18 Main developer sees Gulch-like potential for South Main

JACOB STEIMER | MEMPHIS BUSINESS JOURNAL

A New York-based developer is planning to pump millions into making South Main Street a more dense and active corridor.

Tom Intrator recently purchased a third building on the street — 311 S. Main — and told the Memphis Business Journal he has “a number of other acquisitions” on South Main he’s planning to complete soon.

He wants South Main — with its incredibly unique architecture and charm — to become a “showcase” neighborhood for Memphis, the way The Gulch is a showcase for Nashville.

“When somebody from Los Angeles, New York, or San Diego [goes to Nashville], they … [see] The Gulch, maybe the West End — a very small area,” Intrator said. “[But], they say Nashville is a very cool city and they go back and tell all their friends … and some end up moving.”

Intrator’s other buildings on the street are 122 S. Main — the Royal Furniture building — and 18 S. Main. At the former, he’s planning to build a hotel on top of the current structure. At the latter, he’s planning a restaurant, bar, fitness studio, and office space.

He said 311 S. Main will be similar to 18 S. Main, with a café on the first floor and office space above. The building, which is located across from Pontotoc Lounge and was recently home to Signs First, immediately caught his attention when local broker Chris Garland brought it to him.

“It needs to be a … place people congregate all [parts] of the day,” he said. “Everybody who walks into [the building] gets [the vision].”

He expects both 18 and 311 S. Main to be renovated and occupied within 18 months; 122 S. Main should be welcoming hotel guests within three years.

To make these projects happen, Intrator is using his own money. He built his wealth primarily through buying and managing suburban apartment complexes in Kansas and Tennessee, which is why he first came to Memphis six years ago.

Though his former business model has been quite successful, he was pulled to his newest projects by recent development announcements in Downtown Memphis and the clear opportunity they presented.