Stonelake Capital Partners' Nashville Industrial Site Leased by Lyft's Flexdrive for 83,043-SF Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Facility

Lyft subsidiary Flexdrive has officially started construction on what the company describes as its largest autonomous vehicle fleet management facility, occupying an 83,043-square-foot industrial building near Nashville International Airport owned by an entity affiliated with Houston-based Stonelake Capital Partners.

The facility, located at 230 Ellery Court, will house and manage Nashville's Waymo autonomous vehicle fleet, which launched public rides the week of April 14, 2026. The property is owned by SL7 Nashville Industrial LLC, a Stonelake Capital Partners-affiliated entity that acquired the building in February 2025 for approximately $10.4 million, according to Metro Nashville records. Lyft is leasing the building, though officials declined to disclose the terms of the lease, including its length and cost.

Industrial Real Estate Conversion Anchors Autonomous Vehicle Expansion

The 230 Ellery Court property is a former U.S. Postal Service processing center originally constructed in 1995. It sits on approximately 5 acres and was purchased by SL7 Nashville Industrial for approximately $10.4 million, according to Metro Nashville records. The adaptive reuse of the industrial facility — converting a decades-old postal processing center into specialized autonomous vehicle infrastructure — reflects the operational requirements of autonomous vehicle fleet management.

Flexdrive CEO John Parks cited Nashville's constrained real estate market as a key factor in the site selection process.

"Nashville is a rapidly growing city; real estate's hard to find here," Parks said during a facility tour on April 14. "A lot of real estate that they have here is going vertical. That highlights the need for us to be in the city and for us to be providing a transportation service."

Parks also noted the practical advantages of the existing structure. "We're very fortunate to have a good shell of this facility," he said. "We're also very fortunate that the power that we need to pull isn't very far away."

Three-Phase Construction Plan Targets Fall 2026 Opening

Construction at the facility is proceeding in three phases. Phase one — the installation of an initial bay of electric vehicle chargers — has already been completed. Phase two, currently underway, involves building out office space, break rooms, and vehicle services areas. Phase three will add additional charging infrastructure, bringing the total to 42 dual-port charging stalls on site.

Flexdrive is working with Nashville Electric Service on a power upgrade to support the expanded charging capacity, according to Kam Janiszewski, director for Flexdrive. Metro Nashville records show two electrical permits valued at $861,623 have been issued for the property in 2026, associated with the EV charger installations. The dollar figure on a commercial building rehabilitation permit for the site has not been publicly disclosed, and Parks declined to share total renovation costs.

"We're not going to talk specifically about cost," Parks told the Nashville Business Journal. "As you can see, it takes a lot of investment to get a facility like this up and running."

As part of the buildout, loading docks will be opened and larger doors and ramps will be added to accommodate autonomous vehicle operations. The project's architect is Washington, D.C.-based Arcadis Inc., with engineering services provided by Ohio-based M-Engineering and New York-based Armour Unsderfer Engineering, according to Metro records. The facility is expected to open in fall 2026.

Waymo-Lyft Partnership Marks First Collaboration Between the Two Companies

The Nashville facility underpins what the article describes as Waymo's first partnership with Lyft. John Tupps, Southeast policy manager at Waymo, said both companies' existing presence in Nashville was central to the decision to launch there.

"Given this is a growing market, there is a challenge in the transportation that exists here," Tupps said. "If we bring this kind of tri-party partnership together… we think we can have a meaningful impact on the city, and what a better place to do it than Nashville."

Tupps also pointed to Nashville's tourism base as a factor. "The interesting thing is, you do have a lot of tourists here," he said, "and so you're actually exposing more people to the technology by doing it in a place like this."

Flexdrive CEO Parks described the operational structure as a vertically integrated ecosystem. "Waymo partnering with Lyft and Flexdrive… you get this vertically integrated kind of ecosystem that, in theory, is much more efficient," Parks said. "We don't have third parties coming in to operate the site, which can create some inefficiencies."

The Waymo service area currently covers approximately 60 square miles in the downtown Nashville area. Flexdrive hopes to begin offering Waymo rides through the Lyft app by year-end 2026, though Parks noted no specific timeline has been set. Riders will have the option of booking either a Waymo autonomous vehicle or a Lyft with a human driver.

Facility Targets 70 Jobs; Half of Early Hires Are Lyft Drivers

Flexdrive is targeting 70 new employees at the Nashville facility by the end of 2026. As of April 14, Janiszewski said the company had 32 signed offers, with approximately half coming from existing Lyft drivers. Available positions range from entry-level roles to leadership positions, including technical roles and service coordinators.

"Over a third of our team members were current or previous Lyft drivers, and we were hoping to build that same team here," Janiszewski said.