One of Loeb Properties’ emphases (as well as some of our favorite work) is to rehab old buildings.
Loeb purchased 2126 Madison, the former Yosemite Sam’s building, last fall. Construction quickly commenced, and lease negotiations with a restauranteur are currently underway.
The building has its 100th birthday this year, having been constructed in 1912.
Tom Hayes, VP Construction, has some insights into the building’s structure and history:
From a location standpoint, with this building being a corner post of Overton Square we had to have it. I would characterize the condition of the building when we bought it as “dilapidated.” The building had significant structural problems when we purchased it, and we knew going in that the rehab would cost as much as the purchase price. My working concept has been a “rebirth,” because the building was at the end of its life.
Historically, I know that the building has been many things. Downstairs, it was a drug store originally, and several other commercial uses over time. It was also rental housing of various types and arrangements for decades. At one time, there were four apartments in the building, each having a coal fireplace. Oddly, it seems that the second floor may have been replaced at some point–the original joist pockets that would’ve held up the actual second floor are empty and the existing floor is located about a foot lower. Very interesting. From the 1960s on, it seems to have mostly been a bar of some type, with Yosemite Sam’s operating there for the last 42 years.
This building has good bones. It has a nice stature and was well-crafted originally. It has basic but pleasing design features on the exterior that have stood the test of time. Notwithstanding the structural repairs and having to replace the entire storefront, the exterior has all the elements of good design. We will just put a bunch of “shinola” on what’s there, leaving the building looking polished and reborn.
The structural issues were a tremendous challenge. One of the main support columns had sunk 7”, an inbalance which was obvious on every floor. We had to jack the center section of the building upwards that same 7” and replace the entire column from the bottom of the basement to the roof. Other parts of the bottom floor were entirely removed down to the bare dirt, then we poured new foundations and started over. Removing nine full-size construction dumpsters of contents out of the building was not necessarily a challenge, but definitely quite a job.
Give me a couple more months and we’ll be ready for another 100 years.
Thanks for your insight and expertise, Tom!
Here is a shot of the building on June 3, 2011, before Loeb began construction work:
Here is the building on November 30, 2011, while the storefronts and windows were being replaced:
Here’s a shot of the building January 25, 2012. You can see the new paint color scheme in the bottom right-hand corner.
We look forward to seeing the completed renovation and watching the way a new generation will utilize this building.
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.”
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.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011, the Memphis City Council voted to invest $16.2 million in Overton Square, through a parking garage and water detention basin. The Commercial Appeal covered the event (click here for full story):
A crowd of supporters gathered at City Hall to speak in favor of the project. Many said the flood basin would prevent water from flowing into surrounding neighborhoods when Lick Creek swells.
Ekundayo Bandele, the 40-year-old founder and artistic director of Hattiloo Theatre, said his organization plans to construct a new building on land that the city would acquire as part of the Overton Square project. The theater would rent the land from the city.
He told council members that locating his African-American theater near the existing Playhouse on the Square and Circuit Playhouse would turn the area into a true theater district and promote racial integration.
He also said it’s a chance to make Memphis the envy of comparable cities like Atlanta.
The online petition of support for the project garnered over 2,000 signatures before the Council vote.
Loeb Properties looks forward to beginning work on the development in Midtown Memphis. We are currently in the process of talking with prospective businesses about pre-leasing retail or office space.
If you’d like more information about available space at Overton Square, please contact Matt Prince or Aaron Petree.
Memphis is the profile city in the December issue of Delta Airlines’ Sky Magazine.
It’s an in-depth look at several aspects of our city: history, people, places, industry, science. You can access the full article here, or through the Sky Magazine’s website, here.
If you’d like to show your support for the city-sponsored parking garage and water detention facility at the new Overton Square, please visit this link to sign the online petition sponsored by Save Overton Square and read more about the project.
The purpose of the City Council funding is threefold:
1) To build a parking garage to serve existing businesses there today.
2) To implement a flood detention basin which will address the costly flooding of Lick Creek.
3) To install streetscape and traffic improvements that will beautify Overton Square Theatre Arts District and connect it to the larger Midtown neighborhood.
Full funding of the project will result in:
* Creation of new jobs, new economic activity, and new tax revenues.
* Alleviation of flooding issues for Memphis residents.
* Creating a win-win for existing and new businesses in the Overton Square Theatre Arts District.
Please sign this petition to show your support! The goal is 500 signatures.
If you’d like to do more, individual handwritten letters of support to your Councilmembers are encouraged. Find full list of Council members here. Send letters to:
Council Member’s Name
125 North Main Street, Room 514
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
The vote on this action is set to occur on Tuesday, December 20, at 3:30 p.m. Supporters are encouraged to attend and speak in favor of the garage/detention facility. Please consult the Save Overton Square facebook page or contact Loeb with further questions.
Find out more information about the Overton Square redevelopment here.
After more than a solid year of work, the new loebproperties.com has launched!
The News & Resources page has been added as a place for highlighting pertinent published articles, Loeb news, and bits of commercial real estate expertise.
In addition to this page, the viewer will find our property database vastly augmented. The viewer can sort by type, part of town, or perform a keyword search if looking for a specific property. The properties are mapped on the right-hand google map (showing only the property results listed on that page, A-Z).
On a specific property page (below), you’ll find properties listed as whole products instead of by specific bays with lease rates. Since commercial real estate is not a commoditzed product, we encourage those in the market for space to contact us personally, as the configuration of available spaces changes on a daily basis.
Another new feature of note is the Find a Specialist capability. Accessed either through the front page of the site or the Contact page (shown below), the user can select all or one of the choices of budget, bay size, business type, etc., and be matched with the Loeb broker who will be able to help find a space that works. The broker can either be contacted directly, or the user can request to be contacted via email or phone.
Having a large commercial real estate portfolio gives Loeb Properties flexibility when it comes to developing spaces to match tenant needs. Through one phone conversation with a Loeb broker, a prospective tenant can learn more about options for available space than he or she would from solely performing online property searches. Let us customize a space to fit your business!
Questions about the new site? Use the new contact form found here.
Today’s Memphis Daily News features a front-page article regarding the Overton Square development and proposal for public funding. City Council is set to vote on the public portion of the project on December 20, 2011. Bob Loeb, President of Loeb Properties, Inc., discusses the Lick Creek water detention facility and the four-level parking garage:
“If I had it to do all over again, I sure would call it two different projects – the Overton Square redevelopment and Lick Creek detention basin – because to group them together sounds like the city’s financial involvement in the Overton Square redevelopment is a lot bigger than it really is,” Loeb said.
(photo by Lance Murphey)
The estimated cost of the project increased from figures released earlier this year when an engineering study recommended the storm-water retention pond’s capacity increase from 70,000 cubic feet to approximately 1 million cubic feet. [Read more about the Lick Creek flooding situation in the Commercial Appeal's recent guest column on the subject, here.]
As for the retail side of the development, Loeb is prepared to invest over $19 million in Overton Square, which encompasses roughly 120,000 square feet in redeveloped and new buildings.
The city’s involvement isn’t so much in the revitalization of those businesses, but the parking lot they share. That’s why it’s important to note there are two projects on the table, said Loeb president Bob Loeb.
“Without the city, it would be damaging to the neighborhood because there are existing businesses and institutions that depend on the parking that they’ll lose,” Loeb said, noting businesses such as Bari Ristoranta e Enoteca, Restaurant Iris, Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, TheatreWorks, Side Street Grill and Mr. Lincoln’s Costume Shop. “It will be a lot better plan if the city participates; it’ll have more density and more vibrancy by the city building its infrastructure there. If the city chooses not to do that, then we’ll have a less dense plan, but it’ll still be a good plan.”
To voice your support for the publicly-funded aspects of this project, email your Councilmembers at the email addresses found here.
Today’s Commercial Appeal includes an informative guest column about the Lick Creek flooding situation in Midtown and the need for a detention basin at Overton Square. (The link to the article is here.) Mary Wilder gives a brief history of the issue and explains the need for a detention facility.
Over the past 15 years, flooding has become a hazard to Midtown residents and businesses. The area around Overton Square and the Union Avenue corridor has been developed without addressing the impact of flooding caused by stormwater runoff. Midtown development has been disruptive to the forces of nature because it has not planned for the means to absorb, slow down or detain rainwater when it comes into contact with roofs, streets and parking lots.
Despite not encountering flooding problems of its own, Overton Square’s location provides an ideal space for underground water retention:
In 2006 the city of Memphis conducted a Lick Creek Drainage Basin study, followed by a technical review of the Midtown stormwater management system in 2010. Both studies recommend a series of detention sites throughout Midtown. Overton Square and the surrounding businesses have the largest concentration of surface parking in the area, creating some of the greatest amounts of stormwater runoff. The technical review recommended Overton Square as the site of a large underground detention basin to capture the water from both the immediate area and surrounding areas.
Refer to this post on the Smart City Memphis blog to learn more about the economics of the entire project.
The issue is set to go before City Council on December 20, 2011. If you’d like to show your support, you can do so by writing to your elected officials. Below are the email addresses of the Councilmembers and the Mayor.
It’s not easy to face tough budget realities and still make the investments that help bring back the core city, but if Memphis is to change its trajectory, it has to do it. The good news is that the concept of reinvesting in Memphis is more widely understood now than it was 20 years ago, and that’s why it’s so encouraging to see city government embark on several fronts to create new economic engines and new revenues. As the mayor has said, city government can’t just cut budgets and increase taxes to deal with its fiscal woes. It must also support, nurture, and grow new revenues and businesses.
