Leaders of the Crosstown Development Project talked this month with The Memphis News editorial board about their plans for the adaptive reuse of the 1.5 million-square-foot, circa-1927 Sears Crosstown building.

2. Filling the Voids - Saturday, February 02, 2013

Last year was a banner year for adaptive reuse projects in Midtown and Downtown.

Developers announced plans for the Sears Crosstown building, Overton Square, Hotel Chisca, James Lee House and old United Warehouse in the South Main Historic Arts District. Construction began on The Pyramid, turning it into a 220,000-square-foot mega-Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World, and Memphis in May moved into its new headquarters at 56 S. Front St., a 14,600-square-foot building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.

3. Midtown Momentum - Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Midtown real estate market has long been an anomaly compared to its Bluff City counterparts, with fundamentals as diverse as its demographics.

“The types of real estate that you’ll find in Midtown can be some of the most expensive or some of the most modest when it comes to prices and facility,” said Gary Myers of Gary Myers Co. “Retail in particular.”

4. Cordova Presbyterian Plans to Build on Fay Road - Tuesday, April 10, 2012

8707 Fay Road
Cordova, TN 38018

Permit Cost: $2 million

Permit Date: Applied March 2012

5. Memphis Medical Finances Park Tower - Thursday, April 05, 2012

Memphis Medical Redevelopment Group LLC has financed Park Tower Apartments at 57 N. Somerville St. with a $3 million, 10-year trust deed through American Equity Investment Life Insurance Co.

6. That's a Wrap - Monday, January 02, 2012

If the grand sweep of 2011 could be captured on celluloid and presented to an audience on the big screen, all the components of a great film would be readily apparent.

There was drama, in the form of a deluge and historic flooding that led the Mississippi River to crest at nearly 48 feet early in the year. One of the year’s big surprises saw President Barack Obama give the commencement address for the Booker T. Washington High School class of 2011 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.

7. New Biz, Relocations on Tap for Poplar Plaza - Wednesday, September 28, 2011

One of the city’s landmark shopping centers is in the midst of major transformations.

Poplar Plaza, the 360,000-square-foot center at Poplar Avenue and Highland Street in the University of Memphis area, has remained a premier retail center for more than 60 years.

8. Poteat Recognized With Active Living Award - Wednesday, June 22, 2011

David Poteat, executive vice president of Meritan, has been awarded the Josephine W. Burson Active Living Award by Meritan’s board of directors, recognizing his contributions to the community.

9. Events - Tuesday, March 01, 2011

The Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence will hold a workshop Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon at its office, 5100 Poplar Ave., suite 502. Participants will discuss accounting and financial reporting issues with a CPA specializing in the nonprofit sector. For more information, call 684-6605 or visit www.npexcellence.org.

10. Events - Monday, February 28, 2011

The Tennessee Beta Unit of Parliamentarians will hold a meeting and educational program Monday at 6 p.m. at the Poplar-White Station Branch Library, 5094 Poplar Ave.

11. Charter 411 - Monday, August 30, 2010

The metro government charter, to be voted on Nov. 2, would combine the Memphis and Shelby County governments into one new local government.

The 49-page charter is the work of the 15-member Metro Charter Commission, which began in November and completed its work just weeks ago.

12. In Search of an Oasis - Monday, August 02, 2010

Part of the path to inner-city recovery appears to run through a garden, or at least through the produce section of a supermarket. Nine farmers markets operate in various parts of Shelby County this summer, from Downtown to Collierville and places such as Germantown, Agricenter International and Cooper-Young in between.

13. Square Deal Undone - Monday, January 18, 2010

A facelift has been in the works for about a year for a Midtown landmark that long ago succumbed to the real estate equivalent of jowls and wrinkled skin. But after months of planning, it now appears the proposed nips and tucks for Overton Square, a roughly 10-acre hodgepodge of shops, restaurants and a movie theater, won't be happening after all.

14. Wright Medical Buys Arlington Bldg. For Distribution Needs - Tuesday, November 10, 2009

11481 Gulf Stream Ave.
Arlington, TN 38002
Sale Amount: $1.6 Million

Sale Date: Oct. 29, 2009
Buyer: Wright Medical Technology Inc.
Seller: Covington Furniture Manufacturing Co.
Details:  Wright Medical Group Inc. has bought a 56,340-square-foot building at 11481 Gulf Stream Ave. near its Arlington campus to increase distribution capacity. Operating in the transaction as Wright Medical Technology Inc., the company paid $1.6 million for the building, which was completed in 1973 and sits on 4.29 acres near the intersection of Tenn. 385 and U.S. 70.

15. A City in Transition - Monday, November 09, 2009

Just before sunrise on a rainy Tuesday morning, the armed officers raided the city office. They didn’t make any arrests, but they took files, interviewed employees and served search warrants. And they temporarily closed the Memphis Animal Shelter.

16. High-Dollar Deal Boosts Commercial Real Estate - Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Following what has become a pattern, the local commercial real estate market in September was salvaged by one large deal that offset an otherwise dreary month.

This time it was Resource Real Estate Inc. to the rescue. The Philadelphia-based company bought the Wyndridge Apartments for $9.5 million Sept. 29 and carried the weight for Shelby County’s commercial activity during the month.

17. Taking Off - Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Aviators attain flight and control the movements of their aircraft by precisely balancing the forces of lift, thrust, drag and gravity. The people piloting the aerotropolis initiative – the promotion of Memphis’ economy focused on the airport, other transportation assets and the connectivity among them – are negotiating their own set of physics in hopes of becoming airborne.

18. Taking Off - Monday, October 12, 2009

Aviators attain flight and control the movements of their aircraft by precisely balancing the forces of lift, thrust, drag and gravity. The people piloting the aerotropolis initiative – the promotion of Memphis’ economy focused on the airport, other transportation assets and the connectivity among them – are negotiating their own set of physics in hopes of becoming airborne.

19. Le Bonheur Files Permit For FedExFamilyHouse - Tuesday, September 22, 2009

918 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38105
Permit Amount: $5.2 Million

Project Cost: $5.2 million
Permit Date: Applied September 2009
Completion: Fall 2010
Owner: Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center
Tenant: FedExFamilyHouse
Contractor: Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC
Architect: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects Inc.

20. Park Tower Sold; New Owners Plan Upgrades - Friday, September 18, 2009
Park Tower, a nine-story apartment building in the Memphis Medical Center, has new owners who plan to upgrade the units and market them to university students and health care professionals.

Memphis Medical Redevelopment Group LLC bought the structure from Park Tower LLC for nearly $1.7 million, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.

The ownership group is composed of Anna Martin, a Memphis real estate professional, and investors from San Diego.

“We’re going to redevelop the whole property and we’re going to do over $1 million worth of renovations,” Martin said. “We’re going to target all the medical students and the doctors and get a whole new tenant base. We believe it is in a fantastic location because the city of Memphis will be, within the next years, putting in over $1 billion into the medical district. We are in the heart of it.”

The building is at 57 Somerville St., situated among the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the Memphis VA Medical Center, the Baptist College of Health Sciences, Methodist University Hospital and the Southern College of Optometry.

The investors had a meeting scheduled Thursday afternoon with the Center City Commission to discuss participating in the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program and to learn about other redevelopment initiatives.

The new owners closed on the property Sept. 11 and began renovations the next day on 20 vacant units. The structure has a total of 128 units, and 80 of those are one-bedroom, one-bath apartments.

Martin said the units would be ideal living quarters for medical students or crash pads for doctors and other health care professionals.

Martin, who is an owner of Trinity Property Management, linked up with three investors from San Diego to buy the property.

“I buy properties that are distressed,” she said. “I rehab them and then I resell them to out-of-state investors. That’s how I came across these gentlemen because they are in the same type of business. They really liked my management group and the way we manage properties and how we turn a lot of areas around.

“We did business for over a year and a half together. We decided to form a corporation and then we found this building. They are really strong in the financial sector and starting companies, where my company is really strong in the management. They felt that I could add value in managing this property right. It’s a great property. It just wasn’t managed correctly.”

Martin said within three to six months, the lobby will be renovated. A new Web site will be launched for the property along with a marketing campaign. A new paint job and other upgrades are planned for the exterior.

“Eventually what we are going to do is get rid of all the outside air conditioning units,” Martin said. “We’re going to go HVAC, central heating and cooling, but that’s going to require quite a bit of money and that’s going to be stage two.”

21. Stimulus Funds Allocated to Erase Neighborhood Blight - Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Bit by bit, it’s becoming clearer how millions of dollars in emergency federal money flowing to cities and agencies across the country will be used to repair Memphis neighborhoods ravaged by foreclosure and blight.

22. Much-Anticipated Midtown Dev. Up for LUCB Approval - Wednesday, July 09, 2008

WSG Memphis LLC has submitted a revised application to city of Memphis officials for the group’s 26.27-acre Midtown Memphis development which, when finished, will encompass four to five city blocks.

23. Greenstone Condo Renovation Approaches Finish Line - Wednesday, May 07, 2008

New York-based Blackstar Capital Partners is nearing completion on its $3.8 million renovation of Residences at The Greenstone, an 18-unit condominium redevelopment on the northeast corner of Poplar Avenue and North Waldran Boulevard.

24. Victorian Village Stakeholders Look To Reshape Park - Friday, April 18, 2008

The six-acre park at Poplar Avenue and Manassas Street has two basketball courts, two playground areas, a medium-size pavilion - and a bad reputation.

Area stakeholders say Morris Park, which covers an entire city block, regularly attracts drug dealers and homeless people. Recent crime data are similarly unflattering. More than 100 criminal incidents were reported within a half-mile of the park in the past month alone, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.

25. Uptown Dental Center at Home In Downtown Redevelopment - Monday, February 04, 2008

Some Pinch District and Uptown business owners might anxiously be awaiting news of what will happen with The Pyramid.

Dr. J.D. Branch, owner of Uptown Dental Center, doesn't seem to be too concerned about the future of the former arena that towers over empty parking lots just south of the Uptown neighborhood and west of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

26. Midtown Dev. Corp. Elects Board, Seeks Nonprofit Status - Thursday, November 08, 2007

A group of people has come together with the goal of mapping a growth strategy and revitalizing Midtown Memphis.

The Midtown Development Corp. (MDC), originally called the Midtown Redevelopment Corp., is a gathering of Midtown stakeholders such as business owners, neighborhood associations, architects and residents who want to address issues ranging from safety to beautification.

27. Germantown Leaders Position Town For Smarter Growth - Tuesday, August 07, 2007

If you can't grow outward, grow upward.That's the tack Germantown has chosen for "Vision 2020," an ambitious redevelopment initiative centered on Smart Growth, a movement designed to transform the city's commercial core and put the "urban back into suburban."

28. Decision Not to Attend Medical School Led McLaren to Legal Profession He Loves - Thursday, May 31, 2007

James B. McLaren Jr. made a decision at the age of 20 that forever changed his life. Just weeks before he was set to begin the process of attending medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, McLaren decided not to go.

29. Winchester Park/InTownMoves Closer to Redevelopment - Thursday, May 17, 2007
     A neighborhood that lies close to Downtown Memphis and includes parts of the city's emerging medical district - as well as various examples of blight and eyesores - continues inching toward redevelopment.
  

30. Flights of Fancy - Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Thirty years ago, the municipal governments of Memphis and Shelby County launched the Center City Commission to kick start the revitalization of Downtown Memphis.

Within the following two years, The Pier restaurant opened, a package of incentives was crafted to aid the renovation of The Peabody Hotel and the second phase of The Orpheum Theatre renovation was finished. And today, far removed from the ghost town it used to be, Downtown is the site of more than $3 billion in development projects the CCC is coordinating.

31. FBI Special Agent Harrison Named PRSA Communicator of the Year - Wednesday, January 17, 2007

My Harrison has been named the 2006 PRSA Communicator of the Year by the Memphis chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). She is a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in charge of the Memphis field office. Since her arrival in Memphis two years ago, she has supervised a number of high-profile federal investigations, including "Operation Tennessee Waltz," "Operation Tarnished Blue" and "Operation Main Street Sweeper."

32. CDC Forms To Preserve Victorian Village - Monday, September 18, 2006

It's going to take a village to shore up - a village.

That's apparently the sentiment driving a group of people who want to breathe new life into Victorian Village, the historic cluster of stately mansions, 19th century homes and small businesses on the eastern edge of Downtown Memphis.

33. Underutilized Downtown Properties Await Development - Tuesday, August 23, 2005

The 29-story Sterick Building at 8 S. Third St. was once the city's premier office building - and was the tallest structure in the region for several decades.

Today, the 350,883-square-foot building is vacant and faces the same plight of inactivity as nine other historic Downtown properties identified by the Center City Commission.

34. Archived Article: Lead - Tuesday, March 01, 2005
By Andy Meek

Victorian Village Readies for Rehab

New homes go up in historic, but neglected, neighborhood

ANDY MEEK

The Daily News

New homes are becoming more common in Victorian Village, the Downtown Memphis neighborhood known for it...

35. Archived Article: Gov - Friday, February 25, 2005
By Andy Meek

Depot Readies Property for New Industry

ANDY MEEK

The Daily News

The Memphis Depot Redevelopment Corp. has been working for almost a year preparing to market vacant land at the former Memphis Depot site for sale. And if a zo...

36. Archived Article: Multifam (lead) - Thursday, June 03, 2004
The Living is Easy Downtown

In Downtown Memphis, the Living is Easy

Myriad housing options bring more residents Downtown

TERRE GORHAM

The Daily News

It wasnt all that long ago that when someone asked, Whats available in Downtown livin...

37. Archived Article: Village (lead) - Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Mansion style offices, more homes planned for Village

Victorian Village Plans Gain Momentum

Ideas for district include mansion-style offices, more homes

ANDREW BELL

The Daily News

Plans to reconfigure and revive Victorian Village are ...

38. Archived Article: Gov Focus - Friday, January 02, 2004
Government

CCC to Conduct Downtown Market Study

LANCE ALLAN

The Daily News

As a group charged with the continued redevelopment of Downtown Memphis, the Center City Commission has been operating without all the tools.

But that will cha...

39. Archived Article: Calendar - Monday, June 16, 2003
Calendar of Events June 16-22

Calendar of Events June 16-22

June 17

Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, 6225 Humphreys Blvd., presents You and Your Medications from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. as part of the Dr. Sam P. Patterson Library Seminar Serie...

40. Archived Article: Hehfb (lead) - Friday, October 25, 2002
$7 million bond issuance on tap for Memphis Towers renovation

$7 million bond in works for Memphis Towers

By SUE PEASE

The Daily News

At its Monday meeting, the Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board will consider a $7 million bo...

41. Archived Article: Comm Briefs - Friday, April 13, 2001
The park at Victorian Village will be the scene of a group clean-up effort sponsored by Memphis Teen Volunteers, a project of The park at Victorian Village will be the scene of a group clean-up effort sponsored by Memphis Teen Volunteers, a project ...

42. Archived Article: Med (lead) - Thursday, February 15, 2001
The revitalization of downtowns medical district will be the topic of a public meeting being hosted tonight by the Memphis Ce Medical District focus of CCC plan By JENNIFER MURLEY The Daily News The revitalization of Downtowns Medical District will ...

43. Archived Article: Calendar - Monday, February 28, 2000
Calendar Feb Calendar Feb. 28 March 5 Feb. 28 The Memphis Songwriters Associations songwriting workshop begins at 7 p.m. at the University of Memphis Music Building, Room 101. Feb. 29 Legislative Day in Nashville for the League of Women Voters of Me...

44. Archived Article: Real Focus (aia) Lj - Tuesday, March 12, 1996
lj 10/5 cates Jolly good fellows Local architects win AIA honors for residential, health care designs By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News For two Memphis architects, being "one of the fellows" has taken on a whole new meaning. J. Carson Loone...