Twenty cases submitted to Land Use Board
The July meeting of the Land Use Control Board has drawn an unusually large number of development applications.
Developers submitted 20 cases. Some are related, so the agenda could end up with fewer items. But for perspective, the board will review 11 agenda items during its June meeting on Thursday, and reviewed 13 in May, nine in April, seven in March, nine in February and six in January.
In July 2014, the board had seven agenda items.
“We are seeing a heightened level of interest in the core city, reflected not only by those requests that require Land Use Control Board action, but also by an increased number of phone calls, e-mails, walkin customers, etc., as compared to just one year ago,” Josh Whitehead, planning director for Memphis and Shelby County, said in an e-mailed response to questions about the cases.
“... I think what we are seeing in Memphis and Shelby County is a reflection of a nationwide trend of reinvestment in the urban areas of cities, many of which have been largely ignored by the marketplace for the past few decades,” Whitehead said.
The June board meeting is 10 a.m. Thursday at Memphis City Hall. Its agenda may be smaller but has some high-profile projects.
They include an application for One Beale, a $150 million project to build a 30-story apartment tower and 22-story luxury hotel on 3.2 acres overlooking the Mississippi River at 245 and 263 Wagner. The mixed-use development would also house office space, a restaurant, a convention center, a performance hall, a tavern, a spa and parking.
Another item on the June agenda is for a planned hotel to replace the long-vacant French Quarter Inn in Overton Square, on Madison at Cooper.
And the Keras Children FLP requests approval for a planned development for a Subaru dealership on Hacks Cross, just north of Bill Morris Parkway. Keras plans a 17,000-square-foot dealership building just south of Misty Meadows.
The July cases include: A site plan for a hotel on Lowrance, west of Hacks Cross; a proposed hotel on Front between Jackson and Overton; a proposed convenience store with gas sales in Uptown at A.W. Willis at Third and a requested rezoning of Crosstown properties along Cleveland and Watkins, from Larkin to North Parkway.