Thompson’s Station Greenways Project
receives State approval

Story originally published in the Williamson Herald on 9/15/2011

Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner John Schroer announced a $598,338 transportation enhancement grant to the town of Thompson’s Station for greenways yesterday.

The first phase of the Thompson’s Station Greenways Project includes the construction of 15,000 linear feet of a 10-foot wide multi-use trail beginning at Tollgate Village and ending at Thompson’s Station Park.

The project also includes security cameras, call boxes, landscaping and parking facilities. The trail will parallel US Highway 31, with one trailhead located just north of State Route 840.

“This greenway will accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists, providing a new and safer transportation option for residents and visitors while promoting healthier lifestyles,” Haslam said. “This project is also a monumental first step in this community’s effort to make its vision of a comprehensive greenway system a reality.”

The grant is made possible through a federally funded program administered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

“Through Transportation Enhancement grants, TDOT has funded more than $259 million in non-traditional transportation projects,” Schroer said. “Established by Congress in the early 1990′s, the program supports activities designed to strengthen the cultural, aesthetic and environmental aspects of the nation’s transportation system.”

A variety of activities such as the restoration of historic facilities, bike and pedestrian trails, landscaping and other non-traditional transportation projects are eligible for grant funds under the federal program.

State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and state Reps. Glen Casada (R-College Grove), Phillip Johnson (R-Pegram) and Charles Sargent (R-Franklin) represent Williamson County in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Growth ramps back up in area south of Franklin

Hotel may anchor revived Tollgate Village development
Written by Jill Cecil Wiersma | The Tennessean | August 8, 2011

THOMPSON’S STATION — If you’re driving through south Williamson County looking for a hotel, you’re out of luck. But that could change.

New developers at Tollgate Village have set aside a 2.3-acre lot for a boutique hotel near the frontage on Highway 31.

Right now, the site is in a part of the county that’s covered more by farmland than rooftops. Yet Tollgate sits just a few miles south of Berry Farms, a planned blend of offices and retail along Interstate 65 in an area that developers have suggested could become “the next Cool Springs.” Boyle Investment Co. hopes to present plans for the area’s first major grocery store there this year.

Officials in Thompson’s Station say the area is also well positioned to change soon with the completion of State Route 840, quick access to I-65 and arrival of a corporate headquarters for Mars Petcare, the world’s largest pet food company.

“My personal opinion is that once 840 is open all the way through, there’s going to be a need for hotels,” said George Ross, a member of the town Planning Commission, which recently approved changes to the concept plan that includes the hotel.

“We’re going to have restaurants and some businesses there that would be attractive to travelers. And that will bring revenue into our town,” Ross said.

Tollgate project manager Daniel Kingsbury envisions the hotel as an anchor.

“We’d like some really nice shops, like a coffee shop, an ice cream shop or a candy store,” said Kingsbury, who is working with Dock Street Communities on Tollgate Village, a new urbanism development in the middle of a mostly rural landscape.

He called the plans “purely conceptual” at this point and said they’ve been talking with representatives of different hotels and grocery stores, another option for the site.

“A hotel as an anchor can help get those things because you create their business,” Kingsbury said. “What we would prefer is a grocery store chain to come in. That is the home run.”

Hotels lacking in south Williamson

The hotel inside Tollgate would require more local approvals, Ross noted. He said the SR 840 corridor between Highways 31 and 431 is the right place to allow this kind of growth and at the same time protect the rural integrity of a town that has about 2,100 people.

“We’re trying to prevent where you drive down the road and all you’ve got are McDonald’s and other chains,” he said.

The county will have 35 hotels when the Drury Plaza Hotel opens in the fall. Most of those, and their 4,100-plus rooms, are concentrated in Cool Springs around Interstate 65. The southernmost hotel is a Days Inn on South Carothers Parkway. Beyond that, there’s the Goose Creek Inn, an old motel and a few bed-and-breakfasts.

Farther south, Spring Hill has one hotel, a downtown Best Western that was built on the Maury County side of the city around the time Saturn built what is now the General Motors manufacturing plant.

Having a corporate headquarters in town would create a multiplier effect, attracting other businesses and creating the need for a hotel, Matt Largen, director of the county’s Economic Development Office, said of Mars Petcare and Nutro, which plan to build a combined corporate campus a little south on the highway from Tollgate.

The site would serve as Mars’ North American headquarters and bring to town an estimated 650 jobs. The companies are awaiting approval from parent corporation Mars Inc., which is expected next month.

“There’s a large amount of business travel associated with hotels, and I think Mars Petcare’s plans to locate there will create a need for more hotel rooms in the county,” he said.

“It would make sense, if they wanted to have a meeting off-site, that would become a place for sales meetings. A hotel there would give them access that’s closer to their operation.”

Economic downturn halted development

It was State Route 840 that attracted Tollgate and the vision Tollgate Farms LLC had for a walkable, neo-urban community that offers a mix of commercial and residential lots.
The first homes were built six years ago, during the county’s housing boom. But when the economy soured, the original developer defaulted on its loans after federal regulators shut down its bank in 2009.

Dock Street Communities bought the roughly 450 undeveloped lots from a group of banks earlier this year. The firm has commissioned new landscaping and paving and planned additional amenities.
Homeowners are excited to see things happen, especially Brad Wilson, who moved there in 2007 and had a home built for family members a year ago.
“When you see nothing happen for three years, this is great,” said Wilson, who is also on the town planning commission. “I never lost faith or I wouldn’t have brought my in-laws here.”

Builders are back at work in Tollgate

Subdivision is relaunched with five new models  and lots of amenities
Written by Nancy Mueller and Jill Cecil Wiersma for Williamson AM | May 20, 2011

Itʼs been awhile since Tollgate Village has seen the bustle of landscapers, construction workers and paving crews.

And now theyʼre back as Dock Street Communities unveils five new home designs that will be priced from $200,000 to $360,000 and range in size from 1,668 to 2,384 square feet initially, according to Daniel Kingsbury, Tollgate Village project manager.

“Weʼre designing five more right now up to 3,200 (square feet),” he said.

New construction aside, existing homeowners will notice new landscaping, fresh paving and additional amenities in the next few weeks through next year, Kingsbury said.

“We will spend close to a million and a half in cash. Weʼre going to drop a lot of money in new amenities,” he said of South Carolina-based Dock Street, which bought the undeveloped lots in February from a group of banks that bought them out of foreclosure late last year.

These family-friendly attractions include an amphitheater, a dog park, a sand volleyball court, a tetherball court, a bocce ball court, an area for beanbag tossing and the first phase of an 8-foot-wide paved walking trail that will span nearly two miles when it is finished next year.

Road work will account for the largest part of that investment and will be completed in the next 90 days. Within the next week or two, crews will complete work to triple the landscaping.

New homes will be done in July

The first of those five homes will be finished in July, and Dock Street intends to build about 500 homes as the market supports them, Kingsbury said.

Though the homes are smaller, theyʼll be built with the same materials and fit in their surroundings — a concern among existing homeowners, Kingsbury said. One model home under construction is comparable in size to its neighbors and will include double porches.

“The main thing they want us to maintain is the architectural integrity,” he said.

The largest of the five is based on the Dorchester floor plan, a two-story house with three bedrooms and a study that can be converted into a fourth.

The plan has 31⁄2 bathrooms and a detached two-car garage, with double upper- and lower-level side porches that provide a distinguishing architectural feature.

The 2,364-square-foot home is listed for sale on Realtracs.com for $359,000.

Dock Streetʼs other model under construction is based on its Brentwood floor plan, a 2,032-square-foot home with all three of its bedrooms on the second floor.

The base price on the Brentwood is $273,000.

In addition to the two models that are being built, the company is building three for-market homes based on three other floor plans:

The Lexington, a Craftsman-style one-story home with 1,659 square feet of living space, three bedrooms and two bathrooms with an attached two-car garage. Its base price is $232,000.

The Franklin, a two-story house that, like the Brentwood plan, has all three bedrooms upstairs. It is slightly smaller than the Brentwood, with 1,854 square feet. It has a base price of $247,000.

The Hayek, the largest in this initial group, with 2,508 square feet, four bedrooms and four bathrooms, with two of each on the first floor.

Its base price is $277,000.

Price point has competition

In this price range, the new homes at Tollgate will be competing against 14 other Williamson County developments that are advertising new homes available or to be built that are priced in the $200,000s.

This group includes Belshire, Wades Grove and Port Royal Estates in Spring Hill, Silver Stream Farms and Ballenger Farms in Nolensville and Barclay Place and Ladd Park in Franklin.
Dock Street is still designing additional house plans, including at least one more one-story design.

Off Columbia Pike and next to Independence High School in Thompsonʼs Station, Tollgate Village is a traditional neighborhood development with 692 home sites and only a fraction of those having houses on them now. Most of them are larger than the new houses under way and were sold at prices from $250,000 to nearly $800,000.

Dock Street, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., purchased Tollgate Village last year from a group of banks.

In addition to starting construction on houses, the developer is spending more than $1 million to repair streets within the neighborhood, refresh the landscaping and add recreational amenities

Tollgate already has a resort-style neighborhood swimming pool, a residents clubhouse with fitness center and tennis courts.

Thanks to The Tennessean’s Williamson AM for this nice write-up about all the activity we have going on now at Tollgate Village…!