Andy Humbles|Nashville Tennessean
Amazon’s cutting-edge 3.6 million-square-foot fulfillment center under construction in Mt. Juliet is expected to open this spring and bring change with it.
The new Amazon facility is under construction off Golden Bear Gateway and East Division.
The online retailgiant will bring in more than 1,000 more jobs. Already, the fulfillment center is impacting Mt. Juliet and Wilson County and that will only accelerate when it opens. Theseareas include:
More homes
Beazer Homes representative Will Smith cited the Amazon facility as a reason the development company went forward on plans to build more than 700 homes in west Lebanon, nowapproved. The development named Waverly is west of State Route 109 and east of Golden Bear Gateway.
“The (proximity) to (the) Amazon fulfillment center was a factor,” Smith said. “We feel Waverly will provide a commute for future employees that Amazon will hire.”
Amazon is also opening an operations center at Nashville Yards downtown that is expected to bring several thousand more workers and will add to the need for homes in Wilson County, managing broker and owner of RE/MAX Advantage in Nashville Debra Beagle said.
Beagle believes more potential land availability could effectively pull Lebanon more “into Nashville so it doesn’t feel so far away,” she said. “That’s what’s happened in Spring Hill and Murfreesboro.”
More: Amazon buys land in Mt. Juliet where Project Sam is approved for nearly $5 million
Commercial interest
Golden Bear Gateway has seen a flurry of new projects approved or seeking the go aheadsince Amazon was approved in 2019.
A mixed-use plan named Legacy Pointe is a proposal going through the approval process near Golden Bear Gateway and I-40 and would include office, medical, retail and a hotel component, according to Heath Thorne of Agilitas Property Development.
The plan is for approximately 85 acres near Interstate 40.
A 7-Eleven store at Golden Bear Gateway and Volunteer Boulevard at just over 5,400 square feet with an associated restaurant is approved.
Another is a project just east of Beckwith Road and Golden Bear Gateway labeled Golden Property.The project will include a two-story building at just under 20,000 square feet with fast-food, retail, office space and gas pumps, according to plans.
Under Armour, FedEx, CEVA Logistics and Medline Industries are among existing industrial users nearby. Butmuch of the property identified in Mt. Juliet’s land use plan that allows for distribution centers on and around Golden Bear Gateway has developed, Mt. Juliet Director of Public Works & Engineering Andy Barlow said.
“Beyond that, we are seeing other development interest in commercial properties with interstate visibility that is not related to the distribution,” Barlow said.
“We don’t want this to be a big industrial highway,” City Councilman Ray Justice said. “That’s not what Golden Bear Gateway was intended for. We’d like to see some commercial and restaurants at the interstate and more residential as you go further north.”
School growthand school traffic
More jobs and residential growth directly from Amazon and other developmentthe company will attract has the attention of Wilson County Schools and the potential need for more buildings.
“The potential growth it will generate will be a concern for school capacity across the district,” Director of Schools Donna Wright.
More traffic for Mt. Juliet High School, which is further north on Golden Bear Gateway,could also come as Amazon gets established and more develops around it.
“(We’re) always concerned about the added impact on traffic when you have the potential to add additional vehicles to the roadways,” Wright said. “Timing will be critical, particularly if there are shift changes at the new Amazon facility.”
Existing local business
Jobs for the facilitywere described as"world-class" hightech and "next generation" by Panattoni Development Company Partner Whitfield Hamilton during the approval process. Positions will be fulfillment, tech, robotics, logistics and managerial with several levels of employment.
“To have 1,200 more jobs in the heart of town will be a huge boost to businesses,” Mt. Juliet Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hinseley said. “(Restaurants in Mt. Juliet) have a lot (of business) on nights and weekends, but there are still empty seats at lunch.”
Local Joe’s Café is located near the center of Mt. Juliet.
“A building of that magnitude is only going to boost our local economy,” said Joseph Perricone, who owns Local Joe’s Café with his father. “We’re minutes down the road and we hope to make it a lunch spot for employees, drivers and everyone in between.”
Road improvements
Amazon does have a multiple road improvements that are required with the development as well.They include:
- Traffic lights at Golden Bear Gateway and Athletes Way and the I-40 eastbound on-ramp and I-40 westbound off-ramp.
- Turn lanes at Golden Bear Gateway and Athletes Way and the I-40 westbound exit ramp.
- Greenway or multi-use paths along Golden Bear Gateway in the vicinity of Amazon.
- Turn lanes at Amazon’s access to East Division.
- Safety improvements on East Division will include shoulders and side slopes for most or all of the area between Old Lebanon Dirt Road and Rutland Drive. Expected to be finished after Amazon opens with right-of-way and utility relocation involved.
Impact to residents
While there aren’t a lot of residents in the immediate area to the future Amazon building, the 92-foot, 5-story building is visible for some neighbors toward the end of Hunting Hills Drive, nearby resident David Plott said.
Noise, at least during the construction period, has been a concern, Plott said.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
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