Thornwood developers ready for next phase
Developers of Thornwood, a mixeduse project along South Germantown Road that embodies Germantown’s smart growth planning strategy, have applied for a building permit for the next phase.
The request, submitted Friday, carries a $13.1 million price tag. Developer Spence Ray says it represents the fifth of six phases.
Included in the new phase, according to Ray, will be 34,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the first floor and 25 high-end apartments on the second. Garage-level parking would accommodate about 190 vehicles.
The phase, if all goes well, should be completed by fall, Ray said Tuesday. “If people were in by October or November, we’d be really pleased,” he said.
Thornwood is on South Germantown Road at Neshoba. It, along with a handful of other developments such as TraVure on Poplar near Kirby Parkway, represent Germantown’s effort to promote multiuse, multistory development that mixes residential, commercial and retail. It is seen as the best use of the city’s limited developable land.
McNeill Commercial Real Estate bought the 16-acre Thornwood site in 2014 for $6.6 million. The completed project will include a four-story Hampton Inn & Suites, 278 luxury apartments, a 5,000-square-foot Bob Richards Jewelers and 25,000 square feet of other mixed-use development. A bell tower serves as the property’s focal point.
Ray said he hopes the entire project will be finished by the end of 2018.
Germantown leaders have pointed to Thornwood as an example of the kind of growth they envision. Alderman Forrest Owens, during approval of one of the project’s phases, called it “the realization of a dream.”
“When we started smart growth, this is the result we wanted to get,” Owens said at the time.
Ray said Thornwood is “absolutely” the result of Germantown’s planning vision. “I grew up in Memphis and have always loved this type of planning,” he said. “Downtown, Cooper-Young, Overton Square — the suburbs just never had a planning platform that allowed you to do that.
“It’s unbelievable they (Germantown) got it done,” Ray said. “Hopefully, when people see it completed, they say, ‘Hey, I like that.’ ”