Developers propose Hill Center Franklin with one‑story height increases; Planning Commission hearing set for Sept. 25

HG Hill Realty and its design and development partners introduced the Hill Center Franklin proposal and a related Envision Franklin text amendment during an online neighborhood meeting. Jimmy Granberry, CEO of HG Hill Realty, said the amendment would add one story to the proposed hotel and to several mixed‑use and townhouse buildings at the Columbia Avenue site.

The amendment would allow the mixed‑use building fronting Columbia Avenue to increase from two to three stories, permit three‑story townhomes on Plaza Street, and raise the hotel from three to four stories. "It's capped at a 120 keys," Jimmy Granberry said when confirming the hotel size, referring to an existing city ordinance limiting rooms to 120.

The change seeks height adjustments only; John Gore, the project's civil engineer with Large Civil, said the requested amendments do not increase residential unit counts, which remain limited by existing zoning. Gore described the site plan as an L‑shaped hotel centered on a new internal road, mixed‑use frontage on Columbia with…