"We've heard you," The Factory at Franklin posted on August 22, 2026. It was taking down the short-term parking signs and QR codes that had appeared in its front lot about a week earlier. The pilot covered 70 spaces along Franklin Road, right next to the new Anthropologie. Early reports called it paid parking. The Factory then explained it was a free two-hour zone, and after feedback from visitors and tenants it ended the pilot altogether.
The signs didn't come out of nowhere. Two months earlier, The Factory had announced a 120-room hotel, and that announcement promised "dedicated two-hour parking areas for guests visiting for a meal, shopping or quick errands." The parking test was the first part of the hotel plan that regular visitors actually ran into. Look at the rest of 2026 at the old Jamison bedding factory the same way and the store changes make more sense. The campus is being set up for a version of itself that doesn't exist yet.
The hotel plan, as approved so far
Here is what has been announced. The Factory Hotel will be a Marriott Tribute Portfolio property, with groundbreaking targeted for late 2026 and an opening in spring 2028. Building 10 becomes part of the main lobby and Building 9 becomes a pool courtyard. Plans also include event and meeting space, a full-service restaurant and bar, a private dining room and a fitness center. A new garage and larger lots would raise campus parking to almost 1,100 spaces, up from the 950 spaces The Factory cited in mid-August. The plan is meant to double the number of spaces closest to the entrances.
The city side goes back further. Franklin approved a hotel and garage rezoning for the 20.15-acre Factory District in April 2025. On August 10, 2026, Franklin's Historic Zoning Commission approved design changes to both the garage and the hotel elevations, each by a 6–0 vote with staff conditions. As of early October, there's no public word that construction has started. The Factory's own campus map, dated September 29, still labels both the hotel and the garage "FUTURE." "Late 2026" is still the only timeline on record, and no lot closures or construction staging have been announced.
That gap matters for everything else on campus this year. Parking on the busy front side of the property was the first thing tested, and it's the same area where the biggest new tenant opened.
The new front door faces Franklin Road
On August 14, Anthropologie, Anthropologie Weddings and Tennessee's first Terrain opened together in Building 1, the former MAFIAoza's building facing Franklin Road. The project's contractor puts the space at 10,400 square feet, with roughly 1,800 of that for Terrain.
Here's how the building is laid out, based on FranklinIs's walkthrough:
- Ground level: Anthropologie apparel, plus Terrain at the back and Terrain's outdoor nursery
- Upstairs: Anthropologie Weddings, with an upper terrace belonging to Terrain
- Not included: a café. A Terrain employee confirmed the Franklin store doesn't have one.
Terrain is URBN's home-and-garden brand. It sells live plants, pottery, planters and seasonal décor, and it offers planting services. Staff told FranklinIs that workshops are coming, capped at about 10 people each. Pricing will vary by project, and dates will be posted in the store.
The move also affects Main Street. Anthropologie's store at 335 Main Street closed July 20. A Terrain manager told FranklinIs the space is expected to be renovated and reopen as Anthropologie Home, carrying furniture, rugs, lighting and the brand's other home goods, sometime next year. No opening date has been announced. If that happens, Franklin would have two Anthropologie locations about a mile apart, each selling different things.
Three exits, three different reasons
The tenants leaving The Factory this summer weren't all leaving for the same reason. Here's what each one said publicly.
- CR-71 moved after 12 years at The Factory. It's now in spaces O5 and O6 at The Collective Boutiques, 1113 Murfreesboro Road, Suite 254.
- GREYS Fine Cheeses closed Suite 12B on August 15 after three years. Owners Jackie and Kurt pointed to rising product and operating costs. They said they don't plan to move far, and Franklin staff are working at the Nashville shop for now. As of the latest coverage, GREYS hadn't announced a new Franklin address and was pointing Franklin customers to its West Nashville store.
- Experimart wrapped up in Building 10 on August 29 with a free Broom Transitional Ceremony. It had opened in January 2026, and it announced plans to move near the Nashville Zoo in September. Founder Bryce McCloud said the Franklin location was always meant to be a limited-time experiment.
Experimart's Building 10 space is in the same building the hotel plan names for its lobby. Experimart's own explanation was that the location was planned as temporary from the start. As of the September 29 map, no replacement has been named for GREYS's Suite 12B.
What filled in around them
Plenty of businesses opened while others left, and most of them are small. GG Boutique, a women's clothing and accessories shop, opened in February 2026 and is listed in Suite 11G. Bound Booksellers, a woman-owned shop selling books, gifts and stationery, held its grand reopening on July 18 and is now in Suite 12D. That puts it a couple of doors from the old GREYS space.
Some of the additions are about the campus's history. The first phase of the Factory Museum opened in Building 8. The museum's plan calls for displaying nine historic stoves and furnaces, along with photos and background on the manufacturers that used to operate there. The Visit Franklin visitor center is in Suite 11GG, across from Honest Coffee. A visitor center on campus makes even more sense with a hotel on the way. At the June announcement, Visit Franklin President and CEO Maureen Thornton said the hotel "gives visitors more reasons to stay."
Where parking stands right now
The Factory's most recent public parking update came on August 22, and it said all parking on campus is free. That includes 75 spaces The Factory said it had recently added near the Carousel of Dreams. The Factory said the former pilot section is being reconfigured and that it's taking time "to rethink the best long-term approach to short-term convenience parking." It's asking for feedback at [email protected].
That leaves one part of the June plan undecided. The hotel announcement included two-hour zones, the first try at them lasted about a week, and the new approach hasn't been announced. The garage is designed to double the number of spaces closest to the entrances, but no construction start date has been announced for it.
On the calendar this fall
Regular programming continues while the plans play out:
- Factory Farmers Market, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Water Tower. The next one is October 10.
- Studio Tenn's The Addams Family, October 8–25 at Turner Theater
- Studio Tenn's It's a Wonderful Life, December 3–20 at Turner Theater
Different Factory listings give different hours for the farmers market. The official event calendar shows 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for October dates.
Wondering how The Factory's next few years, from the hotel to the garage to whatever opens in Suite 12B, might affect your part of Franklin? The Phillips Group watches these changes up close from our office in Franklin, and we're always glad to talk through what a project like this could mean for your street. Start Your Home Search, or just reach out when you'd like a local take.
