Bryan Echols

Bryan Echols focuses on commercial real estate, including zoning and land use, acquisitions and due diligence, financing, development, planning and leasing. He has assisted with shopping centers, business centers, commercial office space and flex-space leases.

He also represents lenders and commercial borrowers in loan transactions, including national lenders providing conduit credit facilities secured by real estate interests. Another facet of his practice is the use of conservation easements, fund-raising for preservation purposes and related issues. You can contact Bryan at bryan.echols@stites.com or by phone at 615-782-2388.

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Is Franklin Ready for Corporate Relocations?

06.25.10 10:53 AM
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A couple of similar events have caused me to think about Franklin's readiness for economic development. The announcement of Jackson National Life Insurance Company's relocation to the Cool Springs area of Franklin was the latest in a number of corporate relocations. It also consumed the last significant available office space. When companies are considering relocating to Franklin, the availability of suitable space is frequently key, and having that space available now, rather than dependent on future construction, may be important.

The County’s Director of Economic Development, Matt Largent, recently made this point. In a presentation to the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber of Commerce, Largent is quoted as saying “While some space still exists for building new office buildings, many prospects are on a fast track and want something available immediately or very quickly and that is where the county has a shortfall.”

I also attended a NAIOP presentation by the Nashville Chamber’s Chief Economic Development and Marketing Officer, Janet Miller, discussing their new strategy for economic development. Once again, the availability of sites is key to that strategy.

My concern has been that Franklin is taking economic development for granted, and is not actively working to prepare the City for the recruitment of new companies. I recently spoke to Matt about this, and was pleased to hear him say that the City and County are assessing potential sites to lay the groundwork for future development. In my opinion, however, the City should be actively considering how best to encourage the use of these sites. This is particularly troubling given the difficulty of gaining approval in Franklin, even when the property is properly zoned.

I don’t know of any more favorable economic growth than the relocation of corporate headquarters to Franklin, which supports property taxes, the housing market, and the image of the community. Taking steps to support those relocations is just good sense.
 

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