Southaven elected officials unanimously approved design plans for a grocery store at Silo Square this week, solidifying the area’s benefit to the DeSoto County city.

“It’s the first truly walkable community in the city of Southaven’s history,” Mayor Darren Musselwhite said. “This is the vision we talked about years ago.”

Silo Square keeps rolling out news of businesses coming into the 288-acre, mixed-use development patterned in part after Collierville Town Square. Last month, the developer announced that former Grizzlies standout Mike Miller will bring his restaurant brand, Let It Fly, to Silo Square with a golf theme.

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“There’s quite a bit we’ve been able to announce lately, and there’s more coming,” said Lexie Hill, daughter of developer Brian Hill with Lifestyle Communities and director of marketing. A few years ago, Brian Hill conceived the notion of a place in Southaven where people could dine, shop high-end retail and live in houses or luxury loft apartments.

Keen to enhance nearby Snowden Grove’s sports and entertainment experience, city officials embraced the vision. Earlier this year, Southaven opened a pedestrian bridge to connect Silo Square commerce and housing to trails inside Snowden Grove park.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of economic energy in Silo Square, but we hope to continue that plan throughout the city with our trails,” the mayor said. “It makes it a healthier community and a more appealing community.”

The town square part of the project is about 50% complete, and by the end of next year, an additional five buildings will be under construction or nearly finished, said Lexie Hill.

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The grocery store will be approximately behind Tekila Modern Mexican, which faces Getwell Road north of the town square area. The grocery will occupy a one-story building and offer fresh produce and meats, and very possibly a deli.

“We’re talking to an operator, and they would be a great fit for the community,” Hill said.

Silo Square also won design plan approvals or anticipates moving forward on construction for other projects, including:

• Silo Academy. The facility, a daycare for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, will sit west of the grocery store but closer to the bell tower. There will be space for up to 184 children. Sign-up priority will be given to Silo residents and workers.
• Additional lofts. Three buildings will be constructed to house 52 individuals or families. All current lofts on upper floors above businesses are filled, “and we have a waitlist,” Hill said.
• Silo Social. The 6,647-square-foot restaurant will front Getwell Road and sit south of May Boulevard. It will include a 3,187-square-foot patio/green space for sit-down dining, bar customer use and recreation.
• Kyura Men. The upscale restaurant will feature ramen noodle fare — going way beyond the inexpensive packages of dried ramen for sale at groceries. The founder visited Japan to perfect ramen cooking. Now, he’s bringing his experience to Silo Square.

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Getwell Road is already seeing more traffic due to the new businesses and homes, and city officials have talked with the developer to ease potential congestion on the four-lane roadway. Silo Square is finishing up a fourth entrance, located north of Central BBQ, to assist with the additional traffic, Hill said.

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