Brentwood Place plaza readies for renovation

By HEATHER DONAHOE
August 23, 2007

BRENTWOOD —Brentwood Place Shopping Center, as it stands today, is a nice enough quadrant of strip malls. But beginning this fall, the popular retail haunt will undergo the initial strokes of a monumental makeover on three of its buildings. The renovation will transform the tidy shopping plaza from a suburban staple to a village-like venue. The block facades and canopies will be replaced with storefront entrances created from a variety of brick and stone materials, lending a unique look to each individual unit.

The buildings that house Bruegger's Bagels, to the right of Kroger; City Café, to the left of Kroger; and Subway, across from Kroger to the north, will be completely revamped. Renovations to the Subway strip will include a 5,727-square-foot expansion.

Site plans for the project were approved by the city Planning Commission earlier this month. "This isn't just a facelift," said architect Michael Hindman, who designed the proposed changes. "We're wiping off the entire fronts of these buildings and going in a completely different direction."

That direction includes a more pedestrian-practical environment for shoppers and lunch-breakers. That shift, in some part, is a nod to the groups of people who traipse across the street from Brentwood United Methodist Church looking for a bite to eat during weekday events or after services on Sunday. A new sidewalk will be added from Franklin Road to the new Subway strip. A sidewalk connection is also planned to span the space between the Subway and City Café strips.

The now parking lot-rich area will eventually be punctuated throughout with sidewalks and an outdoor dining area, available for use by diners at any of the center's restaurants. Lamppost light fixtures and exterior building fixtures also will be added.

Hindman's firm has worked on projects at Brentwood Place intermittently for the past 18 years. Twelve years ago, the firm did design work on a renovation project that subtracted 40,000 square feet of space and replaced it with 100,00 square feet in the form of the strip anchored by TJMaxx, Stein Mart and Office Depot.
"Brentwood Place has stayed consistently occupied," Hindman said. "It's a great location, and they seldom have vacancies. This is not a matter of a decaying property that needs to be fixed; but I think the owners are wise to spend the money to revitalize it before it goes down."

Carl Storey, the Nashville real estate developer who represents the property, did not return repeated phone calls for an interview regarding tenant turnover and lease rates; however, Hindman said he suspects the owners are getting market rents on the units.

Jerry Cunningham, who owns the popular meat-and-three City Café, said he hasn't seen the plans but thinks change will be positive for the plaza. "This shopping center has had the same look for a long time. I think it'll be a great change. The only drawback I can think of is parking. It's already such a popular area that I wonder if parking could become an issue, but I'm sure it'll work out."
When designing the new site plan, Hindman said he looked to national trends in shopping center motifs. "Things are moving more toward a pedestrian-friendly area with shops that have more of an individual identity," he said. "I'd call it more of a new urban design and less suburban."

Construction could begin by the first of October, though Hindman is not sure where it will start. Maintaining accessibility to the businesses is a top priority, he said. "It's going to be done in phases," he said. "You can't just tear everything down and then build it back at leisure."

Kroger in Brentwood Place underwent a major overhaul in 2002, while the strip that houses Borders bookstore was refurbished in 1999.

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