PHOTO: An image from a Colliers International brochure on the property, located off Columbia Ave.
By BROOKE WANSER
A storied property in downtown Franklin is being offered by Colliers International as a multi-use space after being advertised since June of 2017 by another real estate agency.
The Carter’s Court property, which sits on 2.53 acres, is being listed for $6.5 million. It is located at 1143 Columbia Ave.
Carter’s Court was developed in the 1970s by Williamson County native Calvin LeHew, who was inspired by European villages.
It formerly housed Miss Daisy’s Tea Room and other specialty shops. However, over the years it has fallen into disrepair. A few businesses, such as the Bunganut Pig restaurant, are still in operation.
Still, the proximity to downtown Franklin and adjacency to the Lotz House down the block and the Carter House directly across the street place the property in a high-demand area.
It lies on land where thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers marched and hundreds died during the 1864 Battle of Franklin.

The Carter’s Court property shown on the advertising material from Colliers International.
The advertisers also note the property is “one of the largest developable tracts in Historic Downtown Franklin’s core.”
The land is zoned to allow for high-density, mixed-use development, and notes foot traffic from annual Franklin events like Pumpkinfest, Dickens of a Christmas, and Main Street Festival.
Colliers agents represent landowners Jose and Mary Kay Santisteban, property records reveal.
Another agency previously tried to market the land last year, as evidenced by a website which is still up.
“A boutique hotel, upscale retail, fine dining, and/or high-density residential would all be appropriate uses,” reads a section from a website about the property created by Pursuit Land, a Crye-Leike agency.
The asking price from that website was $5.99 million, which appears to have been most recently updated in June of 2017.
That website apparently no longer represents the property owners.