Uptown’s Malone Park seeks $150,000 special development grant from CCDC
Rising construction costs have increased the Malone Park Commons project’s budget by $361,000. (Neil Strebig/Daily Memphian file)
The Center City Development Corp., an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission, is considering a $150,000 special development grant for the Malone Park Commons development in Uptown.
According to the staff report, rising construction costs have increased the project’s budget by $361,000. To help cover the 11% budget increase, the Center City Development Corp. wants to extend a special development grant with up to $150,000.
Malone Park Commons developer Andre Jones said the Memphis Medical District Collaborative and Financial Federal will assist with the remaining $211,000.
Jones began work on the 35-unit Malone Park Commons in 2021. The first phase of the development, aimed at reestablishing “missing middle” housing, was completed in June. The 11 apartments are leased, according to the staff report.
The development’s second phase began in March and is expected to add two live/work buildings to the campus, along with four fourplexes in fall 2022. Whitehaven-basedMuggin Coffee House is expected to open its second location on the ground floor of one of the community’s live/work buildings at 606 N. Main St.
In 2018, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. awarded a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) for the Malone Park Commons development. Additionally, the Center City Development Corp. awarded a development grant worth $200,000 to the project in 2018. The Development Corp. board increased that amount to $300,000 in 2019, according to the staff report.
The Center City Development Corp. board members will discuss the special development grant at its upcoming meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 9 a.m.
In addition to the Malone Park Commons grant process, board members will also discuss a $19,059 exterior improvement grant for Cocozza restaurant in Harbor Town. The proposed funds will help improve storefront improvements. Memphis-based Collect + Curate is helping with design.
Cocozza co-owner Deni Reilly is also a Downtown Memphis Commission board member and part of the Design Review Board, an affiliate board for the Downtown Memphis Commission. Reilly is expected to recuse herself during Tuesday’s grant discussion.
Topics
Center City Development Corp. Downtown Memphis Commission Malone Park CommonsNeil Strebig
Neil Strebig is a chef turned journalist covering economic development and commercial real estate for The Daily Memphian. He grew up in Pennsylvania and has worked at media outlets including the York Daily Record/USA Today Network and most recently as Report for America Corps Member with Lookout Santa Cruz. He is a graduate of Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
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