Despite virus, projects continue in Germantown
Greenway expected to be done by end of year
While the pace of life and work has slowed considerably for many people in the last five months, some things have continued on as per usual. In Germantown, capital improvement projects continue to move forward, the dual-branded hotel at Travure is nearing completion, and a design for a new elevated water tower is being drawn up by a Memphis architectural firm.
Here’s a look at the status of some of the projects and developments underway or in the pipeline in Germantown.
Greenway Trail extension
Work on two separate expansions of the Greenway Trail is underway and is expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year, said Germantown Parks and Recreation Director Pam Beasley.
The first section will begin at Neshoba Park and run east behind the Stern Medical Complex on Wolf River Boulevard, connecting to the new trailhead and restroom area at the intersection of Wolf River and Kimbrough Road.
The section of work will extend an existing portion of the trail beyond where it stops at the underpass at Cameron Brown Park.
“That trail is being extended to the east and follows the river’s edge all the way to the Farmington and Wolf River Boulevard intersection,” Beasley said.
A new parking lot and trailhead are also being built near that intersection for access to the Greenway. Beasley said all the necessary land clearing for the project has been completed, two of the three bridges needed to extend the trail have been installed and work has started on laying the sub-base for the new trail sections.
A section of the Greenway will be closed for the duration of the project, Beasley said. Those traveling west on the trail will have to take a detour starting after Cameron Brown Park and use the sidewalks along Wolf River and Germantown Road to avoid the work area around Neshoba Park.
Viridian apartments
The Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an outline plan in October 2017 for the Viridian planned development in the Forest Hill Heights area, but there have been almost no indications of public progress since that time.
Les Brinkley, vice president of project developer Boyle Investment Co., said in February that the company was working on amending its site plan for the project based on comments it had received from city staff.
Assistant City Administrator Jason Huisman said Aug. 12 those discussions and changes were ongoing.
“They’ve been trying to conform with some of the feedback they’ve been given to meet the design requirements (and) layouts,” he said. “They’re being put through the process.”
Huisman said he did not know of a timeline for the project at this point or when it would come before one of the city’s commissions.
City Administrator Patrick Lawton said the project was not slated to come before the board of mayor and aldermen any time soon.
Thornwood
Work continues on the Thornwood mixed-use development. The board of mayor and aldermen approved amendments to an outline plan for the project in March, allowing for a second hotel within the development and a decrease in the number of apartments that will be part of the finished project.
Plans for the five-story, 114-room Marriott-towneplace Suites hotel were approved by the planning commission in March. The hotel will include firstfloor retail and commercial space. Set on 1.2 acres at the corner of Neshoba Road and Owens Manor Avenue, the new hotel will include a rooftop event space as well as surface-level and underground parking.
On Aug. 12, crews were at the hotel site doing the preliminary groundwork.
Lawton said a new traffic study was recently completed due to the outline plan changes. There will no longer be a traffic signal put in at the intersection of Neshoba and Exeter roads, but stop signs will also be put up along Neshoba before the project is complete, turning the intersection into a four-way stop.
“I think the people who live in the villages and in nearby neighborhoods will appreciate us putting in that four-way stop sooner rather than later,” he said.
Travure and Carrefour
These two smart growth projects on the city’s western edge remain in the works. The office building in the Travure development has long been completed with all but one floor occupied as of July, but another key component of the development is now nearing completion.
The dual-branded Home2 Suites and Hilton Garden Inn hotel is fully built, with some interior work and landscaping still to do. The project developer has approval to begin moving forward with the next phase of the development, which includes retail space, Lawton said.
The board of mayor and aldermen approved a revised outline plan for the Carrefour project in December, which includes up to 320 apartment units, 20,000 square feet of public green space, 320,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space, a 174-room hotel and 1,400 parking spots.
The project has not come back to any city boards or commissions since then to get the approvals necessary to move into the next phase of development.
Capital projects
Multiple capital improvement projects are underway in Germantown, including the Greenway extension, a study looking at replacing Fire Station 3, several traffic signal installations and upgrades and work on drainage repairs.
According to an online project tracker run by the city, there are 24 ongoing projects. However, a few of the projects on the list have been postponed to future fiscal years and others remain on the list even though they are largely complete, like The Grove and the new signage at Germantown Athletic Club.
Few new capital improvement projects will be started in the coming months, as the city had to make severe budget cuts for the 2020-21 fiscal year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawton said the projects started in the next year would be those that are majority or completely funded by state or federal dollars.
“There will be work going on this year, but only tied to road paving and intersections,” he said.
The Grove
While there is a little more work to be done, Germantown Performing Arts Center’s outdoor venue, The Grove, is largely complete and is open and welcoming guests, Lawton said.
“It’s not normal. It’s film, types of music, very limited people in 12-foot spaces, all masked up,” he said. “It’s nice, but it’s not what it is going to ultimately be when the virus passes.”
In addition to those outdoor arts performances — which GPAC worked on with the Shelby County Health Department to implement safety protocols — there are also socially distanced outdoor yoga classes being offered in the space.
Water tower
The land swap exchanging four parcels between the city, Germantown Municipal School District and developer John Duke has been completed, paving the way for the construction of an elevated water tower on Germantown’s eastern edge.
The board of mayor and aldermen approved a $233,800 contract with A2H Inc. in May for the design of the tower, but the tower is still a long way from being built, Huisman said. Once the design phase of the project is completed, the water tower will have to be mostly constructed off-site before being transported to the site and assembled. It is unlikely the tower would be fully constructed before the end of next year.
When finished, the tower will sit along Old Poplar Pike, east of Forest Hill Irene Road and farther away from Forest Hill Elementary than originally suggested.