60 S. Cooper St.
Memphis, TN 38104
Permit Cost: $8.3 million

Project Cost: $12 million
Project Date: Aug. 12, 2008
Completion: Fall 2009
Owner: Playhouse on the Square
Tenant: Playhouse on the Square
Architect: Morris Architects Planners Inc.
Contractor: Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC

Details: Application has been made for a building permit for the new Playhouse on the Square theater that will be at the northeast corner of Cooper Street and Union Avenue. The project will include about 35,000 square feet of new construction, which will be the theater itself. The theater will be three stories tall, and a flyhouse – where the scenery withdraws into – will be above the theater and will add about two stories to the building.

In addition, the new theater will connect directly to the five-story office building that sits to the east of it, said Jackie Nichols, executive producer at Playhouse on the Square.

“The bottom three floors of the five-story office building, which is another 21,000 square feet, will be administrative offices, costume shop, dressing rooms, theater café, backstage area (and) art galleries,” Nichols said. “So the bottom three floors of the office building will be support space for the new theater, and then the top two floors of that (building) will be available for other nonprofit groups to rent.”

The architect, Morris Architects Planners Inc., is a firm based out of Chicago that solely designs theaters, Nichols said. In fact, this new theater will be a replica of the famous Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.

“It’s really a phenomenal theater space,” Nichols said.

The current Playhouse theater holds 250 seats in 11 rows, and the new theater will hold 350 in nine rows. Although more seats will be available, the fewer rows will add to the intimacy of the theater’s setting, Nichols said. In addition, there will be a 100-seat balcony.

“(The theater has) a slight curve seating and a wider seating arrangement, so it’s how we’re able to accommodate more seats, less rows and a more intimate setting,” Nichols said.

Once Playhouse on the Square moves into the new location, the Circuit Playhouse, currently at 1711 Poplar Ave., will move into the old Playhouse location at 51 S. Cooper St. Then, the new Circuit Playhouse location will become another rental facility for the community to use, and it also will serve as the home for Playhouse’s new theater company.

7400 Moore Road
Memphis, TN 38120
Permit Cost: $1.2 million

Project Cost: $1.2 million
Permit Date: Aug. 5, 2008
Completion: January 2009
Owner: Targeted Growth Inc.
Tenant: Targeted Growth Inc.
Architect: SSR Ellers Inc.
Contractor: Linkous Construction Co. Inc.

Details: A permit for a new facility for Targeted Growth at Agricenter International off Walnut Grove Road. The facility will be an $8 million product development and global expansion hub and includes a 41,000-square-foot glasshouse, which will be used for the development and production of various crops such as soybeans and corn. Targeted Growth also has plans for a 15,000-square-foot laboratory and administration building, which will hold three labs and office space. The plan for the project was approved in late July by the Shelby County Pre-Industrial Development Board. The IDB also approved a six-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement for the project. “The company is hopeful and optimistic about a planned facility at the Agricenter,” said John Gross a Targeted Growth spokesman. “But they have not finalized all the plans on that yet. … There are a couple of sort of contractual things, the ink is not quite dry, so the company’s a little hesitant to be making confirmatory type things or go into great detail about it right now.” Rusty Linkous of Linkous Construction Co. Inc., the project’s contractor, said in an e-mail the project’s $1.2 million cost is a “preliminary construction budget for lab/administration building.” “We have received final drawings and are currently in the process of finalizing this price,” Linkous wrote.

1210 Collierville Road, Suite 101
Collierville, TN 38017
Sale Amount: $1.3 million

Sale Date: July 31, 2008
Buyer: KCBBHB LLC
Seller: Carriage Avenue LLC
Loan Amount: $ 1.5 million
Loan Date: Aug. 1, 2008
Maturity Date: Aug. 10, 2017
Lender: Southwest National Bank

Details: The sale of an outparcel at the Collierville shopping center The Avenue Carriage Crossing. Carriage Avenue LLC, a company affiliated with Avenue Carriage Crossing, sold the outparcel to KCBBHB LLC, a company affiliated with The Men’s Wearhouse, according to the Collierville Chamber of Commerce Web site. Eugene Schmidt, the local property manager for The Avenue Carriage Crossing, directed The Daily News to the company’s headquarters in Atlanta for more information, although he did confirm the sale was for “The Men’s Wearhouse outparcel.” Calls to the Atlanta headquarters were not returned by press time. KCBBHB took out a loan from Southwest National Bank for $1.5 million. The loan was a second loan modification to an original loan from 2006 in the amount of $1.5 million from Capital City Bank. In 2007, KCBBHB signed a trust deed switching its loan from Capital City Bank to Southwest National Bank, and signed a first loan modification, increasing the original loan amount of $1.5 million to $1.8 million in 2007. The second loan modification, which is dated Aug. 1, shows that KCBBHB took out another loan of $1.5 million from Southwest Bank. The loan has a maturity date of Aug. 10, 2017. On Aug. 5, KCBBHB executed and delivered to Southwest National Bank a “Second Amended and Restated Promissory Note” for $3 million.

1000, 1004, 1020 & 1036 Central Ave., and 1033 & 1000 Annesdale Drive
Memphis, TN
Permit Cost: $14 million (total master permit)

Project Cost: $14 million (total)
Permit Date: Aug. 11, 2008 (all)
Completion: August 2008
Owner: McCormack Baron Salazar
Tenant: McCormack Baron Salazar
Architect: Architectural Inc.
Contractor: Zellner Construction Services LLC

Details: Several individual permits for addresses at 1000, 1004, 1020 and 1036 Central Ave., as well as 1000 and 1033 Annesdale Drive, for the construction of new townhomes. Each individual permit was part of a $14 million master permit that involves McCormack’s University Place Phase II. “Those are individual house addresses in a bigger project, and those are just individual permits on each one of the units,” said Gary Meter with Zellner Construction. “So basically, University Place Phase II is being completed, and University Place Phase III we’re just now getting started. “You’re looking at a master permit,” Meter explained. “It’s $14 million for the entire project, not $14 million for each individual house.” Recently, McCormack applied for several more permits with amounts of $14 million besides the six mentioned above, including one for the construction of a new housing project on Delmar Avenue to be called Legends Park East. (See below for more information on that permit.)

992 Delmar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38105
Permit Cost: $14 million (total master permit amount)

Project Cost: $14.5 million
Permit Date: Aug. 6, 2008
Completion: November 2009
Owner: McCormack Baron Salazar
Tenant: Legends Park East
Architect: Architectural Inc.
Contractor: Caroma Construction Co. Inc.

Details: A $14.5 million permit applied for property at 992 Delmar Ave. just west of Poplar Avenue and Interstate 240. McCormack Baron Salazar is owner of the property, and is building a new public housing project at the site called Legends Park East. The project is part of the Memphis Housing Authority’s Hope VI revitalization project, for which MHA has received several grants to fund affordable housing for Memphis citizens, according to the MHA Web site. Another public housing site, Dixie Homes, formerly was at this address, which sits across the street from Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, but was torn down several months ago.“This is a mixed-income, multifamily housing redevelopment, and this is just the first phase of what will be three or four total phases of development,” said Tom Correll with McCormack. “In addition to the mixed-use apartment housing, we will include – in subsequent phases – a commercial mixed-use building with some commercial, retail and additional housing space.” John Edwards with McCormack said the company is not ready to give out specific details yet regarding the development, although he said they will be forthcoming soon.