Nuveen Sells 92,470-Square-Foot Southside at McEwen in Franklin, Tennessee, With JLL Brokering

Nuveen has sold Southside at McEwen, a 92,470-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in Franklin, Tennessee, to a high-net-worth family office, JLL Capital Markets announced Oct. 9. Lincoln Property Company served as investment advisor to the buyer, and JLL represented Nuveen in the transaction.

The property is located at 1554 W. McEwen Drive in Franklin's Cool Springs corridor, in the Nashville area. JLL said the center is 100% leased and anchored by a Whole Foods Market.

Southside at McEwen Property Details

Built in 2012 on 10.5 acres, Southside at McEwen is anchored by a 45,047-square-foot Whole Foods Market. JLL said the store is the most visited location in Tennessee and among the top-performing stores nationally. The Whole Foods space accounts for roughly 48.7% of the center's total area.

JLL said in-line shop tenants average more than $800 per square foot in sales. The tenant roster includes Lululemon, Flower Child, Solidcore, BrickTop's, Kendra Scott, Fab'rik and PNC Bank. The firm said the property has mark-to-market potential, with multiple shop tenants paying substantially below current market rates.

Cool Springs Location

The center has visibility and access along West McEwen Drive and Mallory Lane near Interstate 65. JLL described the surrounding area as one of the Nashville area's more established mixed-use environments, with luxury residential communities, Class A office properties, hospitality uses and other retail destinations. The property is also near Northside at McEwen and The McEwen office campus.

JLL said Nashville continues to attract corporate relocations and expansions across healthcare, technology, finance and professional services, which supports demand for high-quality retail real estate.

JLL Capital Markets Team

The JLL Capital Markets team was led by Senior Managing Director Jim Hamilton and Managing Director Brad Buchanan, along with Senior Analyst John Perry Hilton.

Nashville Retail Market Context

Nashville retail fundamentals remained tight in the second quarter of 2026. Market vacancy was approximately 3.4% to 3.5%, and average asking rents ranged from $30.79 to $31.07 per square foot. Annual rent growth was 5.2% in the second quarter, following 4.2% growth in the first quarter.

Nashville retail sales volume totaled about $273 million in the second quarter, with average pricing near $294 per square foot and a market cap rate of about 6.3%. Another market survey put second-quarter average pricing at approximately $299 per square foot, also with a 6.3% cap rate. Nationally, grocery-anchored centers were generally trading at cap rates of roughly 6.0% to 6.8%, depending on quality, lease term and location.

Institutional Property Advisors reported that Nashville's retail market has become bifurcated, with vacancy at properties larger than 50,000 square feet rising above 6% while smaller buildings remained near 2%. Single-tenant vacancy was near 3%, compared with more than 6% for multi-tenant buildings.

Nuveen's 2026 outlook identifies grocery-anchored neighborhood centers as resilient because they support frequent, necessity-oriented visits and multipurpose shopping trips. It also states that grocery-anchored strip centers maintain occupancy rates roughly four percentage points above non-anchored counterparts.

About the Firms

JLL's Capital Markets group provides capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers, including investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity and fund placement, and net lease services. The firm said the group has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists in offices in nearly 50 countries.

Lincoln Property Company describes itself as a full-service real estate firm offering investment management, leasing, development and property operations, with a national platform serving institutional and private clients.

Sources

• JLL, "JLL arranges the sale of fully leased Whole Foods anchored center in Nashville": https://www.jll.com/en-us/newsroom/jll-arranges-the-sale-of-southside-at-mcewen