5 things to know about $1.1 billion Pinch District project near St. Jude
MAX GARLAND | THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL
A $1.1 billion development in Downtown Memphis is slated to bring apartments, retail spaces and more to the Pinch District near St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Here’s what to know about 18 Main’s massive Pinch District redevelopment project, which New York developer Tom Intrator announced Wednesday.
Blend of apartment, hotel and retail
The Pinch District development plans to have “high-end multifamily units, two hotels, full-service retail offerings with street-level access, and office buildings," according to a news release about the project.
As proposed, the project’s first phase will include nearly 1 million square feet of apartments (around 942 units), 222,000 square feet for office space and about 170,000 square feet for retail. Plans also call for 406 hotel rooms, according to a Shelby County Commission presentation.
The second phase will add more square footage to the apartment, office and retail offerings, including approximately 586 more residential units, according to the presentation.
Additionally, the project will include “modern greenspaces and open plazas,” per the release.
Developer: St. Jude will benefit
The project sits near St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Intrator said in a statement St. Jude families and staff will be among those the development “will welcome and bring together,” and Downtown Memphis Commission President Jennifer Oswalt also pointed out the St. Jude connection.
“We think the planned neighborhood will be a great amenity for residents in Harbor Town and Uptown, as well as St. Jude employees,” she said in a statement.
A St. Jude representative directed a request for comment to ALSAC, St. Jude’s fundraising and awareness organization. ALSAC did not respond to the request for comment.
ALSAC asked for proposals earlier this year on helping it create a mixed-use development on St. Jude-owned parcels near its campus. These parcels border property owned by 18 Main, according to the presentation.
Officials in 2016 approved a Pinch District study that called for a development to “reinforce connections to existing Downtown Memphis assets” like St. Jude and Uptown and “encourage walkable pedestrian-oriented spaces and streets,” the presentation said.
Part of heavy 18 Main investment
The announcement is the latest in a stretch of Memphis activity for Tom Intrator, founder and managing partner of real estate investment firm 18 Main.
On Tuesday, Intrator received approval for more than $24 million in tax breaks for more than $100 million in South Main neighborhood projects. His firm has spent around $14 million on Pinch District properties, according to the release.
“The Pinch Concept Plan is the reason we looked at the Pinch District,” said Intrator in a statement, referring to the master plan prepared by local firm LRK. “That plan has informed our process, and without it, we wouldn’t be here.”
Transportation, walkability a priority
The LRK plan called for a development that would “allow and encourage walkable pedestrian oriented spaces and streets.”
The project’s development team and its public partners are making “critical considerations” for connectivity to MATA bus and trolley lines, in addition to parking, sidewalks, lighting and infrastructure, the release said.
“Generating walkability requires attractions and amenities that are worth walking to,” Intrator said. “This is about density and connectivity. We are building up and not out. We aim to create a new energy that will build upon itself.”
Will the project be approved?
Intrator made a presentation about the project before the Shelby County Commission's Economic Development & Tourism committee.
In upcoming meetings, the Memphis City Council (Nov. 19), the DMC Center City Revenue Finance Corp. (Nov. 19 or Dec. 2) and the Shelby County Commission (Dec. 4) will get details about the project.
The developer will need approval from these entities, along with the state, to receive a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) incentive to help fund project infrastructure, Oswalt said Wednesday.