Friday, April 10, 2009 by Kevin Walters
The Tennessean
Former Driver's Way spot goes on market
Land sits amid some very hot properties

Franklin - The surge of development around the McEwen Drive/Mallory Lane intersection could continue picking up steam as more land near the area becomes available.

Up for sale is an 8.42-acre parcel formerly occupied by the used-car dealership Driver's Way, which closed in September. Its address is 4075 Mallory Lane.

The site, which includes the dealership's 29,548-square-foot office building, sits amid a host of ongoing developments, such as Southern Land Co.'s mixed-use McEwen project and the recently announced $50 million Cool Springs Square shopping center, among others.

Rick Helton, listing broker for the Driver's Way property, says those nearby developments could help shape the property's future use and bring a quicker sale despite the sour national economy.

Helton is managing director at Brentwood-based ProVenture Commercial Real Estate.

"I certainly believe that those developments help this site in terms of creating a real demand and real destination for shoppers and residents," Helton said. "You're basically creating a critical mass there just like (Cool Springs Galleria) is a critical mass of activity...I think you're going to see something very similarly created around the McEwen development."

Driver's Way owners Automotive Real Estate Inc. paid $2.9 million for the land back in 2003; last year, a market assessment put the property's value, including the building, at $6.6 million.

The likely selling price remains undisclosed.

"We have such a wide range of potential users, and we didn't want to overprice the property and we also didn't want to under-price it," Helton said.

Other potential projects on tap for the McEwen area include the Spring Creek Centre near the Mallory/McEwen intersection, north of Centennial High School, where a 340-room hotel and 50,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space would be built.

Though the Driver's Way property adjoins Southern Land Co.'s McEwen project, officials with the company say they aren't planning to buy the site.

"I think without knowing the scope of the cost and with the current climate being what it is, we'd probably hold off on any additional acquisitions at the point," said Jim Cheney, Southern Land spokesman. "It may be something that we would investigate in the future if the opportunity was still available.

Kevin Walters | kewalters@tennessean.com