CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – With Costco secured as the anchor for Freedom Farms, the Clarksville-Montgomery Industrial Development Board is turning its attention to the development of the 69-acre Office Park site, between Freedom Farms and Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital.
Clarksville Now recently sat down with IDB Vice President of Urban Development Janet Wilson, who said the main goal is to bring a convention/conference center to Clarksville with two to three adjacent hotels.
Wilson said Class-A office space also is envisioned for the development site, which is aimed to be a destination for possible regional headquarters, “which is something we do not have currently,” she said. Sixteen acres of walkable, upscale, boutique-like retail is also expected as part of the development, as well as restaurants, Wilson said.
The Office Park has been planned for many years on property that was purchased in 2020 for the IDB specifically to develop a convention center. One plan had been for Clarksville’s massive new VA Clinic to locate on the property, but the VA instead chose a site on the new Spring Creek Parkway behind Walmart. This has opened up new opportunities for other companies interested in the Office Park location.
Where IDB is in development process
Wilson said the IDB is working toward submitting a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for municipal advisers as they work toward their main goal of securing a conference center.
“We’ve identified it’s going to be around $80 million, give or take,” Wilson said. “We do have a TIF (tax-increment financing) already set up, and that’s through the county. But there are other incentives, such as state or local incentives, we’re still working on. … So, we’re about to launch that in the next couple of weeks, and that’s a RFQ to help us make sure we are doing our due diligence, and we’re looking at it as objectively, efficiently, feasibly and fiduciarily as possible.”
When asked if any businesses have signed on yet, Wilson said NDAs are involved, and the IDB is still working out who their development partner will be. “But we’ve got a lot of interest,” she said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Wilson said seven or eight groups have expressed interest, including local companies and regional companies looking to set up headquarters.
Additional road to Vanderbilt
Wilson said a much-needed additional ingress and egress for Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital will be part of the development.
“So, imagine you have an emergency, and you can only get in and out through Dunlop Lane,” she said. “This gives them that additional access, which is critical, especially as they are advancing their trauma care capability.”
The road is planned as a five-lane boulevard, with sidewalks, lighting and a tree canopy, according to Wilson. “We’re trying to make a statement with our development,” she said.
The initial plan had been for this road to tie into Dunlop at Chesapeake Lane, creating an additional traffic signal. But at Wednesday’s IDB meeting, Wilson said that because of concerns about the impact on traffic, they have made a verbal non-binding agreement with Vanderbilt to instead tie in at Professional Park Drive, where there is already an existing traffic signal.
Moving the road onto Vanderbilt property will cut into some parking at Vanderbilt, so as part of the agreement, the IDB would create additional parking spaces.
Interest in holding conferences in Clarksville
Visit Clarksville Executive Director Angie Brady told Clarksville Now that Montgomery County has been missing out on a convention center, even as many groups have expressed interest in holding conferences here.
“We’ve done our due diligence, and we’ve asked, specifically, Tennessee-based associations, ‘If we had a convention center here in Clarksville, what type of space would you need, and would you be interested?'” Brady said. “We received a resounding yes, because they are just running out of places to meet in Middle Tennessee. So, there is a need, but we don’t have it now because there is nowhere to put them.”
Brady said while some have questioned whether F&M Bank Arena could be used as a convention center, she said it could not serve the capacity. The arena is designed for entertainment events, not large, multi-room, adjustable conference meeting and banquet space. “So, there is business we’re missing out on, on the tourism side for people to have regional and state type of annual meetings,” she said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, IDB Executive Director Josh Ward said there’s a “missing middle” when it comes to events in Middle Tennessee. “You would be amazed at the data that the tourism department has showing all the people that would go to Nashville, but the venues are too big, or they’re too expensive,” he said.
Businesses from Industrial Park, hospitals
Wilson said that with the Industrial Park only a couple of miles up the road, there’s a lot of opportunity to leverage executive training or annual meetings for those companies. There are also opportunities emerging with Clarksville about to have three full-service hospitals.
“I’m going to mention to the emerging health care that we’ve got,” Wilson said. “Capturing medical conferences, which we know that they have already said, ‘Yes, we would love if we had the capability.’ And so right there we know just internally from our community that we’ve already got demand that we’re not able to satisfy.
“These folks are going up the road to Nashville, and not only can we match the quality, but we also believe we can definitely beat the price.”
Chris Smith contributed to this report.
| ADD US ON GOOGLE NEWS: Click here to see more local news from Clarksville Now