Best Buy plans to build new store at The Avenue Murfreesboro

• The relocated Best Buy will take over where David's Bridal shop will be torn down, architect says.
• Four-way stop will be set up by relocated Best Buy along Avenue Way.
• Best Buy will be able to install car stereos in two-bay garage by Avenue Way.
• Officials agree only one vote needed to approve Best Buy relocation plan.

Best Buy plans to relocate its store within The Avenue Murfreesboro.

The Murfreesboro Planning Commission approved plans for a 42,226-square-foot Best Buy next to Michaels during a Wednesday meeting. The new Gateway area store would open by spring or summer 2020 by Avenue Way and take over space where a David's Bridal shop would be torn down, project architect Blake Nelson said.

The current Best Buy, which opened in 2007, is near Dick's Sporting Goods on the back side of the shopping center. The Best Buy is about 30,000 square feet, said Nelson, a senior vice president with CMH Architects in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Best Buy sells appliances, cameras, computers and gaming systems in addition to a host of other electronics.

"They are wanting a larger presence in the market," Nelson said during the meeting. Best Buy stores are usually about 36,000 square feet, he said. 

Best Buy was one of the first tenants at The Avenue Murfreesboro in the city's thriving Gateway area. The shopping center has 876,157 square feet of buildings on 96.2 acres.

Stop signs will be added for safety

Construction for the future Best Buy should begin this summer, Nelson said.

Planning Commissioner Warren Russell said the project should include a four-way stop at Avenue Way.

"I just want to make sure it's safe," Russell said.

Project engineer Matt Taylor with Murfreesboro-based SEC said stop signs can be added to the project.

Best Buy to install car stereos

Part of the plan includes a two-bay garage next to Avenue Way where stereos can be installed in cars. Planning officials questioned if this would be safe, and Taylor said drivers will have 40 to 50 feet to back cars up and turn into Avenue Way.

Planning Commission Vice Chairwoman Kathy Jones said she expects more people will drive on Avenue Way once the new Best Buy location opens.

Nelson, the project architect, assured Planning Commissioner Eddie Smotherman that the garage doors will be closed most of the time for security reasons for an indoor area that has heating and cooling. 

"Those doors typically stay closed unless cars are moving in or out," Nelson said. 

"The roll-up doors will function well," Smotherman said. "I don't see it as a huge problem."

Officials agree only one vote needed

Gateway area developments such as at The Avenue usually require preliminary and final review before the planning commissioners at two different meetings.

Smotherman and the other commissioners, however, accepted the Best Buy request for only one review to "speed this process up."

"I want to be service friendly," Smotherman said. 

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What do you think about development at The Avenue Murfreesboro? Reach Scott Broden at sbroden@dnj.com or 615-278-5158 and on Twitter @ScottBroden.