Henry Turley Co. to brighten underpasses as welcome to new developments

With move-ins set to begin in the Henry Turley Co.‘s 197-unit South Junction apartments at Florida Street and Carolina Avenue, just a quick walk or bike ride to the Memphis Farmers Market and South Main Arts District, Turley himself is already looking ahead to a neighboring project.
 
While plans have yet to be drawn up, and HTC awaits a response to a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes request, the development will be adjacent to South Junction and under the same management. “We’re going to lay it out. It would appear to call for 75, 80 apartments,” Turley says. “They’ll be comparable to those at South Junction, and the amenities will be shared.”
 
The growing community in the South End development inches the density of population closer to Crump Boulevard and is poised to benefit from the Main2Main connector that will see pedestrian access from Main Street in Memphis, across the Harahan Bridge, to West Memphis, Ark.
 
To further the appeal of the area, Turley is partnering with the Downtown Memphis Commission to light darkened underpasses, clean up the overpasses and repair sidewalks in the area. While still awaiting a final design for the lighting, and conferring with the City of Memphis Public Works Division regarding the type of lights to use, the program has been granted $80,000 by the Center City Development Corp., with more possible contingent upon the design and resources needed.
 
“It’s hard not to think of them (underpasses) as an entry, but when we looked at them we called them barriers. They were dark, dirty and foreboding, so we thought we should clean them up.”

By Richard J. Alley