Binkley wants to build a new city hall and a town center on the site that will include a mix of 96 residential units, a doctor's office, pharmacy, bank and room for additional retail.
"This is not something I need to do," Binkley told the commissioners. "This is something I want to do. I really would be better off in my home in Florida rather than here trying to develop something."
"The county has been trying to sell this property for eons. Mt. Juliet needs a town center," he said.
RelatedOdell Binkley builds on firm foundationHis plans call for a city hall building that will sit at the highest elevation on the property — 10 feet higher than Mt. Juliet Road — so that anyone driving along that road will be able to see the city hall building.
Mayor Linda Elam, who has long opposed a new city hall building for that site, said during the meeting that based on his plans she would reconsider.
"I'm willing to totally reconsider that notion," she said.
The most attractive part of the plan for her is that the city will not have to come up with money to buy land and build a new city hall. Binkley wants to build it for the city to maintain and lease on a long-term lease. Details of how long that lease would last have yet to be worked out.
"I can assure you that you will have something that you can be proud of," Binkley said.
He presented the commission with several photos of brick buildings with cupolas and other architectural features common to city halls. He also plans to build some sort of civic center on the site.
He pointed out that the exteriors of all of the buildings on the site would be made mostly of brick or stone.
A representative of CVS drug store will be looking at the property in January. While Binkley doesn't know for sure if the chain will opt to buy or lease from him, the drug store was a concern for commissioners Ed Hagerty and Will Sellers.
Hagerty's issue is that drug store chains tend to move their locations frequently. He also expressed concern that if a chain store buys property at the site from Binkley that Binkley will not have control over how the building looks, or its signage.
"I'm going to insist that it be a first-class operation," Binkley said.
Binkley holds an option to buy the site from the county for $3.4 million. But before he buys the site, he will need to know if the city is interested in leasing a city hall from him.
While he doesn't intend to "make money off of the city," he does need a commitment from the city in order to make the site financially viable for him to develop,
Commissioners did not formally commit to anything. They did ask that Binkley meet with public works director Marlin Keel and other city staff to discuss exactly what the city's needs are in a city hall building and other issues related to building at that location.
"I'm a person that wants to work things out," he said.
Nation’s Largest Historic Residential RestorationSunTrust building in downtown Nashville sold for $6 million
