MJ officials see vision of Bel Air at Beckwith in Texas

A vision for a huge development in the works near the Beckwith Road interchange and Interstate 40 was revealed to Mt. Juliet city officials recently during a trip to Texas.

The developers of Bel Air at Beckwith – a planned 500-plus acre mixed development – hosted Mt. Juliet City Manager Kenneth Martin and other city staff recently during a tour of some out-of-state developments that could be mirrored in Mt. Juliet. 

Mt. Juliet Mayor Ed Hagerty said the developers wanted to show what they have planned for Mt. Juliet

"The city is on fire when it comes to potential retail sales tax and job creation," Hagerty said at the recent State of the City address.

One of the people Martin and his staff met with was Ronnie Guerro with American Communities.

"It was a two-day tour," said Martin. "If this comes to Mt. Juliet, we will be very blessed. It's like nothing we've seen."

He said the "vision" is split between residential, office and retail.

There already are letters of commitments from three single-housing developments and one multi-family development.

Martin said there's been a lot of interest in the site.

"It think it will happen," he said. 

There's a move for the city to get appraisals to acquire right-of-way in the area, with a 20 percent match from developers. 

Some of the tenants who have their names batted about during early talks are Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Costco.

"This is going to be Providence on steroids," he said. 

Managing Editor Laurie Everett can be reached at 444-3952 or by email at mtjulietnews@tds.net