The sprawling site that once housed Bridgestone's first U.S. manufacturing plant has new owners, and the tire-making era in La Vergne is officially giving way to a new chapter of warehouses and logistics space. Hamilton Development and Clarion Partners purchased the former Bridgestone tire plant at 1201 Bridgestone Parkway for $90.7 million, unveiling plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot industrial park on the property.
The Nashville Business Journal reported that Hamilton Development and Clarion Partners bought the former plant site for $90.7 million in October.
Demolition of the existing tire facility is set to begin immediately as part of what developers are calling phase one of the project. Per the Nashville Post, that first phase calls for six buildings totaling more than 760,000 square feet, with completion targeted for the second quarter of 2028 — roughly half of the full master plan's footprint.
A Pioneer Plant's Long Run Comes to an End
The site carries decades of industrial history. The facility originally opened in 1972 under Firestone before Bridgestone acquired it in 1988 as its first U.S. manufacturing plant, operating for more than 50 years until corporate executives slated it for closure due to the plant's age and high production costs, the Nashville Business Journal's report notes.
The closure became official when Bridgestone filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with state workforce officials confirming the plant's permanent shutdown effective July 31, 2025, displacing 658 workers, many of whom were represented by the United Steelworkers, the same report states. Production that once ran through La Vergne has since been consolidated into Bridgestone's Warren County plant in Morrison, Tennessee, where Bridgestone has expanded the facility, according to the report.
Developer's Ninth Project in Rutherford County
For Hamilton Development, the Bridgestone site is far from its first rodeo in the region. The acquisition marks the firm's 16th industrial park project in the Greater Nashville market and its ninth industrial development within Rutherford County, the Nashville Business Journal's report notes. The master plan calls for a 10-building industrial park that includes a retail building at the corner of Waldron Road and Bridgestone Parkway, with flexible spaces designed to accommodate tenants. Commercial brokerage JLL has been appointed to lead leasing for the project.
The La Vergne purchase comes just months after Hamilton Development broke ground on another major Rutherford County project. The same report notes that the firm started work in March on Cornerstone Business Park, a 152-acre, 1.8 million-square-foot multi-building development in neighboring Smyrna.
A Crowded Industrial Market
The pace of new construction raises questions about absorption. Hoodline's prior coverage found that Rutherford County's industrial inventory spans between 43 million and 45 million square feet, with local vacancy reaching between 9.5% and 10% in mid-2026 following a wave of speculative warehouse deliveries — well above Nashville's broader vacancy rate of 5.2% to 5.4%. Hamilton Development is now bringing another 1.5 million square feet online in La Vergne not long after starting the 1.8 million-square-foot Smyrna park, a timing dynamic that stands out against that softer vacancy backdrop.
Still, the shift from heavy rubber manufacturing to modern Class A logistics and light industrial space fits a broader pattern reshaping Rutherford County's economy. Population growth has been linked to demand for distribution facilities, while Interstate 24 offers access to the corridor.
The La Vergne closure wasn't an isolated move for Bridgestone. The company also announced it would close its Bridgestone Golf plant in Covington after 36 years, a separate Southeast manufacturing closure Hoodline reported on earlier this year.
