201 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38103

Permit Amount: $17 million

Application Date: October 2017

Owner/Tenant: Shelby County Government

Architect: Evans Taylor Foster Childress Architects

Details: With the Memphis Police Department’s move into Civic Center Plaza from its long-time headquarters on the top floors of the Criminal Justice Center, Shelby County government is preparing to begin a total renovation of the CJC at 201 Poplar Ave.

The county has applied for a $17 million building permit that covers the first three of seven construction phases.

The police department moved its headquarters earlier this year to 170 N. Main St., the former Donnelly J. Hill State Office Building, and the space it left behind at 201 Poplar allows the overall renovation of the CJC to begin. The renovation project will occur two floors at a time and relocate staff on floors being renovated to other areas of the building while the work is underway.

The overall renovation includes electrical improvements, a more efficient use of office space, asbestos abatement, upgrades for the Americans with Disabilities Act and will bring the circa-1980 CJC into compliance with current high-rise building code conditions, said Shelby County Public Works director Tom Needham.

As the county pulled the permit, plans for the first three phases went to the local code enforcement office for review. Bids will follow early next year.

The design firm on the project is Evans Taylor Foster Childress Architects.

6860 Quince Road
Memphis, TN 38119

Sale Amount: $47.8 million

Sale Date: Oct. 6, 2017

Buyer: Tilden Fundamental Cypress Lakes Apartments LLC

Seller: Water Grove Investors LLC

Loan Amount: $41 million

Loan Date: Oct. 6, 2017

Lender: Berkeley Point Capital LLC

Details: One of Memphis’ largest apartment communities, the 1,002-unit Madison Cypress Lakes Apartments, has sold for $47.8 million, or $47,704 per unit.

Rockville, Maryland-based CAPREIT, working as Tilden Fundamental Cypress Lakes Apartments LLC, bought the East Memphis property Friday, Oct. 6, from Water Grove Investors LLC, an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Madison Apartment Group LP.

CAPREIT said in a statement it plans to rebrand the community as Waterview Apartments.

Built in 1985 and 1986, the community contains 155 apartment buildings across roughly 145 acres at 6860 Quince Road. The one- and two-bedroom units range from 533 to 1,160 square feet, and the property also includes multiple lakes, including some stocked with fish; indoor and outdoor pools; three clubhouses; and indoor sports courts, among other amenities.

The Shelby County Assessor’s 2017 appraisal of the Class C property totals $27.1 million.

"Waterview will provide the Germantown/Collierville area with quality affordable housing that is much needed in the submarket, and we plan to invest a significant amount of capital into upgrading the community," Brendan Majev, a senior acquisitions associate for CAPREIT, said in a statement. "Our intention is to contribute to the continued growth of one of Memphis' top submarkets with updated, reputable homes. We are excited about the opportunity to provide renovations in a growing area, and are confident these upgrades will make an already affluent submarket even more desirable."

The seller, Madison Apartment Group, paid $46 million when it bought the property a decade ago from the community’s developer, Fogelman Management Group. At the time, the community was called Watergrove Townhomes, but Madison – the multifamily arm of private equity real estate firm BPG Properties Ltd. – rebranded it as Madison Cypress Lakes.

CAPREIT, which was founded in 1993, owns or manages around 14,000 apartment units in more than 20 states, totaling $5 billion in multifamily assets. In June, the company purchased the 430-unit Legacy Crossing apartments in Southaven and announced plans to renovate the community and upgrade some units.

1835 Union Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104

Permit Amount: $24 million

Application Date: October 2017

Owner: HRP-Union-McLean LLC

Contractor: Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC

Details: Midtown Market, a mixed-use project Belz Enterprises and Harbour Retail Partners are developing at the corner of Union Avenue and McLean Boulevard, has taken its next step forward.

Developers have filed a $24 million building permit application for the former Artisan Hotel and Towery office building that appears to be in line with the scaled-back plan they outlined earlier this year. Interim Downtown Memphis Commission president Jennifer Oswalt told The Daily News, in response to the permit, the project looks headed in the same direction as plans presented to the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. and Design Review Board in February, and “we are excited that it is getting started.”

The scope of the permit calls for converting the Artisan to apartments and demolishing the Towery building for a new apartment building with future retail. Demolition work already is underway on the office building, and some windows on the Artisan building are covered with tarps as interior work begins there.

The application comes two years after Belz and Harbour Retail Partners unveiled their initial plan for the former hotel and office building, which have been vacant since going into bankruptcy in 2010. The original plan had called for demolishing both buildings and replacing them with a $43 million mixed-use project featuring a gourmet grocery store, other commercial space, a new 188-unit apartment building and parking facilities.

The revised proposal called for razing only the Towery building for commercial space and renovating the Artisan into apartments. Developers told the CCRFC the updated plan would reduce the price tag to $33.5 million.

2785 New Brunswick Road
Memphis, TN 38133

Permit Amount: $6.5 million

Application Date: October 2017

Owner: Onyx Hospitality

Details: A 100-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel near Wolfchase Galleria is moving ahead. Hotel developer and management firm Onyx Hospitality is seeking a $6.5 million permit to build the four-story hotel on the north side of New Brunswick Road just east of the mall.

The Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board approved plans for the project in May.

The stretch of New Brunswick between U.S. 64 and Wolfchase Galleria is a popular one for hotels. The Courtyard will be sandwiched on 3 acres between a Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites and a SpringHill Suites by Marriott. Other hotels along the road include a Fairfield Inn & Suites and a La Quinta Inn & Suites, and Georgia-based Hallmark Hospitality & Management plans to open a Home2 Suites there next summer.

Boca Raton, Florida-based Onyx Hospitality currently operates six hotels, according to its website, including two in Horn Lake, Mississippi, and one in Forrest City, Arkansas. It lists four more properties under development: the Wolfchase Courtyard and three in Florida.