Franklin Felix Nicola (1860–1938) was an American real estate developer. Nicola was a Cleveland businessman who moved to Pittsburgh in the 1890s. In 1898, Nicola opened Hotel Schenley (now William Pitt Union). In the early 20th century he promoted and developed a civic center plan for the Oakland district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—miles away from the city's smokey, congested downtown—as a new center for culture, art, and education. The plan was inspired by the City Beautiful movement. Nicola had been key in the formation of the Bellefield Company with the help of Pittsburgh businessmen Andrew W. Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Carnegie, George Westinghouse and H.J. Heinz, who were among the first stockholders. The Oakland plan unfolded on land once owned by fellow stockholder Mary Crogh