« Demand for new homes inside I-240 loop a boon for city | Main | Interest-only loans grow in popularity amid housing boom »

South End generates $285M in new projects

Amos Maki

When Terry Lynch and his partners started buying property four years ago in the area of Downtown known as the South End, other developers had already passed on the area. But Lynch, president of The Southland Cos., saw promise where others saw nothing but peril.

With $285 million worth of development in the construction and planning phases, the South End neighborhood Lynch and his wife, Robyn, along with partners Karl and Gail Schledwitz, set out to develop is ready to blossom with almost 1,300 new residential units. Once a relatively forgotten part of the city's Downtown populated mostly by industry, the South End is now being transformed into a "pedestrian friendly neighborhood" with multiple products at multiple price points.

One new project, called the Art House Apartments at South End, will add 302 rental units to the Downtown market. The $30 million project, located at Florida and East Carolina, will have a series of courtyards inside the development that will feature works from local artists and have a five-level parking facility. The complex will be equipped with wireless Internet access, a swimming pool and live-work spaces for residents.

"This will be a space for the younger people who respect and like the art community and it will ripple through the whole neighborhood," Lynch says.

An Atlanta-based company is under contract to build the complex. The units are expected to rent for $700-$800 a month.

The conversion of the Hoover Building on Georgia, home to Dabney Hoover Supply Co., Inc., will add 42 new condos to Downtown in 2007.

Over the next few months, construction on City Commons Too at South End, a development featuring 11 townhouses starting at around $350,000, should start. City Commons Too is right next to City Commons, the development by Chamberlain, McCreery and Rice that will add 44 condos to Downtown.

Other area projects long in the works are starting to come to fruition and many have pedestrian friendly elements.

Construction on Carolina Lofts at South End, a $12 million Faxon & Gillis development featuring 12 townhomes and 60 condos, has begun.

The Rooftops at South End, a $5.5 million Southland Capital Partners project featuring 12 townhomes, is nearing completion. Six of the units feature additional living spaces called "granny flats" that come equipped with full kitchens and baths. The units with the granny flats will sell for $471,000 and city codes allow the extra space to be rented out. The remaining six units without the flats will sell for $371,000. All 12 units have rooftop decks that offer stunning views of the Memphis skyline, from FedExForum to the Hernando DeSoto bridge.

"We've found that the younger people like the energy of the skyline," Lynch says.

At Georgia and Riverside Drive, Jason Crews is adding two floors to the old Memphis Imports Building. The $16 million project will have 66 condos, covered parking, a workout area and a common gathering place. Tom Davis at Henry Turley Realtors is selling the units, which range from $166,500-$430,000.

Davis is also handling the sales for City House Cosmopolitan Lofts, which is still under construction and includes almost 5,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. To date, 28 of the 36 condos in the $12 million project have been pre-sold. Architectural CustomWorks is the developer.

"We wanted to open the ground floor of the building out to the street and thought retail was the best way to do that," says Berry Jones, principal of Architectural CustomWorks. "A relationship to the street and maintaining a good connection to the street keeps the project exciting."

Most of the projects on Southland's property have been in the works for years, but it took time for company officials to find developers committed to their ideas of new urbanism and to clear government hurdles.

Southland Development Partners, a division of The Southland Cos., spent about $4 million buying 15 acres of property and improving some infrastructure in the area. The company asked Looney Ricks Kiss to develop a conceptual master plan for a 30-acre area in the South End. Southland Development Partners has implemented architectural and design guidelines for developers to follow.

Jeff Sanford, president of the Center City Commission, says that while many thought the area was ripe for residential development, few had the courage to pour money into land assemblage.

"I have to give Terry and Karl a lot of credit," Sanford says. "Not only did they step up and purchase property, but they very wisely invested in a sophisticated plan to create a new, attractive, high-density urban neighborhood."

Southland Development serves as the master developers for the site and all the projects are required to follow its "new urbanism" guidelines: Maximum density and pedestrian friendly spaces.

"We're not just selling land down there," Lynch says. "We're selling a concept they're buying into."

While the new urbanism phrase may be a recent addition to developers' lexicons, the principles behind it aren't that new at all.

"New urbanism is a catch-phrase everybody is latching onto, but it really is good, common sense planning," says Tony Bologna, president of Bologna Consultants, an architectural and consulting firm. "The whole idea is a smart way to live.

"It's progress in the best sense of the word," says Bologna, who practices the new urbanism ideals he preaches. His office on Mud Island is in walking distance from his home, a grocery store, barber shop and dry cleaners.

Lynch and his partners don't want suburban-style developments popping up in their end of Downtown, and they seek out developers with expertise in urban development.

"In Downtown, most of your local developers and builders who have come Downtown have not been exposed to new urbanism principles," Lynch says. "A lot of times they are still building a suburban style interior product. On most of the major projects within our master plan, I've gone out of town to get people with an urban strategy."

That's why Southland Development brought in Atlanta-based Beazer Homes to build State Place at South End, a $49 million townhouse and condo development. Construction on the project, which will eventually have 108 townhomes and 96 condo units in a 5-acre gated community, should begin this week.

The guidelines set up by Southland Development will contribute to high residential density. There will be about 40 units per acre in the area, compared to about 14 units per acre in Harbor Town.

To bring the South End neighborhood and its residents closer to the river, Lynch will spend $200,000 to connect Channel 3 Drive to Kansas Street. Currently, residents of the area who want to visit Martyrs Park must brave traffic on Riverside Drive to get there.