Loeb Properties

Loeb Sells Overton Square to Rotary

Loeb Properties President, Bob Loeb, has been traveling the Memphis civic club speaking circuit this winter, sharing his Overton Square presentation (which can be viewed here). After speaking at several Rotary meetings around town, as well as Lambda Alpha International, Bob made a stop at the Downtown Memphis Rotary chapter meeting this week to speak again about Overton Square.

Memphis Daily News covered how Bob incorporated the tenets of Rotary to his vision for the development:

Among the first of Bob Loeb’s comments when he addressed the Memphis Rotary Club Tuesday, Jan. 10, was that when his firm finishes the redevelopment of Overton Square, the hope is to pass the Rotarian Four-Way Test.

For Rotary, the Four-Way Test is the cornerstone of all action that asks the following questions: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? And will it be beneficial to all concerned?

“Our goal will be to pass the test when we finish this development,” said the president of Loeb Properties Inc. “It’s been a labor of love and we think that 2012 is going to be a lot more exciting than 2011.”

Find the full article from the Daily News here.

The Memphis Flyer‘s City Beat Blog covered the luncheon speech as well, noting Bob’s vision of the reborn Overton Square being more family-friendly than its famously wild ’70s-era past.

“We’re not bringing Billy Joel back,” Loeb told the Memphis Rotary Club Tuesday. “Our plans are relatively modest. We’re rehabbers. We love old buildings.”

He gave an overview of the project that managed to whet appetites for a revived Overton Square while tamping down expectations a bit. The space, he noted, is “not that big” but the project seems bigger and more expensive — pushing $20 million — because of the partnership with the city on a floodwater detention basin and parking garage. Developers believe $4 a gallon gas will lead to inward migration and a more vibrant Midtown.

In addition to Overton Square, the blog post also discusses the nearby Sears Crosstown project.

Memphis Mayor AC Wharton discussed Overton Square recently at a Kiwanis Club meeting; Andy Ashby writes about it on the Memphis Business Journal blog:

Wharton also defended the city’s recent decision to invest $16.5 million in a parking garage and water detention basin in Overton Square. Some have criticized him for focusing on some parts of the city while neglecting others. He repeated something he told a Cooper-Young resident who challenged him on the Overton Square deal.

“All these areas of the city are my children,” he said. “I love all my children. I’m not going to pit Overton Square against Cooper-Young, Cooper-Young against Beale Street, Beale Street against Germantown Parkway. The secret is that if one prospers, they all prosper. When you see the grand plan we have to pull all of those areas together, you will see that we don’t have to shun one part of town to develop another part of town.”

At the aforementioned Rotary meeting, Bob Loeb discussed this idea of Overton Square and its programming bringing something different to the table…not poaching on what Beale Street or Cooper-Young are about, but filling its own niche for Memphis.