Kolter Land unpacks plans for sprawling, 665-acre Nexus development in Gallatin

By Ian Bradley - Reporter, Nashville Business Journal

May 11, 2023

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Tampa-based Kolter Land, an acquisition and development firm, is well underway in bringing a colossal, 655-acre master-planned community to Gallatin.

When it’s completed, the Nexus development, as the project is called, will be a mix of single-family houses, villas and townhomes, as well as an office park and open space. The property is north of the intersection of Red River Road and Highway 109, and straddles Albert Gallatin Avenue.

President of Kolter Land Jim Harvey said the buildout value of the community is over $2 billion.

The residential buildout, which is being handled by multiple homebuilding companies, will take around five years, and the commercial elements will take twice that long to complete.

“Gallatin has been planning for growth in this area for many years. They were always anticipating this parcel of land to really be a new gateway to the city and a major project for employment, residential — a ‘live, work, play’ location,” Harvey said. “It’s a project that needed a developer with a significant amount of horsepower to put it all on the ground, and that’s hopefully where we’ve come in and proven ourselves.”

Nexus has been working with D.R. Horton, David Weekly Homes and Ryan Homes to build the housing.

Ryan Homes is constructing the community’s townhomes, while David Weekly and D.R. Horton are building the single-family homes, which will range between 1,700 and 3,000 square feet, Harvey said.

The community will offer residents a clubhouse, pool area and walking trails.

“We’ve got relationships with all of those builders throughout the southeast U.S. We had plenty of builders that were interested in the location and the project, we were able to hand-select them to build the type of community that we’re looking for,” Harvey said. “We’re taking a more contemporary styling to the project, which will be something new for the Middle Tennessee area. Instead of traditional brick and colonial-style homes, you’re going to see a lot more updated use of architectural styles.”

On the opposite end of the community will be an age-restricted, "active adult" community — 850 paired villas and single-family homes, which will include activity spaces, pickleball and tennis courts, a garden and other amenities.

The companies are building a total of 1,350 residences, including 260 townhomes and 140 attached villas.

Nexus will also include 1.1 million square feet of mixed-use development featuring office space, retail and 900 apartment units, spread across 124 acres. Harvey said there is no developer committed to that element of the project yet.

Even so, he’s already in talks about the best uses for the commercial spaces, which will include a grocery store.

“It’s [going to be] a real mix of uses. Heavier on retail, restaurants, but we think with the business park there will be certainly at least one limited service hotel if not two. You’ll have ancillary uses — it’d be a great spot for a daycare and essential services for residents and for folks coming to shop and eat and enjoy the area. We have enough flexibility, we have enough land that it could be a lot of different uses, which is really our goal. We don’t want it to be one big box; we want more like a power center where you’d have a lot of different uses in one location.”

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