‘Lifestyle’ View Guides Meridian

The developers of Meridian Cool Springs wanted their office park to seem more inviting. So they started by thinking sequentially.

The team at Boyle Investment Co. started with the one-story retail buildings. These, Boyle placed in front, nearest to Carothers Parkway.

Next came the low-rise hotels, a restaurant building and the shortest office buildings. These were placed in the middle.

Last were the big office buildings, including the seven-story Community Health Systems Inc. headquarters that serves as Meridian’s anchor. These the developers placed in the back, where they wouldn’t seem overwhelming.

Boyle hopes the layout will encourage workers to stay out of their cars and walk to Meridian’s eateries for lunch and its shops to run errands. That, in turn, will draw other workers from other office parks.

“What we didn’t want was … to take a building and put a sea of parking around it, “said Thomas McDaniel, Boyle’s director of office leasing. “We’ve tried to maintain a lifestyle perspective.”

But placing the tallest building at the back of the development is only one of the tricks that Boyle has employed.

The firm has also laid the buildings along a tree-lined central boulevard, with only a sidewalk separating most front entrances from the road.

Parking is in the rear and out of sight. Boyle is also creating some of the first underground parking in Franklin.

And, finally, Boyle has built a cross street that connects Meridian to neighboring office complexes.

“We spent a lot of time with Franklin trying to figure this out, “McDaniel said.

Noshville, Boscos, Nucci’s Italian Ice & Gelato, Marriott and Microsoft have committed to leasing space in Meridian.

That’s proof, Boyle officials say, that their plans are paying off.