Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness said city commissioners need time to “digest” what he said was an “interesting” pitch for a proposed Mt. Juliet Town Center that could bring a new city hall, new fire station, a grocery, retail mixed-used space, parking garage, and multifamily housing space to the city.
At a special-called workshop on July 25, Matt Gardner of Imagine1 made the more than one-hour presentation that suggests the project would be a “symbiotic” partnership between developer Mark Lineberry, Imagine1 and the city. The proposal would combine efforts to build the project on North Mt. Juliet Road, East Hill Street and Caldwell Street with a preliminary overall budget of about $150 million, according to Lineberry.
Gardner emphasized repeatedly the costs estimated for each phase of the project were fluid. He said they were rather pitching a concept at the workshop and eager to get the idea out in public. The city’s portion of the project could be about $37.2 million, according to preliminary numbers.
“It was the first I’ve seen and heard of this with numbers. I knew a developer had been buying a lot of land around city hall,” Maness said a few days after the meeting. “We need to do a lot more research and due diligence of course. It looks nice, but when you consider $37 million in taxpayer funds, we have to weigh things carefully. This starts a conversation.”
Imagine1 built Vintage Station North with 220 rental units near the train station in Mt. Juliet.
City Manager Kenny Martin said the proposal could turn into a “long-term redevelopment vision of possibly incorporating a new city hall, fire department, and removing the old planning and public works buildings.”
“For one square block of property that includes all of city space,” he said. “This workshop is to get your thoughts, feedback and what the numbers would look like for us as our part of the overall development of the property. We will have some skin in the game. I look at it as a positive because of the redevelopment we already have in the downtown corridor.”
Lineberry owns five acres near city hall and the city owns three acres that have the existing city hall, Fire Station 1, the former public works building. Part of the concept would be to build a new city hall and use the existing building for mixed-use purposes.
Lineberry said this concept came to him when he contemplated building some “skinny” high density housing on property he owned on Caldwell Street and put commercial buildings with them.
“But I thought this area had so much potential and I had heard the city might think about eventually building a new city hall or moving it,” Lineberry said. “I got with Matt, and they liked a bigger project too and we decided to put it together.”
A project summary shows a four story (30,000-40,000 square feet) city hall with offices; a one-story, a 5,000 square foot retail and restaurant space; 55,000-60,000 square feet of retail, office and food service; two stories of additional retail and office space; a four-story, 245-unit multi-family development; a city-owned parking garage with up to 600 spaces; green space and a public square.
Gardner said part of the city’s income sources would be the sale of the land, $10 million in federal COVID-related funds and a bond issue for about $24.6 million. The $10 million in federal funds in the city budget had been talked about to go toward the new police station. The city has already purchased land for that project.
A couple of city officials seemed surprised when that money was mentioned as possibly going toward the proposed development.
“Mt. Juliet is a forward-thinking city with good infrastructure without piles of debt,” Gardner said. “It has smart growth and is sustainable.”
Lineberry said he’s met with a Middle Tennessee grocer about the development.
“They have a very strong interest and have been looking in the area and they are very interested in this spot, and it fits in with their model,” he said.
Lineberry, who said the city could sell its land to the developers for about $2 million, said a casual, sit-down restaurant, a coffee shop and wine bar are possibilities for the retail and restaurant areas.
Maness said city hall is at capacity, but not in a critical situation. At the regular meeting that night, commissioners approved a resolution to rent space for emergency services functions in a building owned by Lineberry.
“We do have a few other things to fit more into city hall,” Maness said. “We could use the police department’s space to hold commission meetings and free up that space at city hall. But it will have to be addressed.”
A new city hall is part of a long-term plan, however, he said.
“It’s reached its lifespan and functionality,” he said. “It’s intriguing, but I’m all about the financing. It’s very unorthodox. We are at the digestion stage.”
