Although it may be difficult to tell by looking at Union Avenue,
Midtown residents and business owners have a long history of fighting
over development.
The latest skirmish happened last week at a public meeting convened
by Memphis Heritage to discuss the seemingly unavoidable demolition of
buildings in Overton Square. The crowd filled the main room of Memphis
Heritage’s Madison Avenue headquarters to capacity November 12th, with
an overflow of people spilling out into the foyer and adjoining
rooms.
“Demolition is non-negotiable,” Memphis Heritage executive director
June West said of the buildings from the 1920s and ’30s that currently
front the south side of Madison at Cooper.
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), the organization that wants to
purchase the property from Colorado-based owners Fisher Capital
Partners Ltd., has created a detailed plan for Overton Square that
includes a big-box grocery store with underground parking, a street
level parking lot, new construction on Madison, and landscaping along
Cooper.
AWG is a retailer-owned cooperative that supplies goods to Memphis
groceries as diverse as Stepherson’s Superlo in East Memphis and Miss
Cordelia’s Grocery on Mud Island. It also builds large concept stores
such as Price Chopper, Price Mart, Cash Saver, and Thriftway, generally
constructing new buildings that are then handed over to a grocery
management company in exchange for making AWG its supplier.
Chooch Pickard, executive director for the Memphis Regional Design
Center, told the assembled group that AWG isn’t in the business of
renovating older properties. He suggested to the crowd that any
significant change in AWG’s plans could force the company to abandon
the project and could result in the current ownership demolishing the
buildings.
“That sounds like a threat,” said Midtowner Paul Cooper. Another
angry Midtowner asked Pickard if he had a business relationship with
either Fisher or AWG.
Architect and Memphis Heritage board member Ray Brown received
applause from the crowd when he attacked the plan as one of the worst
designs he’s ever seen. Some Midtown residents are concerned that the
development will be too suburban for the area or will include a
discount grocery store that will cause the area to decline.
Pickard said he had seen the street-level drawings and that the
designs aren’t suburban. He also said the images of the proposed
exteriors could be shared with small groups but wouldn’t be released to
the public because the plans are still in development and could
change.
Reportedly, the developers are interested in building an upscale
grocery store at the site, but opponents have countered that no
specific grocery store is attached to the project.
“I’ll tell you how this will look in five years. It will look like
Madison and Avalon by the Piggly Wiggly,” said one angry voice from the
crowd.
“Or the Kroger at Poplar and Cleveland,” said another.
“I’m a bottom-line person,” Cooper said. “I loves me some Overton
Square. … What’s the bottom line that can be done to stop this?”
Memphis Heritage’s West urged everyone in the room to write or call
their Memphis City Council representative.
No representatives from Fisher Capital or AWG attended the
meeting.
