A second phase of the South Junction apartments goes before the Downtown Memphis Commission Design Review Board Wednesday, Aug. 4.

The set of seven three-story apartment building was added to the agenda of the review board Monday afternoon.

South Junction's second phase would include seven three-story buildings on the northeast corner of Carolina Avenue and Florida Street.

(Design Review Board)

The 84 apartment units to be built would be on the northeast corner of Carolina Avenue and Florida Street and include a surface parking lot, pool and outdoor gathering space.

The first phase of South Junction, completed and fully occupied, includes 197 apartments and amenities.

Its second phase will continue to build on the South Main Historic Arts District noticeable momentum.

One of the largest projects on the drawing board for the district ­– and South Junction’s neighbor – is the Central Station redevelopment, a $55 million plan that includes includes replacing existing apartments in the train station building with a boutique hotel being developed by the Kemmons Wilson Cos.; building a five-screen Malco movie theater onto the power house building; and possibly adding a new Downtown grocery store.

Central Station’s redevelopment would add 200 new apartments to the 74 acres of property owned by the city of Memphis.

Turley Co. and Community Capital are the partners who presented in late March the still-tentative plan for the train station redevelopment. Alex Turley, vice president of Henry Turley Co., counts 1,150 new residential units between Beale Street to the north, Crump Boulevard to the south, Riverside Drive to the west and Second Street to the east. 

“It’s a testament to what’s happening Downtown, the fact that our residential population has gotten to this point,” Turley said on the WKNO-TV program "Behind the Headlines" in April.

Another banner South Main project is the Chisca Hotel redevelopment, where construction is in full swing. Memphis-based Carlisle Corp. is renovating the 102-year-old Chisca Hotel into an apartment community.

LEDIC Management Group will manage the property and launched preleasing there in May.

The redeveloped Chisca on Main will include a total of 161 units in a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom designs, including some loft units and a few penthouse units.

Chisca also will feature a new restaurant for the Downtown neighborhood, and that restaurant also is on the Design Review Board’s Wednesday agenda.

Carlisle Corp. is asking the Downtown Memphis Commission’s Design Review Board to approve a new sign for a LYFE Kitchen restaurant at the Chisca, 272 S. Main St.

The north-facing sign would read “LYFE Kitchen Love Your Food Everyday” and sit atop the Chisca.

While the Central Business Improvement District sign code limits rooftop signs to the Ballpark District and Peabody Place Entertainment District, DMC staff is recommending approval, stating a sign is appropriate given the height of the Chisca, historic precedent for a similar sign at the building and because the original rooftop sign frame is still intact.

Also on the review board’s agenda for the Wednesday session is a sign application for the 5 Spot at 84 G.E. Patterson Ave.