Franklin billionaire Brad Kelley has stayed very close to home to add to his holdings.
Kelley paid $18.6 million for a total of 207 acres in Franklin, located in the area where Cool Springs Boulevard dead-ends into Mack Hatcher Parkway, according to property records. Kelley bought six pieces of land, the largest of which surrounds historic Roper’s Knob.
Kelley bought the land from Charles “Mickey” Mitchell.
Forbes estimates Kelley’s net worth at $2.1 billion. Kelley started his fortune in discount cigarette brands Bull Durham and USA Gold. He sold the business for $1 billion in 2001.
Kelley left the cigarette business and got into real estate. He is now the fourth-largest private landowner in the U.S., with more than 1.5 million acres . He’s the fourth-wealthiest resident of Tennessee, and the owner of Calumet Farms, home of many a Triple Crown race winners, in Kentucky.
Kelley also is part of the group that owns The Factory at Franklin .
The land itself is zoned for residential and agricultural. Past efforts by the previous landowner to get commercial zoning failed. However, an access road was approved by the city and built 4 years ago by the Department of Transportation.
