By Michael Waddell, Special to The Daily Memphian Updated: November 05, 2023 4:00 AM CT | Published: November 05, 2023 4:00 AM CT

Germantown Panel Gives Thumbs Up on Final Component of TraVure By Abigail Warren, Daily Memphian Published: July 01, 2025 8:06 PM CT

Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal A look inside the Best Wash Laundromats location at 3558 South Mendenhall Road in Memphis on May 30, 2025. St. Louis-based Best Wash Laundromats has expanded into Memphis and aims to have six laundromats operating in the city in 2025.

Dread going to the laundromat? Best Wash is working to change that in Memphis and beyond St. Louis-based Best Wash Laundromats has expanded to Memphis with four locations already open and more on the way. https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/2025/06/09/laundromats-in-memphis-tn-best-wash/83820163007/

Tommy's Burgers brings California-style burgers to Park Avenue in East Memphis By Susan Ellis – Projects Editor, Memphis Business Journal Mar 22, 2023

Union Depot, the large-scale mixed-use development in Bartlett, is now underway. The long-planned $162 million project is being built by Blue Sky Communities, which is led by developer Keith Grant of Grant & Co. Union Depot was designed by Shapiro & Co. Architects PC. The development is set to bring 70 townhomes, 337 apartments, and 85,000 square feet of commercial space to a 74-acre property right off of U.S. Highway 70, at the site of the former Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home. Ground was broken in January, and Union Depot is now entering the vertical construction phases. The developers look to have the project come online in spring 2025. Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer III with Gill Properties are handling the commercial sales and leasing for Union Depot. “It's something Bartlett hasn’t seen in a long time,” Shapiro & Co. president and CEO Brad Shapiro told MBJ. “They haven't seen the scale of this, the mixed-use area with a whole, traditional neighborhood. It's a really nice blend of single-family homes, mixed-use buildings, some loft apartments, and commercial areas.” Shapiro said that the project came together with much more support than large mixed-use projects normally do in suburbs nationally. “It's something that was really favorably received by the mayor and the aldermen of Bartlett because they also recognize that this is something new and upscale, that the citizens would really appreciate and want [it],” Shapiro said. “In a lot of cases, developers face an uphill battle in cities with governments not being very development-friendly. Here, they were very favorable to this because they saw the design integrity and what the developers wanted to bring to the table.” Union Depot brings a different look to Bartlett, with Shapiro noting that the project leans more toward urban design styles, including its color, than what suburbs typically see. Renderings, provided by Shapiro, show greens, blues, and reds mixing with the grays, whites, and browns of many traditionally styled buildings. The project also had a unique design-related challenge: Shapiro & Co. was in the process of construction on its new headquarters in the Edge District. Shapiro said that the company had to work in a temporary office located under what is now their operational headquarters at 435 Madison Ave. Shapiro said that coordination with Union Depot's contractor, Grant & Co., keeping a focus on work and collaboration, and remembering that less challenging days were ahead kept the team locked in. “We'd be sitting there and little bits and pieces of concrete would come down on our desktops,” Shapiro said. “We're like, ‘What's going on here?’ It was challenging for sure. It was one of those things where we really had an eye on the prize at the end of the day, and the prize was this beautiful [headquarters] office space.”

Memphis-Area Commercial Real Estate Firms Ranked by Total agents Locally Researched by: Cole Schnell, Memphis Business Journal May 31, 2024, 9:50am CDT Revised: Jun 03, 2024, 11:10am CDT

The Whimsy Cookie Co. retail store at 4704 Poplar Ave. is being demolished, which opens up a prime spot of real estate in East Memphis. The site is already spoken for. It is set to become parking for Soul Fish Cafe at 4720 Poplar Ave. Brown Gill of Gill Properties, Inc. represents Soul Fish. He said he had no official role in the deal. He served to connect the parties, which included Nina Tayloe, who had the ground leases. Tiger Bryant owns Soul Fish Cafe, along with Raymond Williams. Bryant said that Soul Fish's Poplar location is second only to Germantown, as far as customer traffic. The other locations are in Cooper Young and Cordova. "We were looking for a long-term solution to make sure we secure parking for Poplar because we just renewed our lease there," he said. Bryant said they will use the existing parking behind Soul Fish for employees, with customer parking on the site of the former Whimsy building. "We will reorient the entrances," he said. "We'll still have the front entrance but have walkways and handicap access." Bryant estimated the deal will bring parking up to 50-plus spaces. Soul Fish currently has 20 parking spots at its Poplar location. The new lot will feature plantings and lighting. Bryant said he is planning to do something similar at the Cooper Young location at 862 Cooper St., with a neighboring building being taken down for parking. He's talked with the Cooper Young Garden Society about adding green space. "I'm not trying to concrete the city," he said. "I'm just trying to make it easier for our patrons." Bryant said he had hoped to have the Poplar Avenue lot ready by Lent — Soul Fish sells a lot of fish — but the demo staging was being done Feb. 9. The Cooper Young demo should start this week. Bryant noted that at the Cooper Young location, patrons aren't averse to walking a few blocks. But, at the Poplar store, there's not really such a scenario for a mom, with kids and a stroller in tow. "It's going to really help traffic flow. The patrons are the ones who are gonna really benefit from it all," Bryant said. "As you can imagine, I hate spending a bunch of money for parking, but it's a necessary evil."

Ranked # 12 Gill Properties Inc. gillprop.com 6815 Poplar Ave. #110 Germantown, TN 38138 901-758-1100 Commercial S.F. developed since company founded: 2,000,000 Commercial S.F. completed in 2023: 27,000 Local projects completed in 2023: White Oak on White Station Type of development: Retail, office, self storage Founded: 1983 Ray Gill, President

Collierville building fully leased, up for sale The 7,800-square-foot building at 547 West Poplar Ave. is now fully leased and on the market. Lula Harriss, owner of the local 40-year-old dress company, Lula’s Fashion, leased 4,153 square feet. Her son, Steven Harriss, rented the remaining square footage for his photography studio. The landlord, Apple Enterprises, bought the property in 2023 for $1.3 million. Apple Enterprises renovated the property, now valued at $2.5 million. Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer III with Gill Properties facilitated the leases, the purchase of the building and now the sale.

Fair Break Federal Credit Union moves on Covington Pike Fair Break Federal Credit Union leased a 1,631-square-foot space at 3074 Covington Pike for seven years and four months. The low-income-designated credit union was represented by Gill Properties Barry Maynard and Frank Dyer III as well as the landlord.

By Michael Waddell, Special to The Daily Memphian Published: March 21, 2025 4:00 AM CT Construction has begun on a Chipotle at the northeast corner of the Stage and Kirby Whitten roads intersection. (Michael Waddell/Special to The Daily Memphian) Site work is underway on new infill construction at one of Bartlett’s busiest intersections. Crews with Grinder Taber Grinder began digging up the parking lot this week for a new freestanding Chipotle restaurant on the northeast corner of the Stage and Kirby Whitten roads intersection. The new 2,330-square-foot building, located in Gill Properties’ Stage Centre commercial development, will fill in a section of a large parking lot between the center’s CVS and Dollar General stores. “Permits are in hand for Chipotle’s construction,” Patty Bullock, Gill Properties senior vice president, said. “(We are) responsible for the site work and building shell, which should take six months to complete.” Chipotle will be responsible for the interior construction. Bullock anticipates an opening by the end of the year. Gill Properties President Ray Gill estimates the cost of construction at approximately $2.5 million. The center picked up two new tenants last year, with Tommy’s Burger California Style moving into a freestanding building previously occupied by Back Yard Burgers and an O’Reilly Auto Parts superstore opening in part of former grocery store space that sat vacant for almost 18 years. A 22,000-square-foot space adjacent to O’Reilly’s space remains available. “We’re speaking with several interested prospects,” Bullock said. “Bartlett is growing, and we would like to make sure we lease to a tenant that aligns with the market’s long-term viability.” Gill told The Daily Memphian last fall that he wants to build another 10,000-square-foot building behind the Tommy’s Burger California Style building. Activity near that intersection has increased throughout the past year, with traffic counts hitting 26,854 vehicles per day on Stage and Kirby Whitten roads registering 19,430, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. “In ‘24 it was much higher than in ‘23, but there was a decline before that,” Bartlett Traffic Engineer Becky Bailey said. She expects the $220 million Union Depot mixed-use project at Stage and U.S. 70 to increase those traffic numbers even more in the coming years. Commercial space at a premium in Bartlett’s big retail centers Stage Road Place is home to Stage Road Barber Shop, Bluff City Escape Rooms, Holliday Flowers, Pho 64, Intensity Martial Arts and more. (Michael Waddell/Special to The Daily Memphian) Across the intersection from Stage Centre and across Stage Road from Union Depot, one of Bartlett’s oldest strip centers, Stage Road Place, is rumored to be considering extensive facade improvements. The building owners are hoping to modernize their center before nearly 2,000 new residents are expected to move in at Union Depot across the street throughout the next few years. Bartlett Alderman Kevin Quinn says he has heard the strip center owners would like to renovate, and he said he hopes they are able to get it done since it’s such a prominent building. “It’s definitely extremely outdated in the style and has continued to have several vacancies, so maybe that will help keep (tenants),” he said. “Even the best quality business will have problems attracting new clients if the building’s in bad shape or very outdated.” The center at 6761 Stage Road opened in the early 1970s and had an Ace Hardware as a main anchor. Today, it is home to the Stage Road Barber Shop, Bluff City Escape Rooms, Holliday Flowers, Pho 64, Intensity Martial Arts and more.