By Abigail Warren, Daily Memphian Published: May 12, 2025 4:00 AM CT The former Carrefour site might have a promising future, but current vacancies make what lies ahead an open question. The center on the southwest corner of Poplar Avenue and Kirby Parkway was once a mall before transforming into an open-air shopping structure. Its latest transformation is to a shell, empty and waiting for activity that will transform it. arrefour, now called The Standard Germantown, is one of several projects underway in the suburb. Some developers are facing delays due to different complexities in their projects, whether it’s the topography or their desires for mixed-use. Carrefour is one of those that seemed to stall. Activity halted after crews finished the new multistory building along Poplar Avenue on the north side of the property. Last week, workers inside had the bifold doors open as they began outfitting the space for a new Andrew Michael restaurant, Josephine Estelle. Chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman said they hope to open in late summer or early fall. But since previous tenants left the main structure in the center of the property, work has become dormant as developers wait for demolition. That work could begin in the next 60 days, said Adam Slovis who with Billy Orgel is part of the team operating under the name “CRE Devco Germantown.” Developers of the 10 acres are asking for tax-increment financing, which has never been used in the suburb, and city leaders have yet to approve the funding vehicle. TIFs in Germantown are specific to spur development with projects needing public infrastructure. TIFs allow some of the property taxes to go back to the developer as the property values increase. The city still gets the bulk of the increased tax revenue, but the developers can use some of it to continue building. They must front the money at first. There is a challenge to making sure demolition can happen safely because of Carrefour’s variations. It was a mall with a whole different quadrant that was removed to create the open-air concept. The strip that had Swanky’s, Petra Cafe and other retailers parallel to Poplar Avenue on the northwest portion of the property was added later. It’s one story compared to the former mall’s two-story concept. Alongside teams from the city, Slovis has looked at old building plans and more recent ones to determine what’s there. Demolition, a significant hurdle, could begin in 60 days. (Courtesy Slovis Commercial) A big reason for the demolition delay is understanding what’s there to avoid hazards when crews clear the structures. Designs are ready for 320 loft units on Kirby Parkway with 27,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor. “That allows us to go after pretty much anything,” Slovis said about potential retail tenants. “... It’s anything to start building what we believe will be an upgraded upper-level neighborhood mixed-use project to complement the people living there and the city of Germantown and the neighbors.” When Ray Gill dreamed of a new mixed-use project on the former Kirby Farm property less than a mile east of Carrefour, that style of new development hadn’t truly been explored. He said he knew he wanted office and hospitality on the 10 acres now known as TraVure. Mid-America Apartments occupies about 90,000 square feet of the 150,000-square-foot office building, and a payment-in-lieu of taxes incentive was given to the company, not the developers. Several financial companies and Gill Properties lease the remaining space. “I have to pinch myself how nice this building is,” Gill said. “I built it, but I never really appreciated it until I moved in.” Gill sold the back 4 acres to a hotel group in 2012. It’s a dual-branded hotel, Home2 Suites and Hilton Garden Inn. He’s working on a third attempt to round out TraVure as the northwestern 2 acres remain vacant. Plans submitted to Germantown will be reviewed in July, city officials said. Previous plans for the final phase included a two-story structure of offices. In 2022, he pivoted. Germantown approved a three-story building with retail on the ground floor and offices above. He said he thinks the new iteration is the proper solution. Youth Villages, family of Alegend Jones release statement Gill Properties developed White Oak on White Station Road in East Memphis. The retail center north of Poplar includes Rotolo’s Craft & Crust, Nothing Bundt Cakes and a women’s health clinic. “We said, ‘You know, we ought to replicate the White Station success for retail here,’” Gill said. So in the proposed 35,000-square-foot building, he said he wants retail on the ground floor with offices above it, just two stories. “We’ve been trying for six years to do more office. ... I think the Memphis market is not as resilient and doesn’t have the dynamic growth in corporate office, which we hoped we would sell to one single user,” Gill said. “This better suits the market.” He said he hoped to have the future building done two years ago but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed him while he waited for office demand to return. “If I could have anticipated COVID, I wouldn’t have built this building because of the decline of office,” he said sitting inside his TraVure conference room. “It reached a trough, and now it’s coming back.” With TraVure and The Standard, Gill said he expects increased activity near Poplar Avenue and Kirby Parkway. Poplar Avenue forms the border between Germantown and Memphis. A shopping district with various businesses is on the northwest corner while The Forum office complex covers the northeast. “It’s always been a pivotal intersection,” he said. “The density that Carrefour is going to provide will be interesting to see what happens here. I think we need more housing diversity in Germantown.” Further east in the city’s Central Business District, Thornwood has six phases complete, and the next phase is undergoing the suburb’s review process. Spence Ray said “The Registry” will consist of 61 luxury multifamily units and he hopes construction begins this summer. Political Roundup: Why Republicans want partisan school board primaries “We may end up doing a portion of those, maybe a substantial portion of those as condos that people can buy,” he said. He said he would like half of the units to be condos. There will be retail on the first floor similar to Market Row northeast of Neshoba and Germantown roads and the shops below TownePlace Suites. “I can’t envision us doing anything else in Thornwood without that (mix of uses in a building),” he said. The Registry will include a rooftop pool. Memphis May art exhibitions feature AAPI, youth artists He said he hopes to complete Thornwood in the next five to six years. “At some point, you will be able to turn off Poplar and Exeter and as you drive north all the way to Thornwood you are going to see an urban landscape design of Exeter with wide sidewalks, pedestrian-friendly bike lanes from Poplar to Neshoba,” he said. “That would be my dream, … that streetscape. That wow factor is very important.” He said he thinks the upcoming corner is one of the most strategic corners in the whole development. The final phase will have about 8,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor, but Ray said he is unsure what will be above it. It could be residences, condos or a new hotel. Added hospitality is contingent on the status of TownePlace Suites, but it’s done well since opening last summer. Ray started going through Germantown’s approval process in 2012 and thought he could do the project in six years, but it’s taken more than twice as long as he hoped. Part of that is due to Germantown’s lengthy approval process, he said. He’s also added challenging features, like underground parking. Ray estimates 85% of the parking is underground or interior. Ray is also responsible for Glasgow, the redevelopment of the Germantown Country Club into a residential subdivision. The roads are finished and bridges are installed. Water and sewer are in, but Memphis Light, Gas and Water is installing gas and electricity, a necessity before homes are constructed. “They have indicated to us we have one of their biggest and best crews,” he said. “Based on what they’ve told us, it’s one of the bigger subdivisions they’ve done in a long time.” MLGW must finish before the guardhouse, mail room and amenities are built. Then Ray can start selling lots. “We want consistency without cookie-cutter,” Ray said about the design of the homes. He said he hopes they are going up by the end of the summer. The unique infrastructure and amenities of the site have been part of the delay. They are unlike any development in Shelby County, Ray said. Pedestrian trails like those on the Wolf River Greenway, a linear park, a lodge, fountains, wrought-iron fencing and landscaping are planned. “There’s a lot of things about this that are very unique,” he said. “It’s a huge undertaking. Know this. There’s never been a day where we’ve said, ‘Let’s lay that aside and focus (on another project). “We focus on it every single day.”

Daily Memphian By Sophia Surrett, Daily Memphian Updated: January 22, 2025 4:00 AM CT | Published: January 22, 2025 4:00 AM CT https://dailymemphian.com/subscriber/section/businessreal-estate/article/49347/crosstown-memphis-midtown-olive-branch-business-commercial-real-estate

A Wave of Best Wash Laundromats coming to Memphis Best Wash Laundromats, a St. Louis-based 24/7 laundromat company, plans to open a dozen or more locations in the Memphis area. Best Wash has 17 sites open and 10 in the works across Missouri, Illinois and West Tennessee. Most recently, Best Wash opened in the 5,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by Regions Bank at 3558 S. Mendenhall Road. The company signed a 20-year lease with four five-year extension opportunities. The 10-year-old company hired Tom O’Hara, who focused on growing the laundromat business and expanding its presence. O’Hara said they are focused on similar metro areas like St. Louis and recreate what they built in the chosen city. “We have really been in an expansion and growth mode,” O’Hara said. “That’s what led us to Memphis.” O’Hara said by February, the company will have six Best Wash Laundromat locations. Frank Dyer III and Barry Maynard with Gill Properties represented both the landlord, GeStault Power Academy, and the tenant, the O'Hara family. Dyer and Maynard will facilitate leases for all Best Wash Laundromat locations. Two more locations are expected to open soon, including a 3,000-square-foot space at 2887 Covington Pike and a 5,452-square-foto space at 6819 Winchester Road. Over the next five years, Best Wash plans to open 25 to 30 locations. Dan Walker & Associates is the general contractor for the Memphis locations, with each site costing about $1.2 million to $2 million to build.

DAILY MEMPHIAN By Sophia Surrett, Updated: October 09, 2024 9:11 AM CT | Published: October 09, 2024 4:00 AM CT Inked: Medical building sold for more than $9 million Welcome to Inked, a column that notes some of the week’s commercial real estate transactions and updates in the greater Memphis area that may have gone unnoticed. Leased Medical Office Building Sold The fully leased 18,000-square-foot medical office building at 1717 Massey Road has been sold to Mill Valley, California-based Four Corners Property Trust for $9.45 million, about $540 per square foot. Four Corner Property Trust is an independent, publicly traded company that buys, acquires and leases retail and restaurant buildings nationwide. Baptist Medical Group renewed a 12-and-a-half-year lease for the building, which houses its pediatrics general physician work and a pharmacy. The seller was Wolf River LLC. Gill Properties brokers Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer III represented both sides of the lease and landlord as well as the purchase. Maynard said this is the highest price per square foot sold for a medical office building in Shelby County, according to Gill Properties and CoStar Group data. The closest is $490 per square foot in Atoka, Tennessee, at 11645 U.S. 51.

By Sophia Surrett, Daily Memphian Updated: September 27, 2024 7:02 AM CT | Published: September 27, 2024 4:00 AM CT Scooter’s Coffee opening five locations in Mid-South National coffee chain Scooter’s Coffee has five freestanding locations in the works within the Mid-South. Two Scooter’s Coffee locations have opened along U.S. 51, one at 712 U.S. 51 in Covington and one at 7971 U.S. 51 in Millington. Food Files: Waffle House may come to Forest Hill Irene, Gangsta Fried Chicken opens Downtown Two contracts have been closed: 2555 W. Goodman Road in Horn Lake and Church Road at the Shops of DeSoto Center. A contract could be signed for a location later this year at 1732 S. Highland Ave. in Jackson, Tennessee. Scooter’s Coffee, which has 321 locations nationwide, wants to open 18 more locations in the Mid-South within two years, with the next 12 under construction by the end of 2025. Gill Properties brokers Barry Maynard, Frank Dyer III and Emily Vanasek facilitate all Scooter’s new site deals.

By Sophia Surrett, Daily Memphian Updated: September 25, 2024 4:00 AM CT | Published: September 25, 2024 4:00 AM CT Wallace Plastic Surgery Group Wallace Plastic Surgery Group has expanded its space in Baptist Hospital at 6125 Humphreys Blvd. with a 10-year lease that has multiple five-year options. The Memphis-based surgery group was in a 4,353-square-foot space but is now expanding into an adjacent area with an additional 2,175 square feet. <strong>Wallace Plastic Surgery Group has moved to Baptist Hospital.</strong> (Courtesy&nbsp;Barry Maynard/Gill Properties) Wallace Plastic Surgery Group has moved to Baptist Hospital. (Courtesy Barry Maynard/Gill Properties) The additional suite will be an esthetic center for skin care and esthetic services and should be open in January. The practice’s owner, Dr. Robert Wallace, said he wanted to stay and expand at the Baptist Hospital because of its convenience to other practices. “I did a children’s cleft work this morning at the Baptist’s Children’s Hospital, which is attached,” Wallace said. “It was very convenient in a number of ways for me.” Dan Walker & Associates will handle renovations. “We’re very pleased with the direction we’re headed and the services we’re able to provide,” Wallace said. Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer III with Gill Properties represented Wallace Plastic Surgery Group. Patrick Reilly with CBRE represented the landlord, Healthcare Realty Services LLC.

Daily Memphian Scooter's Coffee plans for opening in Horn Lake

Daily Memphian The Early Word

Belly Acres coming to Bartlett Union Depot's first live/work building is under construction.