More jobs may come to Wright

Seeks expansion at E. Memphis site

Wright Medical Group Inc. could add about 100 headquarters jobs in East Memphis.

The medical device maker, which relocated its head office to the city from the suburbs in January 2014, plans to expand following its merger last fall with Dutch rival Tornier NV, a consultant says.

Wright’s head office currently employs about 300 people. It is located in corporate offices built on Cherry Road near Park Avenue adjacent to Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

The potential headquarters expansion came to light when Wright’s landlord on Cherry filed an application with the Land Use Control Board to build more parking on its campus. The application says Wright intends to lease more

space in the office building and needs more parking.

“With Wright’s continued growth and the recent announcement of their merger with Netherlands-based Tornier, Wright would now like to expand into the remaining (20,000) square feet to accommodate an additional 100 employees,” says a letter to the Office of Planning and Development written by Memphis engineering consultant Pickering Firm.

Julie Tracy, senior vice president of investor relations for Wright, said the company had no comment.

Last fall, Wright announced plans to merge with Tornier in a $3.3 billion stock swap that hands Wright shareholders 52 percent of the new company.

Last fall, it was unclear whether combining the two medical device makers would mean growth for Wright at its factory in Arlington or new East Memphis headquarters.

Wright initially occupied 100,000 square feet of office space at the longvacant Oaksedge campus, which had housed the headquarters for Harrah’s Entertainment until the casino company was moved to Las Vegas in 2008. Wright and landlord RBM Cherry Road Partners spent $10 million modernizing the buildings.

The parking plan would reconfigure some of the existing surface parking and construct more on 1.3 acres.

The company and landlord also asks for another Cherry Road entrance that is dedicated to the Wright offices, which encompass two buildings.

The landlord, RBM Cherry Road Partners, is affiliated with Memphis venture capitalist R. Brad Martin, interim president of the University of Memphis in 2013 and early 2014.