MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — When you compare Mt. Juliet to similar cities across Middle Tennessee, it lacks one thing, a downtown.

“We are looking to really help Mt. Juliet create a strong vibrant downtown, a very strong sense that you’re in downtown Mt. Juliet,” said Matt Gardner, partner at Imagine1 Company.

Imagine1 Company is partnering with another Mt. Juliet developer to help revitalize the downtown space.

“We can come in and do a whole master plan that has retail, it has restaurants, it has office spaces it has housing,” Gardner said. “The crux of this project, the core of what we are doing is the new city hall.”

Gardner added there will be up to 240 residential units.

“Being able to create something new and modern and attractive and generate sales tax,” said Mt. Juliet City Commissioner, Ray Justice.

According to Justice, the city survives off sales tax, as the city’s property tax is only 11 cents. “City hall is sitting in a prime location that should be retail and generate revenue.”

Justice said a new city hall will be built next door to the current location. He said that’s the first part of the plan before this vision of the downtown can come to life.

“This is definitely not a some time in the next week [project], we are going to see buildings go up, but our goal is in the next 4 to 5 years to have something look like that it does on paper and really have a downtown Mt. Juliet,” Gardner said. 

Mt. Juliet city commissioners will meet later this month to hear a second reading of the development plan.