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The revised plans call for demolition of the existing buildings and replacing them with new ones along Madison and Cooper, with Associated Wholesale Grocers placing a new 53,000 square foot grocery store on the northwestern corner of the property (will also include some underground parking).
Patrons in the area (including Memphis Heritage) wanted the existing buildings to be preserved; however, developers have refused, citing several factors.
More on this is discussed in the Memphis Commercial Appeal:
http://www.commercia...revamp-tweaked/
Quote
Overton Square's revamp tweaked by developers
By Tom Bailey Jr.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Responding to earlier complaints their plans for Midtown's Overton Square were too suburban, developers this week unveiled a more urbanized concept.
The developer will formally submit the plans to the Office of Planning and Development on Dec. 3.
"Now I've given everyone what they've asked for," Leland Clark, a partner in Sooner Investment, told The Commercial Appeal Thursday in an interview at Midtown's Starbucks. "I've created a streetscape, I've created an urban environment."
Response was positive from three types of stakeholders who have seen Clark's latest changes this week.
"What they've done is an improvement and I think it's a work in progress," said Jackie Nichols, executive producer of the adjacent Playhouse on the Square.
Jason Hood, president of the adjacent East End Neighborhood Association, said the developers "certainly want to preserve the character of the neighborhood, and want to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, even more so than what exists there today."
Sam Cantor, a broker of businesses whose office on Madison is a stone's throw from the site and a resident of the nearby Evergreen Historic District, said, "I'm telling you, it knocked my socks off."
At issue is the 5-acre block of Overton Square, bounded by Madison, Cooper, Monroe and Florence. The district of retail, restaurants and theaters is considered by some to be the heart and soul of Midtown.
The site now consists mostly of old, vacant retail buildings lining Madison, with a vast parking lot behind.
Clark proposes to raze the existing buildings and build five new ones:
A 53,108-square-foot grocery with a 107-space parking garage underneath at Monroe and Florence
A 14,000-square-foot building for shops at Madison and Florence
Two retail buildings of 5,385 and 3,890 square feet near the corner of Madison and Cooper
3,500 square feet of shop space at Cooper and Monroe
Opposition to the redevelopment plan has centered on several aspects, including the large parking lot between the front of the grocery and Cooper. That's a typical suburban configuration, unfriendly to pedestrians, the eye and any sense of place or community, critics argue.
As a compromise, Sooner Investment now has two retail buildings, instead of just one, up to the sidewalk along Cooper, leaving a gap in the middle so passersby on Cooper can still see the front of the grocery.
The developer also uses pedestrian paths, landscaping and green islands to break up the L-shaped parking lot into three sections of 56, 36 and 100 spaces.
The plan also calls for 17 angled parking spaces on Madison and eight parallel spaces on Cooper. On-street parking is often desirable among urban planners because it slows traffic, which is better for pedestrians.
The 14,000-square-foot building on Madison would be set back 25 feet farther from the street than the existing building that houses Memphis Pizza Cafe.
The extra space not only makes the angled parking possible, but allows for wider sidewalks and more landscaping, Clark said.
And the corner of Madison and Cooper will feature a parklike area between two buildings.
Critics also said Overton Square's character would be sacrificed by the demolition of richly detailed buildings that date to the 1930s.
Sooner Investment is not backing down on this issue. For them, the old buildings must go.
Getting them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act is a problem, their "hodgepodge" configurations make them hard to lease and their wood frames make them more of a fire and safety issue, Clark said.
And opponents have also worried about the quality of the grocery being planned.
The project's idea came from Associated Wholesale Grocery, which approached Sooner Investment saying it wanted to build on the site a "high-end, perishable-food-oriented supermarket," Clark said.
"They said it was probably one of the most under-served areas in all of Memphis for this type of operation."
Associated Wholesale Grocers operates a line of groceries, from discount to higher-end. But since it also supplies independent groceries, the store's name could possibly be Overton Square Grocery, he said.
By Tom Bailey Jr.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Responding to earlier complaints their plans for Midtown's Overton Square were too suburban, developers this week unveiled a more urbanized concept.
The developer will formally submit the plans to the Office of Planning and Development on Dec. 3.
"Now I've given everyone what they've asked for," Leland Clark, a partner in Sooner Investment, told The Commercial Appeal Thursday in an interview at Midtown's Starbucks. "I've created a streetscape, I've created an urban environment."
Response was positive from three types of stakeholders who have seen Clark's latest changes this week.
"What they've done is an improvement and I think it's a work in progress," said Jackie Nichols, executive producer of the adjacent Playhouse on the Square.
Jason Hood, president of the adjacent East End Neighborhood Association, said the developers "certainly want to preserve the character of the neighborhood, and want to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, even more so than what exists there today."
Sam Cantor, a broker of businesses whose office on Madison is a stone's throw from the site and a resident of the nearby Evergreen Historic District, said, "I'm telling you, it knocked my socks off."
At issue is the 5-acre block of Overton Square, bounded by Madison, Cooper, Monroe and Florence. The district of retail, restaurants and theaters is considered by some to be the heart and soul of Midtown.
The site now consists mostly of old, vacant retail buildings lining Madison, with a vast parking lot behind.
Clark proposes to raze the existing buildings and build five new ones:
A 53,108-square-foot grocery with a 107-space parking garage underneath at Monroe and Florence
A 14,000-square-foot building for shops at Madison and Florence
Two retail buildings of 5,385 and 3,890 square feet near the corner of Madison and Cooper
3,500 square feet of shop space at Cooper and Monroe
Opposition to the redevelopment plan has centered on several aspects, including the large parking lot between the front of the grocery and Cooper. That's a typical suburban configuration, unfriendly to pedestrians, the eye and any sense of place or community, critics argue.
As a compromise, Sooner Investment now has two retail buildings, instead of just one, up to the sidewalk along Cooper, leaving a gap in the middle so passersby on Cooper can still see the front of the grocery.
The developer also uses pedestrian paths, landscaping and green islands to break up the L-shaped parking lot into three sections of 56, 36 and 100 spaces.
The plan also calls for 17 angled parking spaces on Madison and eight parallel spaces on Cooper. On-street parking is often desirable among urban planners because it slows traffic, which is better for pedestrians.
The 14,000-square-foot building on Madison would be set back 25 feet farther from the street than the existing building that houses Memphis Pizza Cafe.
The extra space not only makes the angled parking possible, but allows for wider sidewalks and more landscaping, Clark said.
And the corner of Madison and Cooper will feature a parklike area between two buildings.
Critics also said Overton Square's character would be sacrificed by the demolition of richly detailed buildings that date to the 1930s.
Sooner Investment is not backing down on this issue. For them, the old buildings must go.
Getting them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act is a problem, their "hodgepodge" configurations make them hard to lease and their wood frames make them more of a fire and safety issue, Clark said.
And opponents have also worried about the quality of the grocery being planned.
The project's idea came from Associated Wholesale Grocery, which approached Sooner Investment saying it wanted to build on the site a "high-end, perishable-food-oriented supermarket," Clark said.
"They said it was probably one of the most under-served areas in all of Memphis for this type of operation."
Associated Wholesale Grocers operates a line of groceries, from discount to higher-end. But since it also supplies independent groceries, the store's name could possibly be Overton Square Grocery, he said.
