FRANKLIN, TENN. — A joint venture between locally based developers Chartwell Hospitality and Southstar has broken ground on Aureum, a $500 million mixed-use development located in the Nashville suburb of Franklin. Situated in the city’s Cool Springs district, the 22-acre development will feature residences, shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, offices and two hotels, as well as five acres of open space featuring parks and trails.
“We are the first to market with an all-in-one entertainment, hospitality and residential community that hasn’t been seen before in this area,” says Rob Schaedle, president of Chartwell Cos. “Studies done by the city predict Cool Springs will be the gateway to a popular and highly accessible submarket of Franklin, and we expect Aureum to be a popular choice for residents.”
Aureum, which is Latin for “golden,” was originally announced in summer 2019. No construction timeline was given for the development, which will be completed in phases.
Aureum will be situated at the southwest corner of Carothers Parkway and McEwen Drive, a site the co-developers are calling the “golden corner” of Cool Springs. The vertically integrated mixed-use project will reach 12 stories and contain housing, commercial office space and entertainment venues.
Phase I will feature 355 residences (for-sale and apartments) that Chartwell Residential, an affiliate of Chartwell Hospitality, will develop. Chartwell Hospitality plans to develop Aureum’s two hotels in future phases.
“Partnering with the team at Chartwell Cos., the premier hospitality developer and an extremely active multifamily residential developer in our community, allows us to execute at the highest level,” says Glenn McGehee, president of Southstar.
Chartwell Hospitality has developed or acquired more than $1.7 billion worth of hotels since its founding. The firm’s current portfolio includes 26 operating hotels, as well as seven hotels under development, located in New York, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma.
Since its founding in 2001, Southstar has developed or redeveloped more than 20 million square feet of commercial space across the Southeast, with a combined value of more than $1 billion. The company’s projects are primarily concentrated in Middle Tennessee.
— John Nelson