Nissan's long-awaited move to Cool Springs

Monday is move-in day for Nissan at its new $100 million North American headquarters in Cool Springs.

But not all 1,500 employees and contractors will move into the building at once.

The Japanese automaker will start with the 250 employees in its information-services department, then transfer about 250 more workers each Monday through Aug. 18, when the relocation is expected to be complete, spokeswoman Julie Lawless said.

Construction on the 10-story, 450,000-square-foot building began in June 2006. The move-in is the culmination of Nissan North America Inc.'s massive corporate relocation from Southern California, which began with an announcement in late 2005 that Nashville had been chosen as the company's new home.

The first group of workers to move spent Thursday packing up in their cubicles at the AT&T Building in downtown Nashville, the company's temporary home, in preparation for the jaunt to their new digs.

"Movers will take everything to their new cubes over the weekend, so when they come to work Monday morning, they'll be ready to go," Lawless said.

Over the weekend, construction workers were to put the final touches on the building's lobby and exterior, as well as the floors that will be used by the early arrivers. On Thursday, they were installing the front doors.

"We're moving in floor-by-floor," Lawless said.

Marketing, communications and product-planning people — including Lawless — will be among the next group to move, on July 14.

The building will be mostly finished by July 22, when Nissan plans a full day of activities to dedicate the facility and celebrate the move.

Nissan Motor Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn will be on hand, along with other top executives and state and local political leaders, for the dedication, the company said.

Also on the 50-acre campus is a new four-story, 1,135-space parking garage, which Nissan chose to build instead of "paving over all the green space" for surface parking lots, Lawless said.

"As much as possible, we wanted to preserve the beauty of the land, and that would have been hard with parking lots all over it," she said.

There are about 300 outdoor parking spaces, though.

The company preserved a 2.5-acre area of wetlands, planting native grasses, bushes and trees and creating a small wildlife sanctuary. Already, ducks, geese, deer and other animals have taken up residence, Lawless said.

On Wednesday, the new Carothers Parkway, which runs north to south in front of the Nissan building, was opened to traffic, creating a link to the new McEwen Interchange on Interstate 65. That road will serve the headquarters and other offices and businesses in the area, said Pat Emery, whose company, Crescent Resources, built the office park adjacent to Nissan and who sold the land for the building to the automaker.

The arrival of 1,500 Nissan workers will spur growth of other businesses in the area, especially restaurants and retail shops, said David Baker, a partner in Baker Storey McDonald commercial developers and brokers.

Had gasoline prices hit the $4 mark 10 years ago, the development probably wouldn't have happened, Emery said. But now that there is so much in Cool Springs, and plenty of land for more housing, the high gas prices shouldn't have any effect, he said. The company is pushing for more mass-transit service, he added.

Nissan has kept the new building off-limits to its headquarters workers, and would not allow news photographers inside the building even as it was nearing completion this week.

"We don't want to spoil the surprise for our employees," Lawless said. "We want them to walk in the first day and go, 'Wow!' "

The building has a cafeteria and coffee shop, and the cafeteria will be open with a limited menu on Monday, she said. By July 21, it will be in full operation.

On the first floor will be a Nissan and Infiniti merchandise store, a conference room, and a large lobby where Nissan vehicles will be on display.

Contact G. Chambers Williams III at 259-8076 or cwilliams1@tennessean.com.