"It's all speculative at this point." A city staff member said it at the October 15, 2026 Jackson City Council meeting, and it was in answer to a council member's question. He had just read figures of $188 million and $88 million off a consultant's report and wanted to know how much would come from taxpayers.
Two weeks later, the empty shopping center at North Highland Avenue and Old Hickory Boulevard is still an open question with a bigger research budget. The council approved a $100,000 contract to find out who might build there. It did not approve a project. Each large number you may have heard about the site is either a concept drawn years ago or an estimate the city says it hasn't priced yet.
What $100,000 Bought on October 15
The item on the agenda was "consideration of a contract with JLL for Jackson Plaza phase 2." JLL is the consulting firm the city hired to study what the property could become. When asked to explain the item, city staff said the money was already budgeted. "So, we had phase one," the staff member said, and "this is phase two that goes into looking at um acquiring the partnership with the private developer for the for the Jackson Plaza property."
Staff also said the council had already agreed to the full JLL contract in phases instead of all at once, and this vote released the second phase. One council member compared it to "the second phase of developing something like the Jackson Walk area," and staff said yes.
The contract passed. On the recording, a few council members voted no and one abstained.
According to WBBJ's report on the meeting, Mayor Scott Conger said phase 2 "could be a whole bunch of different things," and the aim is "to find that right private investor."
Here is what the vote did not settle:
- A developer. Phase 2 is the search for one.
- A building program. The mayor's own words leave the use of the site open.
- A financing deal. No tax increment financing or tourism-revenue package came up for a vote.
- A start date. Nothing was said about when construction might begin.
The Big Numbers Came From a Different Stage
The $188 million figure came from one council member. He was reading from what he described as a 2025 JLL report with three options, Programs A, B and C. He said Plan C carried a development cost of $188 million and a "required subsidy" of $88 million, "almost 50%." He also cited a bond or note estimated at $57 million and asked how much of it the city would owe.
Staff didn't take up the numbers. "We haven't got to that phase yet," the response went, and later, "We don't know what the cost is. It's all speculative at this point. That's why we entered in the contracts to look at the phases." Staff told him, "Councilman, we're not there yet."
So two things are true at once. A consultant's report has put dollar figures on at least one version of the site, and the city has not adopted any of them. On WBBJ, the mayor described the goal as "no tax dollars are being spended up front." Instead, the money would come "from either increment financing or tourism development." That is a stated goal, not an approved structure.
The council member who raised the figures was clear about his position. "I'm all for doing something down there. We desperately need it," he said. He noted the city had spent at least $300,000 on studies before this vote, listed other demands on the treasury, including a stormwater project, and said he'd prefer to revisit the item "maybe a year from now." His summary: "I'm not opposed to the project. I'm just opposed to another $100,000 right now."
Every Version of This Site Has Been a Forecast
The October vote makes more sense against the site's history. Jackson Plaza has been described many times as about to change, and each description was a plan, not a finished result.
- 1967. The City of Jackson says Jackson Plaza opened that year, part of the Rosenblum family's long relationship with the city.
- The retail years. Talk-N West TN lists Belk, Big Star Supermarket, Super D Drugs and Service Merchandise among its former businesses. Service Merchandise declared bankruptcy in 2002.
- December 2022. The city announced plans to acquire the property. At that point the Rosenblum Family Trust owned the land and Aranov Realty held a land lease set to end February 28, 2026. The Jackson Sun reported that Mayor Conger described a multipurpose convention center and arena as the goal and hoped demolition would happen by the end of the following year.
- November 2024. CityNOW Next reported that JLL would handle market analysis, cost management for a financial package and an economic impact study. The concept in that article showed a 140,000-square-foot arena and event hall, 75,000 square feet of meeting space, 280 hotel rooms across two hotels and 700 parking spaces. The images were labeled "shown for context only," and JLL was expected to refine its report over the next year. The same article put the Old Hickory Boulevard and Jackson Plaza area among four focal points in the One Jackson Civic Master Plan.
- February 2025. Talk-N West TN reported that the council approved a $4 million purchase from the Rosenblum Family Trust, and a council member said due diligence still had to be done before closing.
- October 15, 2026. Phase 2 of the JLL contract is approved to look for a private partner.
Taken in order, the list shows a change in how the city describes the site. The 2022 language named an arena and convention center. The 2024 concept drew one and labeled it illustrative. In 2026 the mayor says the site could be "a whole bunch of different things." The arena is still the best-known picture of the property, and the city has never committed to it.
Down the Street, the Corridor Is Changing Without It
The city is still working out the Plaza, and smaller private projects have kept coming to North Highland Avenue.
Talk-N West TN reported in August 2026 that South Philly & Maine is coming to 929 N. Highland Avenue. The owner had bought the property and work was underway, but no opening date had been announced. The restaurant's own site still says "coming soon" and gives no date.
Farther up the road, Scooter's Coffee planned its second Jackson drive-thru at 2625 North Highland Avenue, with a scheduled opening of November 6, 2025. Its first Jackson location, at 1732 South Highland Avenue, opened July 21, 2025.
None of these depend on the Plaza decision, and the timing is the point. A restaurant can go from purchase to "coming soon" within one season. The large public-private project next to it is moving through phases measured in years, and the next phase is still the search for a partner.
What Would Signal Real Movement
The October vote set out the order of events, so the next meaningful news will look different from the October 15 vote. These are the things that would show the site moving from study to project:
- A named private developer. Staff described phase 2 as pursuing that partnership. Until a partner is named, there's nothing to build.
- A financing package before the council. The mayor pointed to increment financing or tourism-development revenue. A specific proposal using either would come back to the council, and that is when cost questions like the $88 million subsidy get real answers.
- A program the city actually adopts. The 2024 arena-and-hotel drawing and the 2025 Programs A, B and C are all studies. A program the council votes to pursue would be the first fixed definition of the site.
- Confirmed land and lease status. The purchase was approved pending due diligence, and the Aranov lease was set to end in February 2026. Official confirmation that both are done would settle who controls the site day to day.
If you own a home in north Jackson, the Plaza story is worth following. What it will become is still undecided, and the city says so.
If you live near North Highland or Old Hickory and want to know what your home is worth based on recent sales, and not on drawings for the lot down the road, Amy McLemore can walk you through it. Request a Free Home Valuation, and you'll get a clear, local read on your home while Jackson Plaza's next phase plays out.
