Developments in Franklin Series

If you regularly drive through Cool Springs, there’s a good chance you’ve passed one of Franklin’s largest upcoming developments without realizing just how much is planned there.

At the southwest corner of East McEwen Drive and Carothers Parkway, across from the long-planned Ovation development and just east of I-65, a new mixed-use district called Aureum is beginning to take shape.

And this isn’t a small project.

Current plans approved by the City of Franklin allow for 900 multifamily residences, 245,560 square feet of nonresidential space, and up to 300 hotel rooms across approximately 27 acres.

But Aureum’s story is particularly interesting because what Franklin is getting today looks noticeably different from what was originally envisioned.

First: What Is Aureum?

Aureum (Latin for “golden”) was first announced several years ago for what its developers called the “golden corner” of Cool Springs: the intersection of East McEwen Drive and Carothers Parkway.

The location is hard to miss. It’s minutes from I-65 and positioned near some of Cool Springs’ largest employment centers, hotels, restaurants, shopping, and other major mixed-use developments.

The original plans were ambitious. When Aureum was first proposed, plans called for approximately 480 residences, 750,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, and as many as 700 hotel rooms.

In other words, the early Aureum concept leaned heavily toward becoming a major office and hospitality destination. But Franklin, and the way people live and work, has changed significantly since those plans were introduced. So has Aureum.

The Aureum Being Built Today Is Different

This is the part of the story many Franklin residents may not know. In September 2025, Franklin approved a significant revision to the Aureum development plan. The revised plan added 420 multifamily residences while substantially reducing the project’s previously approved commercial square footage and hotel rooms.

Today, Aureum’s total approved entitlements include:

• 900 multifamily residences

• 245,560 square feet of nonresidential space

• 300 hotel rooms

• Improvements along Carothers Parkway and East McEwen Drive

It’s a significant pivot. Rather than becoming primarily an office and hotel district with residential incorporated around it, Aureum is evolving into a much more residentially driven mixed-use community. And the first major residential piece is already underway.

Meet Thatcher at Aureum

The first residential phase is called Thatcher at Aureum.

Developed by EMBREY, Thatcher began construction in late 2025 and is planned to include 296 apartment residences. But that’s only Phase I. In January 2026, EMBREY announced that it had acquired another six acres within Aureum for Phases II and III.

Together, those two future phases are planned to add another 604 apartment homes across two three-acre sites. Do the math and you arrive at the project’s full residential entitlement:

296 + 604 = 900 residences.

That means the residential component isn’t simply a future idea on a master plan anymore. The first phase is under construction, and land has already been acquired for the next two.

What Else Is Coming to Aureum?

Aureum is still planned as more than an apartment community.

The City of Franklin’s current approvals allow for approximately 245,560 square feet of nonresidential development and 300 hotel rooms, leaving room for a substantial combination of commercial and hospitality uses.

Earlier visions for Aureum included restaurants, retail, entertainment, offices, hotels, parks, trails, and gathering spaces. However, it’s important to distinguish those original concepts from what’s actually approved today. Because the master plan was significantly revised in 2025, some of the renderings and descriptions Franklin residents may remember seeing online represent an earlier version of Aureum.

Specific future restaurants, retailers, hotels, and commercial tenants have not all been announced. Those are the pieces we’ll be watching next.

Why This Particular Corner of Cool Springs Matters

To understand Aureum, you really have to zoom out. The intersection of East McEwen Drive and Carothers Parkway is becoming one of the most development-heavy areas in Franklin. Aureum occupies the southwest corner. Directly across Carothers Parkway, the massive Ovation development occupies more than 100 acres and also received a major revision in 2025.

Head west across I-65 and you reach the increasingly established McEwen corridor, including McEwen Northside, where offices, restaurants, luxury apartments, hotels, fitness concepts, and public green spaces have already created one of Franklin’s most recognizable mixed-use districts.

So Aureum isn’t an isolated development being built in an empty corner of Williamson County. It’s another piece of a much larger transformation happening around McEwen Drive.

Cool Springs Is Becoming Something Different

For longtime Franklin residents, Cool Springs hasn’t always looked like this.

For years, the area’s identity was largely built around office parks, corporate headquarters, hotels, CoolSprings Galleria, and conventional suburban retail.

You drove there to work. You drove there to shop. Then you drove somewhere else.

Projects like McEwen Northside began changing that formula by combining residences, restaurants, offices, hotels, and green space into places where people could spend more of their day without constantly getting back in the car. Aureum, and eventually the neighboring Ovation property, could push that evolution considerably further.

The Cool Springs of the future may feel much less like a collection of office parks and shopping centers and much more like a series of connected mixed-use districts.

But What About Traffic?

It’s probably the first question many Franklin residents will ask when they hear “900 residences.”

And it’s a fair one. The City of Franklin’s current development plan specifically identifies improvements to Carothers Parkway and East McEwen Drive as notable infrastructure components associated with Aureum. The city is also looking at the area more broadly as growth continues around this intersection. That’s important because Aureum isn’t the only major project planned here.

When you consider Aureum alongside Ovation and continued development throughout the McEwen corridor, the larger question isn’t simply how one development affects traffic. It’s how Franklin plans infrastructure around an entirely different level of density in this part of the city.

That will be one of the biggest things to watch as these projects move from plans to reality.

What We’re Watching Next

Aureum has been talked about for years. What’s different now is that pieces are actually moving. Over the next several years, we’ll be watching for:

• Construction progress at Thatcher at Aureum

• Timing for Phases II and III

• Announcements surrounding restaurants and retail

• Details about the project’s future hotel component

• How the remaining 245,560 square feet of nonresidential space takes shape

• Improvements to East McEwen Drive and Carothers Parkway

• How Aureum ultimately connects with the surrounding Cool Springs developments

• What happens directly across the street at Ovation

That last point may become one of the most important. Because if both Aureum and Ovation ultimately reach anything close to their approved scale, this intersection will look dramatically different from what Franklin residents see today.

Why Aureum Matters for Franklin Real Estate

A development like Aureum matters even if you’re never planning to live there. Large mixed-use projects can change how residents interact with an entire part of the city. They bring new housing, businesses, hospitality, infrastructure investment, restaurants, services, and potentially new patterns of traffic and activity.

For buyers considering Franklin, they also provide important context.

The Franklin someone remembers from ten years ago isn’t necessarily the Franklin they’re buying into today. Understanding what’s already approved—and where investment is heading—can help buyers make more informed decisions about neighborhoods, commute patterns, convenience, and long-term plans.

That’s why we pay attention to developments long before the ribbon-cutting.

Final Thought

Aureum’s story is really a story about the evolution of Cool Springs itself.

What was once envisioned as a massive office and hospitality development has been reworked for a Franklin where residential demand and mixed-use living are playing a much larger role.

And now, after years of plans and revisions, construction has begun. The most interesting part may still be ahead. Because Aureum isn’t being built in isolation. It’s taking shape at the center of an area where several of Franklin’s largest development plans are beginning to converge.

Today, McEwen and Carothers may simply feel like another busy Cool Springs intersection.

A decade from now?

It could be one of Franklin’s most significant urban centers.

If you’re considering a move to Franklin, Brentwood, College Grove, or anywhere throughout Williamson County, we’d love to help you understand not only what’s here today, but what’s already approved for tomorrow.

At The Jernigan Group, we believe understanding development, infrastructure, and the direction of a community is an important part of making an informed real estate decision.

📞 615.594.1990

📧 info@thejernigangroup.com