In 2024, the City of Murfreesboro began the default process against the developers of the project located on the corner of College and Church Streets known as One East College. Plans for the urban mixed-use development began just before the COVID-19 pandemic, and stalled over the last five years. The property has been a blight in the middle of downtown, with a chainlink fence left standing around the old First United Methodist Church bell tower. But new plans for the space have been brought before the Planning Commission and the City Council.
According to a recent interview with WGNS, Mayor Shane McFarland states that new plans seem to be moving forward. The developers came to the joint meeting with a new proposal that will increase the number of condos, office and retail space, while decreasing the number of multi-family units, and removing the hotel from the table.
One of the main agreements with the developer from the beginning was that the old First United Methodist Church would be incorporated into the plans and turned into some type of venue, either a restaurant or a performance venue. According to the McFarland interview, the old church property is still structurally sound and once the city approves the plans, work will begin on the space immediately.
The development company One East College, LLC is a partnership between Tampa, Florida based Onicx Development, led by CEO Dhvanit Patel, Nashville-based TRC Construction Services, Inc. headed by Suri Ramanna, and Nick Patel, who is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. One East College purchased the 2.5 acres of land from the city for $1.8 million.
In a previous WGNS interview with the mayor, it was revealed that the sold sanctuary has been maintained. “The mayor explained that the developers kept insurance on both the sanctuary and the bell tower, which required monthly engineering reports and annual structural studies,” according to this interview. “Any maintenance flagged in those reports had to be completed to keep the coverage.”
WKRN News2 reports that McFarland hopes the old church will become a music venue with all of the musicians who live in Rutherford County, and the award-winning music program at Middle Tennessee State University.
“…How cool would it be for there to be a reason for someone to come downtown to listen to live music,” McFarland told WKRN. “Maybe this is the opportunity for Murfreesboro to create its own icon.”
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