The future of the office, or at least one vision of that future, is coming into focus in suburbs surrounding Nashville, where commutes require a comfortable pair of shoes or a bicycle instead of a car.

These communities combine the amenities you expect to find in the city – office space, retailing, restaurants and services like a dentist’s office or a day care – with the safe streets and quiet neighborhoods of the suburbs.

The largest of the region’s new mixed-use developments, June Lake, is taking shape along Interstate 65 about 40 miles south of Nashville in Spring Hill. The 775-acre master-planned community will offer convenient office space, pedestrian-friendly dining and shopping options, a greenway and an 11-acre lake.

The community, being developed over two decades, will eventually include 3.9 million square feet of Class A office space, nearly 1.3 million square feet of retail and restaurant space and 400 hotel rooms.

June Lake also will include 2,900 homes. The first houses are under construction by Tudor Homes.

The development has been called a new gateway to Spring Hill. A new Interstate 65 interchange at June Lake Boulevard will provide easier interstate access for Spring Hill and Thompson’s Station.

June Lake’s homes set it apart from Cool Springs, the hugely successful commercial center in Franklin that includes Cool Springs Galleria mall. The Cool Springs area is home to major companies such as Nissan North America, UBS and CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s.

June Lake is “a hybrid of what Cool Springs is today,” says Don Alexander, who is managing the project for Southeast Venture, the company that 30 years ago launched Cool Springs.

“What we’re envisioning is a development where you can live, ride your bike to school and have walking trails to walk to work. With teleworking, take that trail to a coffee shop and work from there,” Alexander adds.

A suburban office development like June Lake has advantages over construction in the heart of the city, he says.

“It’s a clean slate (and) can be whatever the company wants. It’s an opportunity for a campus-type development. It doesn’t have to be just a tower,” Alexander says.

“Obviously in downtown Nashville you can walk to anything. Same here, but there’s an 11-acre lake and the trail around it,” he says.

As the counties around Nashville grow, they are attracting more office and retail development, says Brian Forrester, senior vice president of retail services for Colliers Nashville commercial real estate firm.

“Affordable homes are getting pushed out farther and farther from the CBD (Central Business District in Nashville). People priced out of Murfreesboro are looking in Manchester,” he says.

“Retail follows rooftops, and rooftops follow jobs,” Forrester adds.

Spring Hill is an example of that. Now with a population of more than 50,000 people, the city is emerging as a hub for electric vehicle production.

Ultium cells, a joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors, is investing more than $2.3 billion in a 2.8 million-square-foot plant to produce batteries for electric vehicles. The project is expected to create 1,300 manufacturing jobs.

In 2020, GM announced it was investing $2 billion to transition its Spring Hill assembly plant to production of Cadillac electric vehicles.

New neighborhoods in Williamson County and south Nashville combine homes and small businesses. Fairview Town Center, being launched in 2023, will have 600 homes situated around more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space for quick-service restaurants, retailing and services. The neighborhood is next door to 700-acre Bowie Nature Park.

In the Nolensville area of Nashville, Burkitt Ridge will offer 800 homes just steps away from boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and service businesses. Planned amenities include sidewalks, a dog park, a tot lot, green space and a walking trail.

“Burkitt Ridge is a walkable neighborhood where residents will be able to shop, live and be entertained without ever getting into their cars. They have what they need right there,” says David McGowan, president of Regent Homes, the company developing Fairview Town Center and Burkitt Ridge.

Large corporate announcements like GM’s and LG’s understandably get a lot of attention, but Tyler Cauble, a developer creating spaces for entrepreneurs in Nashville, says small businesses are major drivers of economic growth.

“Look at a lot of hot spots and centers of gravity around the city,” Cauble says. “It’s all small businesses.”