Franklin officials are tapping the brakes on a proposal to turn the historic Riverview estate into a 120-room hotel, telling developers at a neighborhood meeting this week that the concept is too big and too out of step with the city's vision for the corridor. Neighbors and preservation advocates at the meeting urged leaders to focus on rehabbing the property's century-old buildings instead of greenlighting what they see as a resort-style complex.
What developers proposed
Developers rolled out drawings for a 120-room "urban hotel" woven around the existing Riverview mansion and its outbuildings, with lounge areas, a restaurant, a day spa, outdoor gathering spaces and a barn converted into an events hall, according to WKRN. Patrick Poole, Merus' Nashville market vice president, told WKRN that "guests will enjoy the site history and walk to downtown as a springboard into the rest of the downtown community."
Meeting attendees and city leaders told the outlet they had sent dozens of emails opposing the plan, and some aldermen said the proposal "does not fit the city's vision for future developments." The message from the room was clear: the scale and intensity of the concept are a tough sell.
Why leaders pushed back
Franklin's long-range planning playbook puts historic preservation and context-sensitive infill near the top of the list, guiding decisions on high-profile properties like Riverview. As laid out in the city's Envision Franklin plan, officials favor adaptive reuse and expect any new construction to respect the scale and viewsheds of historic estates.
Seen through that lens, several leaders signaled they are unlikely to back a hotel project that depends on additional, large-scale building on the site. The underlying message to the development team: work with the history that is already there, not around it.
A historic property at stake
The Riverview mansion was built for Henry H. Mayberry in 1902 and is listed among Williamson County's notable historic homes, according to Wikipedia. Local property records show the estate includes a main house, a springhouse, a smokehouse, a relocated log cabin and a horse barn, features preservation advocates say are central to the property's character. Those details appear in the Peggy St. Peters property listing.
Preservation vs. development
The development team argues that a hotel could pay for restoration work and keep Riverview's buildings standing for another hundred years. Opponents counter that new structures and heavier activity would chip away at the site's historic feel and setting.
As part of their preservation pitch, developers floated adaptive reuse elements, including turning the barn into an event hall for weddings and rehearsal dinners, according to WKRN. Planners and preservationists responded that any new construction needs to stay proportional to the estate's historic character and the surrounding public realm.
Next steps
The proposal still has to pass neighborhood-meeting requirements and several layers of city review before any zoning or building approvals are on the table. Under the city's planning framework, neighborhood meetings and historic-district review are standard steps in the process, as described in Envision Franklin.
The next neighborhood meeting on the Riverview proposal is set for May 7, 2026, when residents and officials will get another presentation and another chance to weigh in.
