In late 2012, there was a land-mark property sale on the LasVegas Strip, bringing a glimmerof hope to a city’s real estatemarket that was ravaged duringthe recession.

The property sold for $70million, but more importantly, itgarnered more than $1,700 persquare foot — setting all kindsof records in the process.

The building? A two-storyWalgreens pharmacy ploppedright in the middle of the city’sbiggest tourist attraction. It’s

also likely one of the few phar-macies to get a four-star ratingon Yelp!

And yet, we here in Nashvilleare wringing our hands aboutthe national retailer looking fora spot in the middle of our city’sbiggest tourist attraction. Infact, Tennessean reporter Ge-tahn Ward broke the news thisweek that the city will explorenew regulations that could limitcertain types of propertiesalong Nashville’s main touristthoroughfare in the downtown.

The rules, for instance,would call for retailers to haveat least 75 percent of items forsale to be tied to Nashville’s cul-tural heritage (think guitars andcowboy hats). Non-retail estab-

lishments would need to have astage for live music.

While the legislation nevermentions Walgreens by name,it’s clearly aimed at the nation’slargest drugstore chain.

Yes, Nashville’s tourist dis-trict does have a unique charm,but it also doesn’t mean that itcan function long-term by se-verely limiting the types ofproperties that can do businessin that part of town. The unin-tended consequences of this billcould have a stifling effect ondowntown’s growth and evolu-tion.

If you look at the city’s long-term vision for the SoBro neigh-

Flexibility, not rules, move city forward

The city is exploring new regulations that could limit certain types ofproperties along Nashville’s main tourist thoroughfare. LARRY MCCORMACK

/ FILE / THE TENNESSEAN» BIZTALK, 4D

CASUAL DINING MUST COURT MILLENNIALS PAGE 5B

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2014middle tennessee

BUSINESS EDITOR LANCE WILLIAMS 615-259-8882, LWILLIAMS@TENNESSEAN.COM REPORT BUSINESS NEWS 259-8096 OR FAX 259-8093

BRENTWOOD — Maryland Farms, whichgot started as an office park in the 1980s, isgoing through a midlife crisis.

Brentwood’s aging business area — thecity’s first major foray into office develop-ment — is trying to stay competitive in amarket where prime new office buildingscan be found just down the interstate inCool Springs or even around the corner inDavidson County’s Seven Springs.

But Darryl Edmonds, founder and presi-dent of financial planning firm TrustCore,which has made a home in Maryland Farmsfor the entire 30 years of the business’s ex-istence, believes in the former horse farmturned business park. When his company,which now counts four partners, 30 plan-ners and 24 staff members on its payroll,outgrew its past spot, the offices didn’t ven-ture far.

“There are plenty of places we couldhave gone. But we wanted to stay in Mary-land Farms. It’s ideally located betweenNashville and Cool Springs and very conve-nient,” he said.

The firm, which has $1.3 billion of assetsunder management, redeveloped an olderbuilding along with former HCA PresidentClayton McWhorter, who founded healthcare and technology investment firm Clay-ton Associates. Because of its age and needof renovations, the building had been listedas Class C, the lowest rung for office space,but it was transformed into a top-tier ClassA facility.

TrustCore’s offices take up the secondand third floors of the nearly 40,000-square-foot building, while Clayton Associates hasdibs on most of the bottom floor, which alsohouses a state-of-the-art Education Center,a nearly 50-seat learning and conferencingenvironment for business clients and asso-ciates, charities and other communitygroups.

Originally, the building on Maryland

Financial planning firm TrustCore turned a 30-year-old office building into its new digs at Maryland Farms in Brentwood. TrustCore’s offices occupy the second and third floors, whileClayton Associates has dibs on most of the bottom floor, which also houses an education center. PHOTOS BY MARK ZALESKI / THE TENNESSEAN

FIRM BELIEVESIN OFFICE PARKTrustCore revives old building, stays in Maryland Farms

By Bonnie Burchbburch@tennessean.com

Darryl Edmonds, founder and president of TrustCore, shows off his new office in Maryland Farms. Technology, lighting,energy efficiency and other upgrades turned a Class C building into a top-tier Class A facility. » OFFICES, 4D

biztalkLance Williams

lwilliams@tennessean.com

MARYLAND FARMS BUILDINGRECLASSIFICATIONS IN 2013EMI - Sparrow Building was Class A, moved to Class B, 59,656square feet.The Ramparts of Brentwood was Class A, moved to Class B,128,557 square feet.100 Winners Circle was Class A, moved to Class B, 73,470square feet.Center Court Building was Class A, moved to Class B, 58,638square feet.Harpeth on the Green IV was Class A, moved to Class B,78,305 square feet.Quorum I was Class A, moved to Class B, 82,399 square feet.Quorum II was Class A, moved to Class B, 40,049 square feet.Brentwood Business Center was Class B, moved to Class C,110,000 square feet. Brentwood Highlands was Class B, moved to Class C, 69,555square feet.Eastpark 1 was Class B, moved to Class C, 29,981 square feet.Eastpark 2 was Class B, moved to Class C, 85,602 square feet.Eastpark 3 was Class B, moved to Class C, 77,674 square feet.Synergy Business Park 2 was Class B, moved to Class C,39,906 square feet.Synergy Business Park 1 was Class B, moved to Class C,45,520 square feet.

Source: City of Brentwood

Way was constructed in1984 for Randall Baskinand his company, Conti-nental Life Insurance.Earl Swensson was the ar-chitect. It was used as acall center, but then satempty for a year before itwas put up for sale.

Unique architectureEdmonds describes

the out-of-the-ordinarylook of the three-storystructure as a triangle sit-ting atop two rectangels.

“It’s a very uniquepiece of architecture onMaryland Way and makesit easy to find. It’s not asquare box with win-dows,” he said.

During the yearlongrenovation project, al-most everything in thebuilding was stripped out,leaving only the elevatorshafts untouched. Reno-vations included updatesin technology, energy effi-ciency and lighting withLED fixtures. Plumbing,electrical and the HVACalso were upgraded.

When staff startedmoving into their new of-fices in December, theywere greeted with redwood-lined outdoor pati-os, an employee cafe andglass-encased officespaces implemented byInterior Design Services,which worked in concertwith Carter Group as thecontractor.

A 70-inch televisionscreen can present visualfinancial projects in alarge boardroom. Smallerconference rooms carryMiddle Tennessee-relatednames including Radnor,Harpeth, Cumberland,Steeplechase, Natchezand Founders. The Adamsroom is named after CarolAdams, TrustCore’s re-ceptionist for 20 years.

Beyond the renovationof the newly renamedTrustCore Building,Maryland Farms is seeingother prime office spacecome online. Most nota-bly, Tractor Supply Co. isconstructing a 260,000-square-foot building andparking garage on Vir-ginia Way near the Gran-ny White intersection forits corporate headquar-ters. The company ex-pects to move from itsleased space into the per-manent facility in the fall.

“We feel very comfort-able here. And with Trac-tor Supply building, weknow there is a lot of de-mand for good quality of-fice space in MarylandFarms,” Edmonds said.

Reach Bonnie Burch at 615-771-5421 and on Twitter@BonnieBurch_WAM.

A new cafeteria is part of the upgrades to what is now the TrustCore building in Maryland Farms. The building, construc-ted in 1984, had sat empty for a year before being put up for sale. PHOTOS BY MARK ZALESKI / THE TENNESSEAN

This is one of the offices in the TrustCore building. During the yearlong renovationproject, almost everything in the building was stripped out, leaving only the elevatorshafts untouched. MARK ZALESKI / THE TENNESSEAN

OFFICES»CONTINUED FROM 1D

A outdoor patio graces the third floor of the TrustCorebuilding. Plumbing, electrical and the HVAC units also wereupgraded in the renovation.

4D SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2014 business