Downtown officials soon might be able to scratch a cluster of properties on Cotton Row off the area’s list of Big Empties.

Joe Sinkovich wants to turn the three buildings at 56, 60 and 62 Front St. that once housed the Prince Mongo’s Planet nightclub into space for 23 apartments and 12,000 square feet of street-level commercial space. That commercial usage would include a roughly 5,000-square-foot pizza restaurant on the ground floor of 60 South Front that seats about 150 people, according to plans Sinkovich has filed with the Center City Development Corp.

The board is scheduled to discuss at its Wednesday meeting the developer’s plans for Phase 1 of the project, which is expected to cost almost $2 million. Construction on that phase would start in January and run through March.

Among the goals of the project’s first phase would be to rehabilitate and stabilize all three buildings, paving the way for tenants on the ground-level spaces. Sprucing up the roofs of the buildings and fixing their west façades also would be part of that work.

Once the topsy-turvy economy has stabilized, the project’s second phase would include developing the apartment units. LEDIC Management Group would be responsible for leasing and managing the units once they’re finished.

The plans mark a departure from the idea Sinkovich had a year or two ago, when the developer’s plan was to turn the space into a boutique hotel that included a restaurant, coffee shop and bookstore. He closed on a deal to buy the buildings in early 2008.

The Bull, Bear & Banker LLC bought the three buildings for $950,000 in two transactions, and Sinkovich signed loan documents as the entity’s president, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.

The contiguous buildings, built in the late 1800s, once hummed with activity from cotton merchants who did business there. Until recently, the Center City Commission was promoting the buildings as among Downtown’s top 10 properties deemed to have the most historic value and most in need of a redevelopment plan to bring them back to life.

Sinkovich has requested approval of a development loan of $270,000 from the CCDC or three separate loans of $90,000 for the individual phases. The CCC staff has recommended a $51,000 development loan with the possibility of further loan awards once more of the project is developed beyond the first phase.

In documentation provided to the CCDC, Sinkovich said the project would be too risky to undertake without financial aid from the Downtown agency.

Many lenders “have recently placed a moratorium on new commercial construction projects,” he wrote. “Increasingly, projects that lenders are considering are requiring owner occupancy, larger equity infusions and ability to access SBA long-term financing.”

Meanwhile, also coming before the CCDC next week is a loan application from the owner of a Germantown jewelry shop that wants to relocate to South Main Street from the Saddle Creek shopping center.

Sarah Worden, the owner of Charlotte Fine Jewelry that’s been at Saddle Creek since 2002, is planning to move the business into a 1,000-square-foot space at 526 S. Main St. A summary of the move from the CCC’s business consultant said Charlotte Fine Jewelry would save $5,000 per month in rent with the move Downtown.

The CCC staff has recommended a $40,000 retail forgivable loan to help the business relocate.