The work and meeting space company Espaces will expand its operations into downtown Franklin.

Opening in October, Espaces will take up 12,000 square feet in the 231 Public Square Building, which is under construction next to Franklin’s City Hall. The company also will keep its Cool Springs location off McEwen Drive.

“This will be a little bit different model,” Espaces CEO Jon Pirtle said. “We will have a lot of single and double office, and office spaces that can handle all the way up to 10 people. Most of our offices will be on the glass. We want to keep the openness and views to the city.”

Pirtle said it will be the company’s fourth location. Espaces also is opening its concept in Chattanooga later this year. The CEO said the expansion into downtown Franklin demonstrated the need for more office space in the area for smaller business owners. It also will follow a trend in the Franklin area, with 58,797 square feet leased already in the first quarter of 2018, according to data from Cushman and Wakefield. The current vacancy rate in Cool Springs is 7.5 percent.

“There hasn’t been options like this, and people have had to go into other areas,” Pirtle said. “Now they will have a premium location. A lot of people who have a lot of business in Nashville don’t want to make the drive anymore. It’s just a wonderful city and people don’t want to leave.”

About the 231 Public Square Building

Developer Bernie Butler said he will finish the 1970s-era First Tennessee Bank building transformation in 2018. When it’s opened, it will have class A office space and two restaurants, including the square’s first rooftop bar. The bank also will have its branch space on the first floor.

In 2015, the 231 Public Square project got a green light from the Historic Zoning Commission to move forward with the transformation. According to Williamson County’s property assessor records, First Tennessee sold the bank building for $3.45 million.