FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Factory at Franklin will soon be redeveloped to offer new shopping, dining and entertainment, along with office space.
The property, which was once home to an old stove factory, was recently purchased by Nashville developers for $56 million.
“At The Factory, we will bring together the lessons we learned from our other successful reimagining of historic structures. In every case, we took time to discover the essence of the building and then created a place that made the most of this essence. This same process will guide our redevelopment of The Factory,” Allen Arender, of Holladay Properties, said via a release.
In addition to adding new shops and restaurants, developers say they are looking at the project as if they are creating a “little city” – filled with plazas, courtyards, alleys and other places to “gather or socialize.”
The developers say they're honoring the leases of current tenants and the weekly farmer's market will continue.
"I'm really excited about the entire plan that has so far been discussed," said Calvert Gentry McMahan, owner of Luna Record Shop. "I think it's really going to make this place more hopping then it already is."
Luna Record Shop opened at The Factory in 2015. The owners come from a long line of Franklin residents.
Gentry McMahan said she thinks the face-lift that the complex will be getting will bring in new customers.
"Because that's part of the problem. A lot of people who are from out of town don't know the property exists. The new owners are going to make sure that is not the case anymore," Gentry McMahan said.
Click here to see a rendering of the project.
The Factory – a complex of 10 industrial buildings – was built in 1929 and was home to several manufactures before being purchased by a Franklin businessman in 1996. It was then turned into a retail and entertainment complex.
