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Franklin and Williamson County officials agree to further study Banks at Brownland sports complex proposal
Summary
City, county and a new sports authority heard a developer presentation for the Banks at Brownland — a mixed-use sports campus anchored by a two-sheet ice facility — and signaled interest in directing staff to evaluate flood, traffic, financing and operational details; no formal vote was taken.
Officials from the City of Franklin, Williamson County and the recently formed sports authority met in a joint informational session and signaled they want staff to pursue detailed analyses of a proposed Banks at Brownland mixed-use sports complex that would include a two-sheet ice facility, 11 multipurpose fields, golf practice space and retail.
Jim Darter of Boulevard Capital, the project developer, said Boulevard would acquire 18 acres from Christ Community Church and donate six acres and a pad-ready site to Grace Works Ministries. He described a conceptual master plan and a proposed financing structure in which the sports authority would own the ice facility, bonds would finance construction (the ice component was estimated at approximately $45 million), and the Predators would lease and operate the ice under a long-term agreement. "Our role in the project would just be to contribute the land. So we would be donating the land to the sports authority to be used to develop the facility," Darter said.
Representatives of the Predators described their operations model for community rinks and emphasized programming and community benefit. "We're building something really special," Sean Henry said; Danny Butler added that the Predators' facilities are "much more than hockey rinks. They're community recreation centers that operate nearly every hour of every single day."
Developers presented an economic-impact summary that showed a large construction and visitor-spending footprint for the full project and highlighted an annual local tax impact figure of about $18.9 million tied to multiple components; the presenters said hockey-only visitor spending accounted for a portion of those totals and estimated roughly 1,400 jobs supported by hockey-related visitor activity.
Elected officials spent the bulk of the session probing site constraints, public risk and mitigation. Kimley Horn planner Greg Gamble said the 238-acre Brownland property has substantial floodplain — he cited roughly 200 acres in the floodplain and about 38 acres above flood elevation today — and described the need for a formal FEMA Letter of Map Revision (LOMR/conditional LOMR) before any construction could begin. Commissioner Lisa Hayes said some downstream residents "are extremely concerned" about flooding and requested that the flood study address impacts farther down the Harpath River. Commissioner Bill Petty and others pressed for a broader traffic-study scope and clarification of which intersections will be analyzed and how off-site road improvements would be funded.
On financing, developers outlined a pro forma that anticipates sports-authority-issued bonds to fund the ice facility, an anticipated annual debt-service range between $2.5 million and $3.5 million to be shared by city and county, and a lease structure in which the Predators would operate the facility and place routine lease payments into a long-term reserve for capital needs. Presenters said more due diligence is needed on long-term capital costs, detailed revenue distributions and legal intergovernmental agreements.
No formal approval or bond issuance occurred at the meeting. Instead, the boards and the sports authority signaled interest in moving to a vetting stage: staff-led flood and traffic studies, a third-party traffic review, additional financial diligence, neighborhood outreach and follow-up public meetings. Larry Westbrook, chair of the sports authority, said the authority is "very interested in having this matter pursued"; several aldermen and commissioners said they supported further study but asked that staff return with more detailed numbers and protections for public interests.
Next steps identified by presenters and officials include completion of the flood model and FEMA engagement, a licensed traffic engineer study with third-party review, neighborhood meetings for residents within 500 feet, and development of proposed interlocal agreements that would set roles, responsibilities and contingencies before any binding commitments are made.
