Chief among the Founding Fathers’ justifications for tying property ownership to suffrage was that it ensured voters had a vested interest in seeing their governments well managed and fiscally restrained. Of course, issues of fairness won out, and by 1850 all states had extended the voting franchise to non-property owners.

Still, in this election season, it is especially interesting to find who has invested the most in Tennessee property and arguably has the most financially at stake in the continued good governance of our state.

To do this, Business Tennessee turned to Nashville-based real estate data publisher InfoCode, whose RealtyEyes.com Web site contains property tax records, aerial photos, tax and GIS maps, and sales and mortgage data on all 95 Tennessee counties. We used all those resources and more to compile our list.

Because we relied on tax records, only private, for-profit property owners are included. So that excludes entities like Vanderbilt University, whose not-for-profit holdings easily exceed $1 billion. Also, our figures are based on assessed or appraised values, which usually are below—often well below—market prices. And finally, discovering a company’s properties when there are numerous and differing corporate and partnership names is a tricky task, and one that in some cases resulted in understated totals.

Caveats aside, the following list reveals the names of 20 companies with Volunteer State property holdings of $100 million to nearly $1 billion That’s a real vested interest in Tennessee.

1 HCA Inc.
$800 million
With 12 hospitals in Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga, the Nashville-based corporation spans more than 2,200 hospital beds and numerous surgery centers in the state. Its 902,000-square foot headquarters and adjacent properties total roughly $75 million in assessed value; the nearby HCA flagship hospital, Centennial Medical Center, has a value more than double that. In Chattanooga, HCA’s TriStar Health System includes Parkridge Medical Center and Parkridge East Hospital. Summit Medical Center is listed with an assessed value of $88.3 million.

2 Gaylord Entertainment Co.
$600 million
The Nashville company owns the biggest hotel and convention center in the United State outside of Las Vegas. Gaylord Opryland features a 2,881-room hotel and 600,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space on 172 acres, Springhouse Golf Course on 200 acres and the Grand Ole Opry House. In downtown Nashville, Gaylord owns the Ryman Auditorium and the Wildhorse Saloon (under the name Real Entertainment Ventures). It formerly owned the 124 acres that once was the site of Opryland and now hosts Mills Corp.’s Opry Mills shopping center.

3 Wal-Mart Stores
$460 million
Of the more than 3,500 Wal-Mart stores, supercenters, neighborhood markets and Sam’s Clubs in the United States, 123 are in Tennessee. The Arkansas company owns roughly 70% of its locations and leases the rest, a percentage that is generally applicable to Volunteer State properties. Two of its largest investments in the state are distribution centers in Midway (Greene County) and Shelbyville. While their respective industrial development boards nominally own both, Wal-Mart’s appraised value on the centers totals $55 million.

4 CBL & Associates Properties
$430 million
Many of the state’s largest shopping centers are owned by this Chattanooga-based real estate investment trust (REIT). Its nine principle holdings are anchored by Hamilton Place in Chattanooga and a cluster of three malls in the Nashville area—Cool Springs Galleria, which generates 2.7% of company revenue and has an assessed value of $107 million, Hickory Hollow Mall and Rivergate Mall. CBL, led by the Lebovitz family, also owns Governor’s Square in Clarksville, Old Hickory Mall in Jackson, College Square in Morristown and Foothills Mall in Maryville.

5 Highwoods Properties
$390 million
The Raleigh, N.C.-based REIT owns 43 office buildings in Nashville and Memphis, most of which were constructed in the past 10 years. Its Memphis assets include International Place II, the 6000 and 6060 Pop- lar Ave. mirror buildings in East Memphis and four buildings in the Southwind Office Center. In Nashville, Highwoods owns 3401 West End (where Business Tennessee’s majority owner Solidus Co. is located), 3322 West End, numerous properties in Cool Springs (Cool Springs I and II) and in Maryland Farms (Highwoods Plaza and Harpeth on the Green).

6 Simon Property Group
$320 million
Founded by Melvin, Herbert and David Simon, this Indianapolis-based REIT controls 188 million square feet of shopping center space in North America. Its primary Tennessee holdings include Wolfchase Galleria, completed two years ago in Memphis with 1.3 million square feet of leasable space; a half interest in 1.3-million-square-foot West Town Mall in Knoxville, whose assessed value is $72.6 million; one-million-square-foot Knoxville Center; Raleigh Springs Mall; Oak Court Mall; and the 180,000-square-foot Knoxville Commons.

7 Boyle Investment Co.
$310 million
Founded in 1933 by three sons of Edward Boyle, the firm is one of the largest property holders in Shelby County. In addition to 40 income producing properties, Boyle controls another 3,200 acres of land that will host the next generation of Boyle projects. Most prominent holdings include the Thomas & Betts and Morgan Keegan buildings, Schilling Farms, Ridgeway Center and its 450,000-square-foot Gallina Centro retail project in Collierville near Germantown. Boyle also is developing along with the Berry family 578 acres near Franklin.

8 Belz Enterprises
$305 million
From its headquarters at Peabody Place, the family-owned company founded in the early 1940s owns more than 400 properties in Memphis and additional assets across the state. The Peabody Hotel, with an assessed value of $44.2 million, is the company’s signature property. In addition to more than 20 industrial properties near the Memphis International Airport, apartment rentals such as Riverwood Farms and the once-desolate 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville valued at $56.3 million, Belz Enterprises operates Belz Factory Outlet Mall in Pigeon Forge.

9 Bowater Inc.
$282 million
The Greenville, S.C.-based pulp and newsprint maker could be the largest landowner in Tennessee in terms of acreage. Its 340,000 Tennessee acres, many of which are pine plantations, also include its Calhoun plant on the Hiwassee River, a 50-year-old project that is the nation’s largest producer of newsprint. (Herald Co. is a minority owner of the Calhoun facility.) Bowater also has a smaller plant on 16 acres in Covington that makes coated papers. Bowater entities own 100 different properties in McMinn County.

10 Duke Realty
$277 million
With more than five million square feet of office and industrial space in the Nashville area, the Indianapolis-based REIT owns more than 60 properties in Antioch, Brentwood (Creekside Crossing and in the Brentwood South Business Center), Franklin (in the Apsen Grove Business Center and on Seaboard Lane) and Nashville. Airpark Business Center, Lakeview Place and Haywood Oaks are significant Duke properties in Nashville. Much of the $4.7 billion (market capitalization) company’s property is listed in the Duke-Weeks Realty name.

11 Eastman Chemical
$210 milliion
Nearly 100 properties in Kingsport and Sullivan County anchor the Eastman Kodak spin-off’s presence in East Tennessee, where its 7,500 workers make it the single largest employer. Among its Kingsport properties are a coal gasification plant, corporate and regional headquarters, a technical service center and a customer service center. Located in Kingsport since 1920, Eastman Chemical’s Tennessee operation today consists of more than 500 buildings and 6,000 acres, with the main plant occupying 858 acres. It makes chemicals, fibers and plastics.

12 Mills Corp.
$173 million
Opry Mills Operating Co., the owner of the Opry Mills shopping development, became 100%-owned by Arlington, Va.-based Mills in July 2002 when Gaylord Entertainment Co. sold its stake back to Mills for $31 million cash and the transfer of $56 million of debt. Earlier this year, Mills sold half of Opry Mills to Kan Am of Germany for $68.8 million plus the assumption of $89.3 million of debt. Opened in 2000 on the former Opryland USA site, Opry Mills generates $20.8 million of base rent from its 1.1 million square feet of leasable space.

13 Alcoa
$152 million
One of the top employees in East Tennessee with 1,900 workers, Alcoa has had a major operation in the former North Maryville located 15 miles south of Knoxville since 1913. Renamed Alcoa, Tenn., the area includes 150 properties owned by the Pittsburgh-based metals company. The facility in Alcoa, one of the company’s 13 primary aluminum smelters, can produce 210,000 metric tons per year of aluminum ingots. The company is majority owner of Alcoa Fujikura, an electronics auto parts maker in Franklin, but that space is leased from an affiliate of J.P. Morgan.

14 Kroger
$118 million
The 121-year-old Cincinnati company owns roughly 30% of its 2,500+ grocery stores system-wide, leaving it with roughly 70 properties in Tennessee. Most Kroger super markets are in space leased from institutional real estate owners, such as Prefco XIX L.P., or from developers such as Horne Properties in Knoxville. The typical Kroger grocery store carries an assessed value of $2 million to $4 million and occupies from two to five acres of property.

15 Home Depot
$117 million
The Atlanta-based home supplies retailer prefers to own its store locations, which presently number 1,800 nationwide. In Tennessee, it operates 27 Home Depots, four Apex Supply Co. stores and one Expo Design Center. The combined county tax records reveal 25 company-owned properties in the state. The typical store sits on seven to 12 acres of land and has an assessed value of roughly $6 million to $7 million.

16 H.G. Hill Realty
$117 million
From its roots as a sprawling grocery chain in the Midsouth, H.G. Hill built a large portfolio of real estate assets from the many sites that hosted or were expected to host food stores. Spanning more than 130 Midstate properties, the H.G. Hill network includes newer Armory Oaks and Sidco office buildings, as well as the soon-to-be developed prime locations of H.G. Hill grocery stores on Hillsboro and Harding Roads. After many decades, the family-owned company remains one of Nashville’s largest private property owners.

17 McDonald's
$110 million
McDonald’s itself operates fewer than 25% of its 31,000 restaurants worldwide, but more frequently owns the restaurant land and building or secures the lease. The sheer number of its stores results in a significant investment in Tennessee real estate. The assessed or appraised values of the stores differ but largely stay in the range of $400,000 to $1.2 million. McDonald’s lists on its balance sheet property and equipment of $28.7 billion around the world.

18 United Dominion RealtTrust
$107 million
The nation’s fourth-largest REIT specializing in middle market apartment communities, this Richmond, Va., company owns 35 properties in Tennessee. Of its 10 primary apartment projects, one is in Memphis—Trails at Mt. Moriah. Midstate assets include the Club at Hickory Hollow; Carrington Hills in Franklin; Brook-ridge; Preserve at Brentwood; and Legacy Hill in Nashville. United Dominion owns 2,200 apartment units in Nashville with an average cost of $55,050.

19 Prefco XIV L.P.
$106 Million
The privately owned office building with one of the highest assessed values in Tennessee, the BellSouth tower in downtown Nashville is owned by a Pitney Bowes Real Estate Financing Corp. (PREFCO) limited partnership. Built on 2.7 acres and spanning 30 floors and a nine-level under- ground parking garage, the building houses the Tennessee headquarters of Atlanta-based BellSouth, which signed a 23.5-year lease that concludes in January 2020. The 10-year-old building was constructed at the corner of Commerce Street and Fourth Avenue and includes 690,297 square feet of space.

20 Dover Motorsports
$100 Million
Based on assessed property value, this Delaware company owns the most valuable racetrack in Tennessee, Nashville Superspeedway ($93.8 million). First entering the Nashville racing market in 1997 with the purchase of Nashville Speedway, Dover opened the 1.33-mile concrete superspeedway in Wilson and Rutherford counties in 2001. Located on 1,465 acres, the facility has 25,000 permanent grandstand seats. The company acquired Memphis Motorsports Park in its 1998 acquisition of Grand Prix’s assets. It features a three-quarter mile tri-oval track in Millington.