Franklin's controversial Harpeth Square gets green light

An $80 million mixed-use project that is expected to reshape downtown Franklin got its final go-ahead Monday night from a city commission whose initial vote rejecting the height and mass of the proposed Harpeth Square left a developer threatening to kill the whole deal.

Though the project's more specific design features will be subject to city review down the line, developers needed the approval of the Historic Zoning Commission to move forward with architectural plans and financing.

The commission, an appointed panel tasked with maintaining the unique look and feel of certain historic preservation districts, voted 4-3 to approve plans for the Harpeth Square project this week after a string of community members spoke strongly in its favor.

Longtime downtown Franklin advocate and local attorney Ed Silva said the Harpeth Square site has long been a left-out "stepchild" as the rest of downtown has seen new life.

"We have an opportunity here to finish what we started 30 years ago," he said.

Added Patrick Hayes, the owner of two nearby businesses, including The Coffee House at Second and Bridge: "I was an early believer in this city block. ... This area needs quality investment."

At issue has been whether the development — which is slated to include a 115-room boutique hotel, about 150 luxury apartments and more than 30,000 square feet of retail space — will be too tall and too bulky compared with the existing buildings in the area.

The project would be four stories in most spots and would take up much of a lagging downtown block bounded by First and Second avenues and Main and Bridge streets.

Though some neighbors also had raised concerns about whether Harpeth Square would draw extra traffic to an already congested area, many residents said downtown was in desperate need of a high-end lodging option for the growing number of tourists visiting the city.

After months of back-and-forth over various aspects of the project, from the terms of a development deal to the number of units the project could include, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen recently gave plans a unanimous OK.

So when the commission — the last city panel to consider the project — voted about a month after that to reject key aspects of the development, it ruffled feathers.

The project's most vocal developer, Roderick Heller, told the commission at the time that requiring his team to decrease Harpeth Square's size any more would make it financially untenable.

The commission agreed to take up the project again after a design review committee meeting, during which developers unveiled new renderings.

However, some commissioners said their concerns weren't fully addressed.

This week, after listening to speakers emphasize the importance of the project to the downtown economy, Commissioner Lisa Marquardt, who voted against moving the project forward, said that while she appreciated the input, the commission is bound by design guidelines — not the project's financial feasibility.

"We're all obviously here for the same reason: We love Franklin," she said. "We go by (the guidelines), and we try to stay as close to these as we can."

Commissioner Kate Reynolds, who also voted against the development, said she had heard from residents who agreed with her assessment that the project was needed, just not on that scale.

She said the developers, though, seemed to be "more powerful and louder," a comment that drew jeers from the audience.

"It would be much easier to vote for this," she said. "I've been disappointed with Harpeth Square's unwillingness to seriously consider the commission's concerns."

But Commissioner Jim Roberts, who previously voted against the project, said new renderings that showed how the development would look from street level convinced him that the project wouldn't be overly imposing.

He was the only commissioner whose vote changed after the panel's first vote.

Heller said after Monday's vote that he was "delighted" with the meeting's outcome.

"This was the last vote," he said. "We needed this."

He said that financing could now proceed and architecture and construction designs could be done within the next several months.

Reach Jill Cowan at 615-664-2150 and on Twitter @jillcowan.