604 New Apartments Coming to Franklin: EMBREY Closes on Aureum Phases II and III
EMBREY, the San Antonio-based real estate investment company, has closed on six acres of land in Franklin for the next two phases of Aureum, a multifamily development inside SouthStar's 22-acre Aureum master-planned project in the Cool Springs submarket. The combined development will deliver 604 apartment homes across two three-acre sites near the intersection of Carothers Parkway and East McEwen Drive, directly adjacent to Interstate 65.
For anyone trying to read the actual signals on Franklin's housing market -- not the headlines, but where capital is moving and what supply is coming online -- this announcement is one of the more substantive data points of early 2026.
What's being built
Aureum is a SouthStar mixed-use master plan covering 22 acres in one of Williamson County's most sought-after growth corridors. EMBREY is the multifamily partner on the residential portion. Phase I, branded as Thatcher at Aureum, began construction in late 2025. Phases II and III are now closed and will move into the development pipeline behind it.
The numbers, as reported in the closing announcement:
- 604 apartment homes across the two new phases
- Six acres total (two separate three-acre sites)
- Phase II is expected to total approximately 281,000 square feet
- Site is located near Carothers Parkway and East McEwen Drive, adjacent to I-65
For EMBREY, this represents their fifth and sixth multifamily developments in Franklin and their thirteenth and fourteenth Tennessee projects since the company first entered the state in 1987. It is also their fifth development partnership with SouthStar.
"Franklin continues to stand out as a market defined by strong fundamentals, long-term demand, and thoughtful growth," said Brad Knolle, executive vice president of development at EMBREY, in the company's announcement. "The closing of Phases II and III allows us to build on the momentum established with Phase I and reinforces our confidence in Williamson County as a place where quality development and community investment align."
EMBREY's chief investment officer, Garrett Karam, framed the deal in straightforward investor language: "This land acquisition allows EMBREY to execute our capital strategy in a high-demand, well-located market. Franklin continues to offer the fundamentals we seek for long-term multifamily success."
The supply picture this changes
The Franklin rental market has been structurally tight for years. Williamson County's population growth, driven by relocations from California, Texas, the Northeast, and Florida, has consistently outpaced new apartment delivery. The practical effect on the ground: anyone moving to Franklin without buying immediately has found a small number of complexes, long waitlists at the most desirable ones, and rents at the upper end of the national range for a city Franklin's size.
The Carothers Parkway corridor, between Cool Springs Galleria and the East McEwen interchange, has been the area absorbing most of the new multifamily supply. Aureum sits right in the middle of that corridor.
When all three Aureum phases deliver over the next two-to-three years, the combined development will add roughly 900+ apartment homes to that submarket. That's not enough to meaningfully soften rents on its own, but it is enough to reduce the most acute waitlist pressure on the existing Cool Springs apartment complexes that relocators most commonly land in while house-hunting.
What this means if you're moving to Franklin
A few practical implications worth understanding.
If you're in the early stages of a Franklin move and considering renting first while you look for a home, which is what the majority of California, New York, and DC transplants we hear from end up doing, the Cool Springs / Carothers corridor remains the highest-density apartment landing zone in the city. Aureum Phase I (Thatcher at Aureum) is the next major property delivering. Phases II and III will follow over the next 18 to 36 months.
The location is functional for the relocator profile: minutes from I-65 for Nashville commuters, close to the Cool Springs Galleria and Carothers retail, walkable-ish to the McEwen Northside restaurant district as it matures, and well-positioned for school zoning around Independence High School and the surrounding Williamson County Schools elementary and middle feeders.
The pricing question is harder to answer right now. EMBREY has not released rent guidance for Aureum, and the broader Carothers corridor in 2026 is asking $1,900 to $2,800 for a two-bedroom and $2,800 to $4,500 for a three-bedroom single-family rental, depending on the specific community and amenity set. Aureum is positioned as a higher-amenity property, which suggests pricing toward the upper end of that range.
Why the EMBREY investment matters as a signal
When a vertically integrated multifamily developer makes its fifth and sixth investments in the same city, that's a different kind of signal than a one-off deal. EMBREY has been building in Tennessee since 1987 and now has 14 active or completed Tennessee projects. The fact that six of them are in Franklin, and three of those are at a single master-planned site within roughly two years, tells you something specific about how institutional capital is reading Franklin's medium-term outlook.
The pattern is broadly consistent with what other developers are doing in the same submarket. Stockbridge Capital Group, Foundry Commercial, Toll Brothers, and the various Cool Springs office and retail developers are all making sustained, repeated investments here. For a relocator trying to evaluate whether Franklin is overheating or whether the growth has actual fundamentals behind it, the developer behavior is one of the more reliable signals available.
Source: EMBREY announces first land closing of 2026 with Aureum phases II and III in Franklin -- Williamson Herald, January 30, 2026.
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