With part of the former Commercial Appeal building sold, what's next for the site?
Well, it finally happened. A portion of the former Commercial Appeal building has been sold.
California-based Global Storage Partners has purchased the warehouse portion of the building at 495 Union Ave. Global purchased part of the recently subdivided site for $3.7 million under the entity Global Memphis Beale LLC.
On Feb. 12, a zoning permit was filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development exploring the possibility of self-storage at the site. On Feb. 14, a final plat permit was filed outlining the same subdivision plans announced in September 2023. Both permits were filed by New York-based 495 Union Ave. LLC.
The 6.48-acre property is subdivided into two areas. One portion is the 4.12-acre warehouse lot, totaling 179,612 square feet. That area was acquired by Global Storage Partners on March 22, according to Melanie Myers Bland of Myers Commercial Real Estate who represented Global Storage in the transaction. Andrew Phillips and Ron Riley of Colliers represented the seller.
The other half of the building, the office portion and former newsroom area, is still up for sale. That 2.95-acre, 128,672-square-foot building is listed for $4.9 million on Colliers' website.
Aside from the subdivision, which allowed the split sale of the properties, no other plans have been announced regarding the former office building of the site. In October 2023, Shelby County officials expressed interest in the site, however, no further action has been taken.
The entity 495 Union Ave. LLC, is a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Twenty Lake Holdings Inc., which purchased the property (both warehouse and five-story office building along with the parking lot at 597 Beale St.) for $3.9 million in 2018, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds. Twenty Lake Holdings is the real estate arm for New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital.
The Commercial Appeal began operating out of the 495 Union Ave. property in 1932. The production facility was built in the 1970s and the office are was renovated in 1977. The Commercial Appeal moved out of the Union Avenue offices in 2019 and is now located at 120 S. Front St.
While it may be bittersweet to see the former printing press warehouse shift to storage, there's still hope for the former Commercial Appeal office building. Personally, I would love to see that site turned into a "newseum" for Memphis and Mid-South media, especially given the history of print operations there including press runs for the Memphis Press-Scimitar, which closed in 1983. The last print run on the Union Avenue site was in 2017.
Let me know what y'all think of the subdivision sale and future use of the former Commercial Appeal building. In the meantime, let's get on with some happier news and what else is happening in this week's Mane Street:
What's the latest on the Falls Building renovation?
On March 27, Victoria Parker of Nashville-based Earl Swensson Associates filed a commercial alteration permit with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development for the office-to-residential conversion at the historic Falls Building at 22 S. Front St.
According to the permit application, the work will convert the 10-story, 175,600-square-foot tower into multifamily use with amenity spaces on the basement and ground floor with apartments on the corresponding upper floors. The estimated cost of construction for the project is $40 million.
The construction permit comes a little over two weeks since New York-based developers Left Lane Development saw its 12-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) closing deadline extended. On March 12, the Center City Revenue Finance Finance Corp., an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), approved the extension, pushing the closing date back a year, until May 9, 2025.
The Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved the 12-year PILOT for the $80 million project in May 2022. Left Lane plans to convert the former office building to 170 residential units. Left Lane purchased the Falls Building for $10 million in May 2021, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds.
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How many units will Butler Row have? When will construction start?
On March 27, the Memphis and Shelby County Board of Adjustment approved a density variance that would increase the total number of residential units at the Butler Row mixed-use development site from 164 permitted units to 316. The site was previously approved for two density variances and the recent Board of Adjustment decision ultimately combines the variances into one. The board approved the variance in part of its consent agenda.
The Butler Row development is located at 509 S. B.B. King Blvd. in Downtown's historic South Main district. KPS Development Partners, previously known as KRN Development, is the developer for the site.
The previous iteration of plans for the $65 million project included 285 units, a 300-vehicle parking garage and 10,000 square feet of commercial space. According to the KPS Development Partners website, the mixed-use project will include 300 units and 12,000 square feet of commercial space (the 300-vehicle parking garage remains). The project is estimated to finish in 2025.
In 2022, KPS Development Partners, then operating as KRN Development, was awarded a 12-year PILOT via the Center City Revenue Finance Corp.
Scott Kern of KPS Development Partners said the development team is looking to finalize plans and construction timelines later this year.
"Unfortunately, we don’t have a timeline for Butler Row as we are still evaluating the best project program given the current economic conditions: high interest rates, low construction leverage, fairly high construction costs, and flat rents," Kern said via email.
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Riggy's opens first Memphis location
On March 19, Houston-based DryPort Capital announced it would be opening its first Memphis location at 5177 Citation Drive in southeast Memphis. The real estate and logistics firm owns and operates the site and the operating arm, Riggy's.
The 11-acre site has 220 tractor and trailer bays that will be available for monthly and overnight truck parking via Riggy's. The site is expected to open in May, according to a news release.
“Southeast Memphis boasts over 100 million square feet of industrial building and the logistics arm of some of the world’s largest transport, e-commerce, automotive and retail companies are within a few miles of the new Riggy’s Memphis," Mike Burney of DryPort Capital said in a statement.
The Memphis location is the company's fourth Riggy's site (the other three are all located in Texas). Patrick Walton and Stephaine Allen of CBRE will be handling leasing for the site.
Houston-based DPM Holmes LLC purchased the 13.69-acre site in January 2023 for $1 million, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds.
GWERC opens new headquarters in Whitehaven
On March 28, the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation held a grand opening celebration for its new headquarters at 4466 Elvis Presley Blvd.
"Having a headquarters will allow us to better serve the community and strengthen our commitment to making an impact in the area," Executive Director Andre Gibson said. "We want to demonstrate that the Whitehaven community is an exceptional place to live and thrive."
The new offices will also have business development and workforce training programs. In addition to the new headquarters, the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation opened its Progeny Marketplace inside the Elvis Presley Boulevard site. The marketplace will be used to help highlight and promote local entrepreneurs, artisans and help improve access and connectivity to both Whitehaven businesses and locally made goods.
Strong February for Memphis residential home sales
While home sales in the Memphis area were down 10.4% compared to January 2024, year-over-year sales in February were up overall, according to a Memphis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) report.
“It was a better February than last year,” MAAR President Scott Bettis said in a statement. “Andsales volume is up almost 17% through the first two months of the year.”
1,103 homes were sold in February 2024 compared to 971 in February 2023, a 13.6% increase. Monthly sales volume was also up 14.7% at $264.7 million compared to $233.2 million in 2023. With the increase in home sales, several neighborhoods saw a significant bump in year-over-year sales.
Parkway Village and Oakhaven saw the largest increase in homes sold year-over-year in February at 64.3% (46 in 2024; 28 in 2023). Raleigh saw a 56.3% increase in homes sold (75 in 2024; 48 in 2023), while Berclair and Highland Heights saw a 44% increase (52 in 2024; 36 in 2023).
In comparison, the most active markets in terms of homes sold were East Memphis at 169, Cordova at 108 and South Memphis at 82.
Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X:@neilStrebig.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Is old Commercial Appeal building being turned into self-storage site?
