of Nolensville.”

After a year of working with government officials to develop the masterplan, the Nolensville Town square project team received final approval last night.

Nolensville Town Square, located at 7375 Nolensville Rd., features 70,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space across multiple buildings that will surround a central square.

The development will offer 404 residential units including studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as two- and three-story townhomes.

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Nolensville Town square is a 27-acre mixed-use development that is the first of its kind in the Middle Tennessee city.

Last year, Nolensville updated its zoning code to allow for higher density development — Nolensville Town Square is the first large-scale project under the new ordinance.

“We were the cornerstone. What’s really cool is now a Kroger is going in to the south of us and a Publix is going in to the north. The hope is people can come park, get their groceries, have dinner, have ice cream after dinner and walk through an integrated trail system that surrounds the property. This will be an experience that hasn’t existed in Nolensville in the past,” Horwath said.

Nolensville has experienced rapid growth in recent years. The city’s population has skyrocketed, growing from 2,000 to more than 15,000 people since 2000, according to Horwath.

“Nolensville has exploded at an incredible rate over the last couple of decades, but how they grew is how most of America has thought about growth, which is independent subdivisions and commercial corridors,” Horwath said. “We're integrating living above the commercial space, and saying that it’s OK for people to purchase condos or townhomes above retail businesses.”

The town square project team includes local firms Smith Gee Studio, landscape architecture firm HDLA and civil engineering firm CSDG.

The first phase of Nolensville Town Square will break ground this summer. The final development, which is comprised of three phases, is expected to be finished in late 2028.

Big changes are coming to Nashville's Nolensville Pike thanks in part to $13 million in federal grant funding.

The money will fund multiple pedestrian, bicyclist and vehicle safety improvements along a 2.5-mile stretch of the busy, car-centric corridor between McCall Street and Haywood Lane.

Nashville's Nolensville Pike project is among the recipients of $817 million in Safe Streets and Roads for All grants announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday. Nashville will contribute $3.2 million in already-approved local funding to the project, bringing the total investment on Nolensville Pike to $16.3 million.

"This federal grant from USDOT is going to transform traffic safety on one of the city's most diverse, vibrant corridors," Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said in a news release Wednesday.

The "We Are Nolensville Pike" transportation safety project will include, at minimum:

The Nolensville Pike corridor sees more than 26,000 cars pass through on an average day, according to a Nashville Department of Transportation study of the roadway initiated during former Mayor John Cooper's tenure.

As a Metro Council member, O'Connell, along with Council member Courtney Johnston, pushed for $6.2 million in funding toward improving safety on Nolensville Pike as part of a 2021 Capital Spending Plan. The plan, authored under Cooper's administration, earmarked $15 million for the construction of additional parking at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. O'Connell said at the time that the zoo needed to be seen in the context of its surroundings.

Nolensville Pike is among Nashville's most dangerous high-injury corridors, and the project is part of Metro's Vision Zero program, which aims to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on Nashville roadways to zero.

"Making our roads safer for all modes is our number-one priority," NDOT Director Diana Alarcon said in Wednesday's news release. "This project is essential to helping us meet our Vision Zero goal."

Metro Council approved local funding for the project on Aug. 1, 2023.

NDOT worked with community partners to develop the "We Are Nolensville" project, and will coordinate with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, WeGo Public Transit and others in implementation.

Grant recipients across Tennessee

Of the grants announced Wednesday, Nashville received one of 48 supporting transportation improvements. About 76% of Nashville's $13 million in federal funding is expected to go to underserved communities, according to the USDOT's awards list.

Knoxville also received an $8 million implementation grant to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety at three intersections on the East Magnolia Avenue corridor.

Of 337 grants awarded nationwide for action plan and demonstration activities, 13 went to Tennessee cities or entities, totaling $2.5 million in federal funds.

Recipients include:

The U.S. Department of Transportation intends to move "expeditiously" to distribute funding, Transportation Policy Analyst Paul Teicher said during a Wednesday news conference.

Grant recipients in the fiscal year 2022 round were announced in February, and about 85% have grant agreements in place to date. Teicher said the hope is to bring that number to more than 90% by the end of the year.

Wednesday's announcement marks the third round of grants this year as part of President Joe Biden's Bipartisan infrastructure law, totaling $1.7 billion in funding to more than 1,000 local communities so far.

Under the law, the Safe Streets and Roads for All program is slated to appropriate $5 billion from 2022 through 2026.

A developer got the thumbs up on the project Tuesday night. The planning commission of Nolensville voted through the conceptual design of the town square, set to take shape in the next 5 to 10 years.

NOLENSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nolensville is on its way to building a 27-acre town square in the heart of town.

A developer got the thumbs up on the project Tuesday night. The planning commission of Nolensville voted through the conceptual design of the town square, set to take shape in the next five to ten years.

This means the project passed through the first of three phases, while the later phases still need to be voted on and will iron out details when it comes to infrastructure, construction, and parking.

"It fits what Nolensville has desired to have, which is a village," said town manager Victor Lay.

The developer, Land Innovations, plans to use land along Nolensville Road near Rocky Fork Road.

Businesses, retail, over 400 residential units, a parking garage and walkable space surrounding the town square are all part of the over $200 million idea.

"So that in and of itself is a pretty significant investment," said Lay. "But then when you also look at the other things that come with it: the retail that's inside it, the community space inside it, there will be residual real income dollars that come out of this development."

While the town reports much support for the project, some worry about clogged roads.

"Everyone here sees traffic, and this will add to it," admitted Lay, although the developer is looking into turn lanes and other recommendations to avoid that.

The town also continues to bend the state's ear when it comes to road widening.

"Nolensville was a sleepy town," said Lay. "I don't think anybody at the time realized to the degree how Nolensville was going to grow."

The town says the developer hopes to break ground on this sometime this year and finish the project around 2029.

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A group of Nashville investors is planning to develop a Nolensville site with what could be the community's first true downtown — a built-from-scratch urban epicenter featuring retail, residential and greenway space and to carry a price tag, potentially, of up to $300 million.

Nolensville Road Investment Partners — composed of two Nashville companies, the Rochford Group and Land Innovations — paid $5.2 million for the approximately 27 acres to create a town square that will be doable, in part, due to a recently instituted zoning update for the Williamson County city. The land is situated at 7383 Nolensville Road at the southern portion of the overlay.

Trey Rochford, vice president of administration for The Rochford Companies, told The News the team is working with Nashville-based architect Smith Gee Studio. Rochford said Nolensville offers lots of well-supported local businesses — such as Mill Creek Brewing Co., Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Just Love Coffee Cafe, Taziki’s and Mama’s Java Cafe — but no well-defined central core.

“When we looked at Nolensville, we saw a real hidden gem,” Rochford said. “I think the town’s commissioners showed incredible vision in crafting the new zoning ordinance to help create an inviting, friendly downtown area that can be the new heart of Nolensville.”

Formerly a rural community, Nolensville is now home to about 14,000 residents. The city offers lots of homes priced upwards of $500,000 and owned by college-educated, white-collar residents.

With no true downtown, the community’s commercial businesses are situated primarily on Nolensville Pike, creating a linear form and function that does not lend itself to a positive pedestrian experience, unlike, say, downtown Franklin. That fellow Williamson County community offers a public square and surrounding gridded street pattern that encourages walking.

Nolensville’s new zoning ordinance was adopted in March and includes the Main Street Village Overlay, which will be used to create the town center. The development team is eyeing a square that could include mixed-used buildings with retail shops and restaurants located on the main floors and residential units positioned on the upper stories. The initial concept could include about 60,000 square feet of commercial space.

Residential components of the project could including townhomes and stacked flats, with up to 15 units per acre allowed under the new zoning plan and some units to be billed as live-work.

Plans also include a water feature positioned alongside Nolensville Road and that connects to the future square by a pedestrian walkway. Connection to the greenway trail, as well as other local trails, is planned for the development. In addition, the project is slated to include greenspace to protect some historic Nolensville graves.

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity we have to create something very special,” Rochford said. “I can’t wait to see people eating in sidewalk cafés, shopping in pop-up farmer’s markets, attending the community festivals, and singing at the community Christmas tree lighting, all happening in the square.”

Southern Land Company (SLC), a Nashville-based national real estate developer of award-winning master-planned communities and mixed-use developments, celebrated the start of development of its new 372-acre master-planned community at the southwest corner of McFarlin Road and Fly Road in Nolensville, Tennessee, with a ceremonial groundbreaking event at the site on November 7. The new community is SLC’s first large-scale master-planned community in Middle Tennessee since the development of Westhaven in Franklin began in 2001.

“The ceremonial groundbreaking is the culmination of years of planning and preparations. We were careful to find the perfect parcel of land, study it meticulously, listen to neighbors, and explore viable plans that will ultimately benefit the new community’s residents as well as the town of Nolensville,” said Brian Sewell, SLC president and COO. “We greatly appreciate the continued support of the Town of Nolensville along the way, and we look forward to welcoming new residents and neighbors alike. The wait will be well worth it.”

SLC’s new community will consist of more than 700 homes of various sizes, designs, and styles, ranging from townhomes to estate homes on one-half acre lots. All of the homes will be designed by SLC’s internal architecture team with unique landscaping designed by SLC’s in-house landscape architecture team. Homes will feature generous front porches; a mix of rear-loaded, side-loaded, and front-loaded garages; sidewalks along every street; and lush, meticulous landscaping. SLC Homes, SLC’s in-house homebuilding group, will build all homes in the new community.

The new community will reserve approximately 160 acres of land for parks and open spaces. Many of these spaces will also be programmed with activities and special events intended to foster connections among residents and neighbors. Eventually, the development will include several miles of trails that will one day connect to Nolensville’s trails and greenways system. A village center will feature approximately 15,000 square feet of commercial space for future restaurants, retail, and services, all of which will be open to the greater Nolensville community. There will be an amenity park featuring a swimming pool and recreational offerings to be detailed at a later date. Additionally, a portion of the land will serve as the site of a future elementary school.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, SLC’s president and COO, Brian Sewell, delivered remarks and announced the name of the new community: Storyvale.

“The rolling landscape of this land inspired use of the word ‘vale’ from old English literature and poetry. Combined with the word ‘story,’ the name conjures the feeling of being placed within a beautiful book and sparks the imagination. Residents will be able to create their own stories and legacies here,” said Sewell.

Sewell was joined at the groundbreaking ceremony by Nolensville Vice Mayor Jessica Salamida and Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson, both of whom will delivered brief remarks.

“Storyvale is a significant investment in our wonderful town,” said Town of Nolensville Vice Mayor Jessica Salamida. “Southern Land Company has a reputation for quality development and a strong commitment to the communities in which they work. I am excited to see the progress and completion of Storyvale and the welcome community it will bring to our wonderful town.”

SLC expects to begin home sales at Storyvale in late 2024. Find more information here.