It certainly does not look like a bungalow from the street. Symmetrically placed windows with shutters are set on each side of a recessed entry with single-light French doors. Used brick on the front and engaged columns on the corner complete the facade that is trying so hard to be a Greek Revival cottage in the French Quarter. A wonderful old iron fence on the left side of the yard adds to the New Orleans flavor …
Read the rest of this week’s “Hot Properties” column by John Griffin.
Wolf River Ranch
The 2008 St. Jude Dream Home hails from Collierville this year, in the Wolf River Ranch subdivision. Built by Southern Serenity Homes, the Dream Home is valued at $559,900.
For $100, ticket holders are entered into the giveaway contest, with prizes ranging from electronics, art, jewelry, and movie passes for a year to a 2008 Honda Civic LX from Wolfchase Honda (for early birds who reserve tickets by May 1st). Oh, and don’t forget about the Dream Home itself: One lucky winner will get the keys to the 4,200-square-foot house, on Sunday, June 22nd. Proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Right off Wolf River Boulevard in Collierville, Wolf River Ranch is a luxury development featuring homes with premium landscaping, irrigation systems, architectural shingles, large rear patios, custom lighting packages, granite countertops in the kitchen, baths, and wet bars, and nine-foot ceilings upstairs and down.
For Dream Home tickets, call (800) 224-6681; visit Samuels Furniture & Interiors, Regions Bank, or Crye-Leike Realtors; or go to stjudedreamhome.org.
Washington Gates
Courtesy ALSAC/St. Jude
The future of Collierville living looks a lot like it did in the past with the proposed development Washington Gates. A Boyle Investment Co. venture, the infill will be just a holler away from the town’s square, with an architectural style meant to blend with the neighborhood’s historic homes and buildings.
On a plot of land north of Washington Street, east of Mt. Pleasant Road, and two blocks south of Poplar Avenue, 16 houses will go in. Prospective residents can trot over to Mensi’s Dairy Bar or the Silver Caboose for a meal, grab a cup of caffeine at Square Beans Coffee, and then mosey back home sporting some fresh kicks from Hewlett & Dunn Jean & Boot Barn. Or maybe that’s just how I’d do it.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone
Courtesy Boyle Investment Co.
One of Collierville’s great promises is its proximity to country living, both geographically and as a state of mind. The Hearthstone development — situated south of Bill Morris Parkway, off of Sycamore Road near East Shelby Drive — fits the mold perfectly. There, you can feel miles away from city life without having to sacrifice easy access to amenities such as schools (Sycamore Elementary is right around the corner), shopping and dining (the Avenue Carriage Crossing is a short drive away), and, well, everything else (Bill Morris can get you anywhere). Hearthstone homes start at $429,900, and the neighborhood features lots of green space and common areas.
The Village at Schilling Farms
The Village at Schilling Farms
Courtesy John Green Realtors
New Collierville residential isn’t just about houses; there’s also premium condominium living. With the Village at Schilling Farms, the Kemmons Wilson Company has built 58 ranch-style condos with two- and three-bedroom floor plans.
These one-story homes are great for empty-nesters or residents who prefer not to have to maintain exterior spaces or landscaping.
Homes are modeled with energy efficiency and security in mind, and they have an attached two-car garage and either a patio or a sunroom. Homes start in the $220,000s. ■
Hernando DeSoto stopped here in 1541, looking to cross the river. Don Manuel Gayoso, the Spanish military commander of West Florida, built a fort here in 1795. But it wasn’t until after World War I that Memphis embraced all things romantically European, and the city was graced with houses in the Tudor, Italian, and Spanish Revival styles.
George Mahan Jr. was one of the major architects of these Romantic revivals built between 1914 and 1938. In 1922, Esther Cook Norfleet built this house on Goodwyn Street, using Mahan’s plans. Goodwyn was a popular location for grand homes at that time, because the Memphis Country Club was established there in 1905 …
Read the rest of John Griffin’s “Hot Properties” column from this week’s Flyer.
The real estate bubble has burst. The housing market is in shambles. The economy is in recession. There’s panic in the streets!
Tell that to downtown Memphis residential developers. The downtown condo market, which was booming the last several years, leveled off by the end of 2007.
In 2007, 488 home units sold in the downtown zip code, down from 750 the year before. That’s a drop of 34.9 percent, the most in any zip code in the county. But average home prices remained steady: $241,871 in 2007 compared to $241,830 in 2006. So, is the decrease a function of people not buying, the supply of units being bought up, or just the normalization of a market that had been outperforming for a few years?
In the first months of 2008, closing prices have increased an average of $32,000 from the same figures last year.
And developers in the South End district of downtown have decided that the best defense is a good offense. The third Downtown Home Show at South End is set to kick off Friday, April 11th.
The home show will showcase a number of diverse developments, including high-rises, gated condo communities, single-family homes, and converted warehouses.
State Place
The show runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, April 11th to 28th, from noon to 6 p.m. each day. Parking and admission are free, and shuttles will be provided at no charge on Saturdays and Sundays.
For those with their eye on buying, the Downtown Home Show may be a good time to do so; some developers are offering incentives for those who sign a contract during the event.
The Downtown Home Show is co-sponsored by Henco Furniture, out of Selmer, Tennessee. Henco is decorating models for the developers.
The Machine Shop Condos
There are six properties featured in the home show. They are:
• The Machine Shop Condos at 465 S. Main, a triangle-shaped development across from the National Civil Rights Museum. The property was developed by Porter Kerr Investments.
• The Nettleton, at 435 S. Front, a reworking of the Piggly Wiggly warehouse built in 1915. The luxury condos feature 24-inch heart-pine columns and beams, and some units have 17-foot ceilings.
• St. Charles on Main, a gated condominium community being sold by Kendall Haney Realtors and Re/Max on the River.
• State Place, a $49 million development on Georgia Street a block from Riverside Drive.
• The Horizon, an elegant tower overlooking the Mississippi River. Under construction, the Horizon has a well-appointed model unit and sales center at 717 Riverside Drive.
• River Tower, the neighbor of the Horizon on Riverside Drive, a 14-story high-rise with direct access to the River Walk and views of the Mississippi River. ■
Courtesy of the Nettleton
The Nettleton
Downtown Home Show at South End
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, April 11th-28th, noon to 6 p.m.
Free admission and parking
Free shuttles on Saturdays and Sundays
Go to southendmemphis.com for more information.
The Lincoln
American
Tower:
A Downtown
survivor
success
story.
Think of it as the butterfly effect writ small. In the predawn hours of October 6, 2006, downtown Memphis was in chaos as First United Methodist Church blazed, an act of God that stained red the night sky. Located at the corner of Second Street and Poplar Avenue, the church burned from the basement up and spewed ash and dust and fiery embers into the air as it was consumed.
It was a windy morning. One ember traveled exactly three blocks south and one block west to land on top of the Court Annex Building adjacent to Court Square. “It didn’t go four blocks and 10 feet, which would’ve overshot the building,” C. Yorke Lawson says. “Not only that, but the ember had to take a curve, a dogleg, around the 100 North Main Building. It was kind of a great Frisbee shot.”
It wasn’t the only ember to traverse the Memphis skyline, and the resulting blaze at the Court Annex Building wasn’t the only secondary fire downtown. But the Court Annex fire was special for a couple of reasons. First, the century-plus-old building was a key component of the Court Square Center redevelopment project, along with the neighboring Lowenstein Building and Lincoln American Tower — a sizable project with an investment that numbered in the tens of millions of dollars. The development was the long-gestating baby of CGI & Partners and its three principals: Lawson, John Basek, and William Chandler.
Second, the Court Annex fire completely destroyed the building. “The building was already under construction, all of the windows were out, and it was completely empty of walls or any other thing that might slow a fire down,” Chandler recalls. “It was a 100 percent wood building, and the wood had been drying out for 100 years. Essentially, once the fire started, it burned the whole building in an hour.”
The next victim that long morning was the Lowenstein Building, Court Annex’s neighbor since 1897. “When the interior wood structure collapsed inside the Court Annex, two floors of brick wall tilted and fell into the Lowenstein Building,” Chandler says. “That took about a 20-by-30-foot section of the building down, and it lit some of it on fire.”
The Lowenstein Building had a fate different from the Court Annex. “Thanks to the fire department, Lowenstein was saved,” Basek says. It did suffer significant damage, including an 18,000-square-foot basement that was seven feet deep in water.
The Lincoln American Tower, the third building in the redevelopment, fared better. “All of the windows on the east side were wood varnished windows, and those were on fire,” Lawson says. “People were worried about the Lincoln American Tower burning down, but it is not going to burn down. It’s a steel frame encased in a concrete building.”
The greatest loss for CGI & Partners that morning was the Court Annex Building. But as with other problems that had come up during the redevelopment, it was met head-on and overcome. A new building — called Court Annex 2 for now — is being designed and is scheduled to break ground this summer.
Asked if there was a silver lining to the fire, Chandler replies, with a dry wit, “Well, we learned about insurance.”
After some consideration, he adds, “The only silver lining is that it gives us the interesting challenge to design and build a new building. The Court Annex was going to be hard to do — it had a lot of structural challenges — but it was going to be beautiful.”
Basek places the downtown fire in his own perspective: “I generally put it in three steps. One: Nobody was hurt; two: great fire department; three: the outcome involves time and money, and we’re developers. In theory, we can work with those two items and solve what was already a difficult project and take advantage of anything that allows us to do a bit more with a hole than we did with an existing building. It’s a challenge, and this is business.”
Lawson says, “A lot of people come up to you and say, ‘Well, you had insurance, so you’re taken care of, and it may even come out in your favor.'”
Lawson continues with evident sadness: “Bottom line is, we lost a great building. Part pine, warehouse, 1897, beautiful, with these great heights and great windows overlooking the park. We lost a great building.”
Financial Architecture
The October 6th fire was but one milepost — albeit a spectacular one — in the eventual redevelopment of Lincoln American Tower, Lowenstein Building, and Court Annex.
The Lincoln American Tower opened in 1925. The 22-story skyscraper was the headquarters of the Columbian Mutual Life Assurance Society and the International Order of Odd Fellows. In 1956, the Lincoln American Life Insurance Company merged with Columbian Mutual Life, and the building’s name was changed.
Justin Fox Burks (large photo) Derek Velander (small photo)
The Lowenstein is the oldest of the three buildings — “It’s probably the biggest, oldest building in Memphis,” Chandler says. Built in 1885, it housed the B. Lowenstein and Company department store for the next several decades (Court Annex was built to provide additional storage for the Lowenstein store) before the retailer relocated to Brinkley Plaza. The cast-iron building’s other major tenant was the Rhodes-Jennings Furniture Company, which left the building vacant when they departed in 1980.
Chandler first got involved with the Lowenstein Building while president of the nonprofit historical preservation group Memphis Heritage in the mid-1980s. “Memphis Heritage fought to protect Lowenstein,” Chandler says. Charged with disposing of some of the real estate holdings Memphis Heritage had (which included the Lowenstein Building), Chandler presented the building to a number of developers over the years. Meanwhile, the building amassed back taxes and was tied up in court over a variety of issues.
“If you work on something long enough, eventually you become the expert,” Chandler says. “For many years, I had the only keys [to the Lowenstein]. I was taking people through, and I was trying to negotiate with the city.
“The city wanted an outcome. They didn’t want to transfer the building to a developer who didn’t have a plan.”
Chandler met Lawson through a mutual friend. Lawson and Basek were developers in Prague, specializing in the restoration of historic buildings. Lawson came to Memphis in April 2001 and Chandler asked him to take a look at the Lowenstein and Court Annex buildings, which were owned by the city, and the Lincoln American Tower, which was privately owned at the time.
Lawson was hooked, and he and Basek began the arduous task of development. Basek says, “It took from November 2001 — through a tax sale, a Request for Proposal process, and the negotiation of a development agreement — until February 2003, when the City Council approved a binding development agreement for Court Annex and the Lowenstein Building.”
Justin Fox Burks
Court Square Center developers, from left: John Basek, C. Yorke Lawson, and William Chandler
The Lincoln American Tower, considered crucial to the development’s success, was also acquired, and the initial architecture and engineering planning for the three buildings, to be collectively called Court Square Center, was begun. Court Square Center had initial design work by CMC architects from Prague, and the supervising architect is Chooch Pickard of the Memphis-based CM Design. Another local company, Montgomery Martin, is spearheading construction.
Financial planning was even more complicated. Basek says, “The financial architecture for this project turned out to be more complicated than the architecture architecture of this development.” Along with Telesis Corporation, a Washington, D.C.-based company that specializes in revitalization projects, CGI & Partners used a new federal financing technique called New Market Tax Credits (NMTC). The program, enacted during the Clinton administration, allows for the leveraging and inclusion of large amounts of equity.
Of NMTC, Basek says, “As with any new program, it takes awhile for people to learn how to use it. … It took from the beginning of 2004 until the middle of 2006 to put the financing together. That included working with architects and contractors doing pre-construction design.”
Lawson says investment came from three camps: friends and family; European investors; and local investors. Basek explains, “For the Europeans in particular, the idea that you could put together what is now nearly a $60 million project utilizing only about $3 million in private equity was pretty exciting.”
Also crucial to the project’s success was Memphis city government. “We have received a tremendous amount of support from the city of Memphis,” Basek says. “From Mayor Willie Herenton on down, there was interest and encouragement. … Whenever we had some problems, the City Council, [Memphis chief financial officer] Robert Lipscomb, and the mayor were all extremely helpful.”
Government programs “make it possible,” Basek says. “If you’re willing to study, it is possible to do these things. These are projects that otherwise could not be done.”
With so much hard work completed, it’s easier to laugh about the tougher aspects of the job. “There was a reason why these buildings were abandoned and unused for 25 years, and we learned it,” Basek says. “It wasn’t that anyone didn’t think it was cool to rehab those buildings, but it was extremely difficult. It’s three completely different structures, three completely different approaches, and we were trying to do it in one phase, at one time.”
Having moved mountains of paper — dollars, permits, applications, legal filings, architecture plans, schematics, and on and on — over the course of years, Court Square Center was finally ready to move dirt. “The official start of this project was August 2006,” Basek says. “But the story, of course, doesn’t end there. Six weeks later there was the catastrophic fire. One-third of the project was destroyed in an hour.”
Regeneration
Despite the setbacks, Lincoln American Tower is ready to open on April 1st, only about four months behind the original schedule.
The building will include 31 apartments with premium office and retail space. On the ground floor: New York-based Ceriello Italian food market. Three floors of office space top that; the Plough Foundation, which is relocating from its East Memphis address, has spoken for the second floor. Local architecture firm Looney Ricks Kiss is designing their space.
With large, operable windows letting in light, the apartments take advantage of the natural beauty of the surroundings and the architectural features of the original construction.
The lower floors, in particular, have a sense of the greenery of Court Square Park coming right into the living room. These two-bedroom, two-bath units average about 1,200 square feet and will cost from $1,300 to $1,500 per month.
As the tower reaches skyward, the apartments take a dramatic turn, becoming two-story townhouse-style units. Residents can claim floors 16 and 17; 18 and 19; or 20 and 21. Two-floor units have secured, direct elevator access. The National Ornamental Metal Museum is refurbishing many of the building’s fixtures that have been mistreated by time.
Justin Fox Burks
The Lowenstein Building is scheduled for opening by the end of 2008. It will feature 28 apartment units on four floors over a ground-floor retail tenant yet to be determined.
Court Annex 2 is scheduled to open a few months later and will bring another 16 apartments to the mix, with a ground-floor retail space and four more floors of apartments. It’s being designed by Looney Ricks Kiss in keeping with the original building’s architecture.
With the University of Memphis Law School relocating to the Front Street Post Office in August 2009, 500 students and 150 staff and professors will be within a block of Court Square Center every day.
Chandler says, “It’s an important corner, it’s a historical block of the city, and to put it back together as it was is a great accomplishment. Had we not done it, Lowenstein and Court Annex may have been demolished and Lincoln American may have stood vacant. It’s going to trigger more development at this end of downtown.”
Winning
With redevelopment nearing completion, Chandler reflects on what Court Square Center means to him: “I used to say to people, ‘It’s a lifetime project,’ meaning, if you never do anything else in your life, you’ve saved this thing from demolition. You’ve put it back to last another 100 years.
“But on the other hand, it is not a retirement project. People will love these buildings after I’m dead. Are we going to make money? We hope so. Are we retiring on this? Not at all.”
Chandler continues: “It’s a lifetime accomplishment to know that you’ve managed to win. You lose so many preservation battles. This was a huge one, and we managed to win it. There were many days, even many years where we didn’t know if we were going to get there or not.”
Basek says, “If you devote the kind of time and energy that we have to this project over the years, frankly, it’s not only about the money. We do expect to, in the long run, do okay. But it’s really not about that, because we’re building something.
“It was very hard and it was a challenge, but you are in effect giving something back to the community. For me, that’s pretty important.”
They said it couldn’t be done: a high-rise condominium development in downtown Memphis? Two towers, 300-plus units, 16 floors? World-class amenities, unparalleled views, big bang for the buck? Not gonna happen, they said, because who’s gonna buy it?
Well, what do they know?
That was the message at the recent groundbreaking ceremony for phase one of the Horizon, Memphis’ newest upscale condominium development. Gary Garland, president of the Garland Company and the Horizon’s development manager, summed up a common response over the last couple years to the project’s prospects: “There were naysayers in Memphis, Tennessee, who said, ‘Y’all will never get this done.'” And yet, there Garland stood on Novermber 8th, along with Memphis mayor Willie Herenton, Shelby County commissioner Mike Ritz, the Horizon’s developer Steve Bryan of the Bryan Company, Center City Commission president Jeff Sanford, Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau president Kevin Kane, and other local heavy hitters.
Artist Rendering Courtesy of the Bryan Company
A Rendering of the downtown high-rise.
Celebratory and a little defiant, Garland, Bryan, Sanford, and Herenton each took the podium, the golden shovels waiting nearby to make action verbs out of the promises touted by developers since the Horizon was first announced. “You’ll be able to watch this thing come up,” Garland said, his words reinforced by the sound of construction vehicles and a giant hole in the ground a couple dozen yards away. (The Horizon actually broke ground a few months ago.)
Herenton put his imprimatur on the event. “This is a great day in the history of the great city of Memphis,” he said. “This is an exciting time in the evolution of downtown for a great Southern city.
Developers and city officials, including Mayor Willie Herenton, break ground for the Horizon.
“I know a little bit about development, and this was a great risk,” Herenton said about the Horizon. But he added that the groundbreaking was a lesson about not listening to naysayers. He admitted he’s had his share over the years.
“We will make possible what you, naysayers, have said wasn’t possible,” Herenton added.
Sanford looked into his crystal ball, saying, “The Horizon will be the queen, I predict, of this terrific downtown neighborhood.”
The development’s amenities certainly sound royal: a private movie theater, a climate-controlled wine cellar with space for personal storage, indoor and outdoor pools, a putting green, a fitness center, a party and activity room with a fireplace, a 24-hour doorman/concierge, a business tech center, a tennis court, and a rooftop patio with views of the Mississippi River. And those amenities are just for the Horizon’s common areas.
“We decided we wanted to raise the level, and we’re doing it,” Bryan said of the vision for the Horizon. “We’re not finished,” he continued. “We have a long way to go.
“We’re going to change the horizon of the Mississippi River and downtown Memphis in a very positive way.”
As Halloween grows near, the residents at Number 10 Main Apartments are busy conjuring up creepy costumes. The building’s elegant lobby is festooned with spider webs hanging from the light fixtures, and skeletons are seated primly in the hallway. The decorations add a playful touch to otherwise buttoned-down surroundings. There will be more, the manager assures me, since each year, Number 10 plays host to a kick-ass costume party. It started out as a rather modest affair, a mixer designed to bring residents together, but over time, its popularity (not to mention the popularity of those who reside here) has grown. Last year’s bash attracted 400 to 500 revelers, making it one of the more anticipated neighborhood parties downtown.
“A lot of residents like to get involved with putting it together,” notes building manager Greta Hollingsworth, whose father, Jay Hollingsworth, and Henry Grovesnor converted the former bank into a 112-unit apartment building in 2000. “We have a lot of chefs who live in the building, and they bring in food from their restaurants,” she says. Others help out by getting the rooftop ready or determining which band will play.
Courtesy of Center City Commission
Local artist paints on South Main
The party creates a sense of belonging for residents — about half of whom have lived here since the building opened — and that belonging creates community. In addition to the Halloween romp, Hollingsworth says residents gather for wine tastings on the roof deck, with its expansive views of the Mississippi River, or to watch ballgames together. There’s even talk of a local restaurant offering to teach a pastry-making class. “A lot of people show up, even to watch the smaller things like the basketball and football games,” Hollingsworth says.
People who live outside the city might think of urban life as sterile, devoid of the neighborliness of suburban life. With 28,000 people now calling downtown home, it’s not exactly an intimate place. And living in a townhouse, condominium, or high-rise can bring a certain autonomy. But while the suburbs promise a bucolic life filled with backyard barbecues and garage sales, “You shut your garage, go into the backyard, and that’s it,” notes developer Phil Woodard, who lives in the South Main Historic District and has played a hand in its growth. “Here, it’s hard not to socialize with your neighbors,” because the street essentially becomes your front yard.
When Woodard and his wife, Terry, moved downtown in 1996, South Main was still “pretty quiet,” with many of the neighborhood’s old warehouses and working-class hotels empty and shuttered. While the couple knew a lot of Memphians through their construction and wine businesses, “I found another group of people downtown. They were definitely more liberal and more diverse,” Woodard says. Perhaps because of their pioneering vigor, a certain esprit de corps knitted early residents together. As the Woodards began refurbishing their building, they met their neighbors, either out on the street during evening walks, or, such as in developer Henry Turley’s case, when residents moseyed inside to find out who was behind the dust.
As South Main’s reinvention began to blossom with art galleries and boutiques, it was Woodard who helped create the trolley art tours back in October 2000. “I think the first one only had five people,” he says with a laugh. “I put my mother and [a local musician] on to sing, along with some champagne. We didn’t have a lot of folks, but they had a great time.” His idea was to create a focal point for the neighborhood, one that would bring people together and generate a buzz — not to mention sales — for the district’s galleries. “Now it’s more of a social thing than an art thing,” Woodard says. “But it’s also having an economic impact on businesses on South Main. For many, it’s the best day of the whole month.” The tour has also succeeded in bringing people downtown to see for themselves what living in the city looks like.
Many faces, different places
Courtesy of Memphis Farmers Market
Keith Forrester of Whitton Farms and Chef Stephen Hassinger of The Inn at Hunt-Phelan
The diversity of downtown’s residents also holds appeal. Though you’ll certainly find plenty of native Memphians, there are also urban transplants from cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. Buildings like 10 North Main boast an eclectic mix of professionals as well, who are post-college and middle-aged, financial analysts with Morgan Keegan, newly minted doctors, chefs at downtown’s tony bistros, court clerks, lawyers, even “the guy who does the Memphis panhandling Web site,” says Hollingsworth. “Yep, he lives here too.”
But it’s neighborhood activities like the trolley tour, and, more recently, the Memphis Farmers Market, that provide a gathering place for residents to connect and catch up on each other’s lives.
“Once I started living down here, I began to think of it as the show Cheers, where everyone knows your name,” says Diane Gordon, a resident who also has her interior design business on South Main. “You can go into an establishment and people get to know who you are.”
Gordon and her husband first bought their loft condo two years ago as a weekend escape. She wanted to learn more about the community, so she began attending neighborhood association meetings. “I think the people here were more welcoming because of the influx of different locations that they came from,” observes Gordon. “I didn’t feel the competitiveness of the suburbs.” Now president of the South Main Association, Gordon says her move downtown has awakened a sense of community activism she didn’t feel compelled to pursue when she was living in the suburbs. Here, in this growing neighborhood, there were more possibilities.
Sharon Leicham, a transplant from the San Francisco Bay area, agrees. When several residents began talking about farmers markets they’d experienced in other cities, it didn’t take long for the idea to gain momentum. As one of the co-founders of the Memphis Farmers Market, Leicham likes the sense of possibility life in the city has afforded her, not to mention the ease.
Courtesy of Memphis Farmers Market
Vivan Gray at the Memphis Farmers Market
“Here I can walk almost everywhere to get my hair and nails done. I can walk to Easy Way for vegetables. I can do almost everything downtown without a car, and I do.”
In her 24-unit building, residents organize progressive suppers to strengthen ties that first form while picking up the mail or walking the dog. The Farmers Market, a Saturday ritual for many downtowners, has provided another opportunity for community building.
“A lot of people have withdrawal when we close [for the season], because we have regulars who’ve developed relationships with some of the farmers,” Leicham says.
While those relationships might slow as the market goes on hiatus, there are plenty of other opportunities for downtowners to rub shoulders. With the RiverArtsFest celebration happening this weekend on South Main, and the holidays just around the corner, folks will no doubt find ample ways to knit themselves together, strengthening the neighborhood one relationship at a time.
When Jennie Hill returned home from college last spring, she knew she wanted something different from “my other life,” as she puts it, referring to growing up in the suburbs of Memphis. Close proximity to her job as an intern architect with Looney Ricks Kiss Architects was a priority, as was being a part of the hubbub of city life.
“I wanted to be downtown because that’s where stuff happens,” Hill says. “There’s always something going on, with plenty of cool things to do.”
Though it took time, she eventually found an apartment on Mud Island she liked. She put down $300 in May as earnest money to hold a place that wasn’t even available until September. And her rent, at $725 for a 630-foot studio, is steep. As more young professionals clamor to call downtown home, they may find locating a rental tricky — in a neighborhood that’s increasingly tight for apartment space.
Condo conversions have played a significant role in the shrinking of apartment stock downtown. Over the past several years, signature apartment buildings like the Shrine, the Lofts at South Main, Claridge House, RiverTower at South Bluff, and Paperworks (the first warehouse-to-apartment conversion in the South Main district), have all been converted to condominiums. According to figures from the Center City Commission, 593 apartment units have gone condo. And the conversion craze hasn’t stopped at downtown’s doorstep.
Memphis Is a Good Deal
Investors from across the country have been scooping up older high-rise properties from Midtown to Germantown. For example, the Glenmary at Evergreen (formerly Woodmont Towers) on North Parkway is being developed by the Gintz Group from Tacoma, Washington, and Nashville-based Bristol Development converted the former Park Place apartments in Germantown into a condo development called the Monarch.
Part of Memphis’ appeal is its high occupancy rate, coupled with a strong national economy and the relative affordability of properties compared to other urban markets. “Investors are seeing that nationally, Memphis might be the last bastion of condo conversions because it’s been overlooked for so long,” says LEDIC Management CEO Pierce Ledbetter.
From a development standpoint, conversions have been a good thing for properties that were in need of refurbishing. A case in point is RiverTower at South Bluffs (formerly the Rivermark), a downtown rental property that had languished in an ’80s time warp until being purchased and converted to condominiums by McCord Development, Inc., based in Houston, Texas. 
RiverTower, overlooking the Mississippi, has gone from hotel to apartment house to condos.
While offering exceptional views of the Mississippi River, the 240-unit complex suffered from “an identity crisis,” notes Ledbetter, referring to the building’s history as a hotel and later apartment high-rise, which left it with an odd mix of both spacious and cramped apartment units. With its purchase by McCord Development, an assets management and development firm, the building received a complete renovation and is now selling stylish one-, two-, and three-bedroom condo units. McCord has developed similar high-rise communities in Texas, California, and Florida.
“What [investors] like to see is a city with a reduced supply of land, high occupancy rates, and increasing rents,” says Ledbetter, whose company is the largest apartment and condominium manager in the city. “That makes it much easier for banks to underwrite the loan for the property. And with so many good things going on downtown, it keeps driving the trend.”
High Occupancy Rates
According to “The Source: Greater Memphis Area Multifamily Market Statistics for 2006,” a survey released by the Apartment Association of Greater Memphis, occupancy rates downtown hover at 94.6 percent, almost five points above the countywide rate of 90 percent. (The Center City Commission — CCC — pegs downtown’s rate closer to 91 percent.) Living downtown also costs apartment dwellers more. The survey, which canvassed 50,000 apartment units in 12 submarkets, looked at categories such as amenities, rents per-square-foot, and floor plans. Their findings: The average rent for a 950-square-foot apartment in Shelby County is $685, but downtowners can expect to pay $893 for a slightly smaller space, at 917 square feet. Though rents may be higher downtown, Leslie Gower, director of communications for the CCC, says their market research shows most people prefer to live where their social life is and commute to work. Since downtown’s entertainment sector has strengthened, so too has its desirability as a neighborhood.
Are more apartment complexes on the horizon for downtown? Such high occupancy rates would suggest they’re needed, particularly with the addition of the University of Memphis’ law school soon to call Front Street home. “Downtown is probably ripe for more apartment units,” agrees Amy Carkuff, who’s been involved as an interior designer with a host of condo projects downtown. “I think there’s a market for students and young professionals.”
Manny Heckle, president of the Apartment Association of Greater Memphis and HM Heckle, a properties management firm, says, for him, the question is simple: “How many condos are selling and how many will revert back to rentals? I would say too many condos have hit the market in the last few years. I think we’re condo-saturated.”
View of the Claridge House on Main Street: facade.
View of the Claridge House on Main Street: bedroom.
Those thoughts prompted developer Jason Wexler to put his money in the rental market. Wexler’s company, Green Hat Partners, already has completed two historic rehabs (Cornerstone and Main Street Flats apartments), and he’s now among a handful of developers working on creating additional apartment buildings downtown. Radio Center Flats, a project currently under way at the old WDIA building, is one of Wexler’s projects; and according to the CCC, there are 14 other apartment developments in the planning or construction phase for downtown.
View of the Claridge House on Main Street: lobby.
Paperworks in the South Main District is Memphis’ first warehouse-to-apartments conversion.
“We’ve been pretty cautious about condos and decided not to go that route because of the number that have come online,” Wexler says. “We thought there was a need for more apartments in the downtown core, in part because of the number of projects that were going from rental to condo conversion.” The combined buildings will eventually create 587 new apartment units. But when you consider that condo conversions have removed 593 rentals from the market, the likelihood is that the rental market downtown will continue to remain tight.
“We do minimal marketing or advertising, and our occupancy rate is 100 percent most all the time,” says Wexler. “We rely on word of mouth or put an ad on apartments.com to find new tenants.”
Glenmary, a high-rise located on North Parkway, was once Woodmont Towers.
And who knows? That may simply add to the luster of nabbing a downtown address. ■
Have you ever been told to “get with the program”? Or maybe you remember a time when you were ostracized for not being up-to-date with society’s latest trends. With the overabundance of how-to books and Web sites, people can learn about the new and upcoming trends of nearly any industry they choose. When it comes to the home-building industry, however, why go out and buy a book or spend hours surfing the Web when you can see the latest developments in home building and interior design with your own eyes?
At the 2007 Mid-South Parade of Homes, which runs October 12th to 14th, 18th to 21st, and 25th to 28th, you can witness the newest ideas for kitchens, bedrooms, ceilings, floors, screened porches, technology centers, bathrooms, landscaping, home décor, landscaping, and more. Best of all, there are over 160 model homes in this year’s Parade of Homes, ranging from the $125,000 starter home to the million-dollar custom home. We have the perfect variety for consumers with a particular preference. Whether you are considering building a new home or remodeling your current home, you will find fresh ideas to help you succeed.
Maximizing space is becoming an increasingly prominent factor for new-home builders and remodelers. Large islands and an abundance of countertops are becoming exceedingly popular in kitchens and provide plenty of room for families to cook, children to do homework, or hosts to entertain guests. Ten-foot ceilings — or higher — with barrel-vaulted and wood-beamed effects make the home not only look but feel more spacious. Oversized windows are also becoming more common and create openness. Screened porches offer extra space for homeowners to relax with views of the outdoors, and some lead to an open deck area, perfect for summer get-togethers. Clearly, these new homes prove there are a variety of ways to make the most of your space.
Not only will this year’s Parade of Homes show you great ways to enhance space, you will also observe trendy ideas for spicing up your home. Hardwood cherry floors are popular, especially in the kitchen and living-room areas. Brick and stone accents around walls and fireplaces make the home distinguished, while double-door entries offer guests a friendly welcome. Crown-molded and multi-layered ceilings, two traditional trends, are gaining popularity once again in both “great rooms” and master bedroom suites. Decorated arched openings, the most popular trend of all, give formal distinction to spacious rooms. Regardless of the amount of space, areas should be tailored to give the home unique character.
Before constructing a new home, be sure to “get with the program.” Observe the clever use of space, unique styles, and other home-building trends at the 2007 Mid-South Parade of Homes. The innovative homes at this year’s event are definitely something you won’t want to miss. ■
Visit www.memphisparade.com for more information regarding the 2007 Mid-South Parade of Homes.
Keith Grant is president of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association.
As with many other segments of life, when it comes to home improvement, my dad’s got mad skills. I was reminded of this for probably the 1,001st time recently, helping (okay, mostly watching) him install two new exterior doors on my house. I don’t mean that he hung new slab doors in old frames. Rather, he cut out the old frames and doors, put up the new, prehung doors, and built around them to make the whole thing be sound and look good.
The doors we took out were original to the house. The front entryway was composed of an ornamental iron storm door and a thick wood slab door. The lockset on the storm door was temperamental, at best, and we didn’t even have a key for the slab door. Also, since the storm door was over half a century old (just after fire and the wheel were invented, I think), it predated true energy-efficient design.
Our side door had the same kind of iron storm door, but the slab door was hollow, clearly a repurposed interior door. If the front door lock bellyached at the touch of a key, the side lock was downright intractable. And, with a glass panel that never really stayed in place, the side entryway made sure we were never truly removed from the elements. We were a little cave family, grunting at seasonal extremes.
When my wife and I mentioned replacing both doors to my dad, he was delighted to help. Generally, there are four classes of projects that my dad jumps for:
#1: It will save money in the long run.
#2: I can’t do it on my own.
#3: It will require no small measure of skill on his part to get the job done right.
#4: It will mean he gets to play with some of his home-improvement toys.
The doors project satisfied all four classes: We’ll make up the cost on our electric bill over time, there was no way I could take on this project alone, it was satisfactorily difficult and complex, and my father got to break out all manner of drill bits, saws, and nail and brad guns. Oh, and the bubble; must never forget the bubble.
Each door took a full Saturday of work to install. The highlight for me, I must admit, wasn’t when the job was done and the new doors were functional. It was the dozen or so moments leading up, when there was nothing for me to do and I got to just sit there and watch my dad work. (If my dad can do something alone, he will. If he needs help, he’ll ask for it. If he doesn’t, he’ll decline offers.) With the sounds of college football emanating from a nearby TV, I got some serious nostalgia. I was 14 again, and I mean that in the best possible way.
And how does the house look now that the job’s done? Let me say, ignore those people who say that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Our new doors look great, and the house looks better than ever. By all means, judge our family based on my dad’s handiwork.
On an unrelated, but related, note: Read the instructions before you use canned insulating foam. When they say to only fill gaps halfway, because the stuff expands, they mean it. On the bright side, it cleans up with acetate. ■