MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — It’s being called a catalyst for new development and opportunity, and on Wednesday, crews will break ground on the first phase of many, of a new mixed-use district, Providence Central.

“I think vision wise this is the direction Mt. Juliet needs to go, Jennifer Milele said, Mt. Juliet City Commissioner for District 4. “Providence Central is going to be game changer for Mt. Juliet.”

It’s the start of a new beginning, but certainly not the end.

The first phase of the massive project starts this week with the groundbreaking of Enclave at Providence Apartments, a campus with eight buildings, with 296 apartment units and a number of outdoor amenities, including:

  • Spacious resort style pool with extended pergola
  • Grilling and firepit area
  • Sand volleyball court
  • Entertainment lawn area with stage
  • Picnic lawn area
  • Dog park

The developer, Michael Murphy, with Cumberland Advisors says the Mt. Juliet area is underserved when it comes to high-end multifamily rental buildings.

So, he’s serving up some much-needed inventory, all while leading the way and paying for the extension of Providence Parkway to Central Pike within the new campus, Providence Central.

The extension will connect two major arteries in Mt. Juliet and open up access within the area, facilitating traffic flow from Central Pike to South Mt. Juliet road. In addition, the project is set to speed up construction on the new I-40 interchange at Central Pike. 

Now, the apartment units and Providence Parkway extension are part of the first phase of Providence Central, a 250-acre mixed-use campus with 2.6 million square feet of entitlements.

Master plan of Providence Central from Cumberland Advisors

Murphy says the entire vision will take 10-15 years to complete, but once it’s all said in done, the area will have a number of residential buildings, hotels, restaurants, plus office and retail space.

“People want to see certain type restaurants like high end restaurants, big box retail and they don’t understand that you have to have the right setting for those places before they go into an area,” Milele said. “Of course, that’s always the complaint, people don’t want more growth and what they don’t understand is the type of businesses they want here you, have to have that growth before they come.”

Murphy says it’s an ideal development to meet Mt. Juliet’s growth.

“I think it’s going to change the character of Mt. Juliet, the quality of development we’re looking to do here as well as what I perceive as a public private partnership,’ Murphy said.

Road work on the Providence Parkway extension is already underway and is expected to wrap up by the end of the year. Enclave at Providence Apartments will start leasing its first units in Summer of 2022, with all units completed in 2023.

Money for the interchange has been allocated by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to fully execute the project. We’re told the interchange will be in construction no later than 2025.