By CLINT CONFEHR / Review Appeal Senior Staff Reporter
A Franklin businessman is the best bidder for 2.25 acres on Church Street
between First and Second Avenues where he’d like to build brownstone
condominiums. Toward that he’s offered an incentive.
Bernie G. Butler Jr. bid just more than $1.42 million for the land across
Second Avenue South from the Pull-Tight Players theater, but if he’s allowed
120 days to get plans for 40 condos approved by the city, he’d pay $1.9
million, county records show.
Williamson County paid $1.25 million for the land and agreed to pay the city
that much, or give it the land for city construction of the Fourth Avenue
Parking Garage. Butler’s conditional offer is $650,000 more than what the
county paid.
“If the county wants to share some of that with us,” Franklin Mayor Tom
Miller said, noting the time constraint, “we might be able to do something.
We’re going to have some special meetings with the budget coming up, so it
could come up.”
The county is to pay the city $1.25 million on June 30, under its agreement,
or give the city the land, seen as a place for a police station.
Butler’s bid sheet says if the county grants him 120 days to get city
approval for 40 condos built to look like 1800s brownstone apartments, then he
would still close on the property purchase on Sept. 30.
“If the plan is not approved, I would pay the $1,425,000 for the existing
zoning and build as is,” the bid sheet says. “It should be noted that I
have already met with the city planners and they would enthusiastically
support my current development plan.”
Miller said, “If he started today, it’d take him a minimum of 160 days.”
Miller is a planning commissioner, but it was Planning Department employees
who met with Butler nearly a month ago. Miller said he’d not heard of
Butler’s offer.
Two city planners who met with Butler said no official request had been
submitted. One spoke only in generalities.
“It looks like a pretty good idea,” Planner Tom Marsh said of the
brownstones, “but we need to spend a lot of time with it and have a formal
submission.”
As zoned, the 2.25 acres could have six units per acre, so rezoning is needed
to go from 13 condos to 40.
Friday, County Finance Director David Coleman said county attorneys are
drafting a contract. Butler hadn’t seen it.
Repeatedly, Butler expressed respect and admiration for city planning
commissioners and aldermen who vote on rezoning and that he’s a fan of
historic downtown Franklin.
“What we’re wanting to do would be in the interest of downtown,” Butler
said, noting residents who can walk to restaurants, stores and offices make a
community vibrant.
“The economic value of the land is only what the density is worth,” he
said. County officials “like both my bids.”
His office overlooks the Public Square. Butler, 44, moved it from Maryland
Farms away from “a bunch of people driving around in cars.” He lives in
Sneed Forest and wants to live in one of the brownstones.
“We’ll be building buildings that look like Old Towne Alexandria ...
They’re going to make the neighborhood better,” he said. “It’s going
to be more expensive, but 100 years from now, they’ll be glad we did.”
Ironically, Butler says, “There’s no way to guess how long this will
take.”
CODA Development LLC of Brentwood bid $1.31 million for the county land.
Senior Staff Reporter Clint Confehr can be contacted at clint@reviewappeal.com.