The Snuff District’s second apartment complex, Harbor Side at Conwood Flats, will be completed by the end of the year and will start leasing this summer. 

The apartment complex at 645 N. Front St. is part of the $75 million second phase of the 65-acre mixed-use development. The project was launched in 2016 to turn an abandoned industrial park in Uptown into a thriving neighborhood. 

First phase of $50M Conwood Flats, Varsity Spirit renovation now open in historic Snuff District

It will feature 290 units with 394 parking spaces and 5,000 square feet of commercial space on the corner. 

The Snuff District is a $205-million development that has been divided into phases, each focusing on a few projects at a time. Linkous Construction is the general contractor for the district’s projects. 

The $50 million first phase focused on the district’s centerpiece, the 1912 American Snuff Factory, also known as the Conwood Building, which closed in 2012, and the 1883 Tri-State Iron Works industrial building across the street. 

In 2019, the development team, Wolf River Harbor Holdings LLC, led by developer Billy Orgel, announced the plans to transform the nine-building park into a new district, which included the 260,000-square-foot American Snuff Co. warehouse. 

The American Snuff Co. factory at 46 Keel Ave. produced, packaged and distributed snuff, a type of smokeless tobacco. Eventually, the Memphis plant became the second-largest snuff manufacturer in the U.S. with 500 employees. 

“The historic Snuff District has been and is a great example of how to take an area of Downtown Memphis and something for the city and watching it convert to a neighborhood is a worthwhile effort,” said Adam Slovis, one of the partners on the development team. 

To help with the project's first phase, the Downtown Memphis Commission’s Center City of Revenue Finance Corp. awarded the development team a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) tax incentive in 2019. 

Design Review Board approves Conwood II project in Snuff District

The PILOT helped kickstart the construction of what would soon be the Varsity Spirit headquarters and Conwood Flats, a 137-unit apartment complex in the old snuff factory, in 2022. 

The PILOT would also apply to the $2.5-million redevelopment of the 28,000-square-foot Tri-State Iron Works building into an event space called The Kent.

The Kent, at 61 Keel Ave., was the first building to open in the district in early 2022, and the biggest challenge to redevelop, Slovis said. 

“(The Kent) became a huge project, from the historical preservation standpoint,” Slovis said. “(We wanted) to keep as much of the raw old structure as possible and keep it open and the way that it feels, but we had to rebuild the entire roof structure, the upper part of the walls, steel skeleton in here to support it. It was not something we anticipated when we started it.” 

In late 2022, Varsity Spirit moved into its headquarters with 188 employees, followed by the opening of the Conwood Flats apartments in early 2023. Slovis said the complex, managed by Fogelman Properties, filled up quickly and now holds a 95% occupancy rate.

“It is very rewarding when you walk into a building like this. It was not easy to do, and it took a lot of effort from a lot of people. And you have as many people living and working here now in less than two years; it’s exciting,” Slovis said. 

Caught in between the two phases is the warehouse between the Conwood Flats and The Kent. The warehouse will continue to be used as a covered parking facility until the second phase is finished. 

Slovis said he is looking for local businesses that will serve the neighborhood. And he said coffee must be in one of the suites.

“We’re building a neighborhood, so those commercial tenants tend to follow into what serves the neighborhood and what’s been going on,” Slovis said. “I would love to have some food and beverage: coffee, a bar, pizza, sandwiches, something to help the neighborhood.”

CCRFC approves six-month extension for $62M Conwood II Project in Snuff District

Harbor Side at Conwood Flats will have a pool, a workout center and elevated rooftop decks for residents to view the river. These amenities will be accessible to both complexes.

The 6-story building will have an exterior similar to the American Snuff building, with textured red brick, exterior black window and door frames and grooved metal wall panels. Fleming Architects designed Conwood Flats and the Harbor Side complex. 

Slovis said the challenges of building new construction are not as similar to redeveloping a pre-existing building like the factory but still just as difficult. 

“New construction is not easy,” Slovis said. “There’s a lot of things that come up during the course of building something, especially at this size, that you just have to try and anticipate as much as possible.”

When completed, Slovis expects Harborside to fill in relatively quickly, as Conwood Flats did. He said the neighborhood they are trying to build is starting to come to life. 

“There’s a lot of synergy going on with who’s looking, who’s landing here, who wants to be here,” Slovis said. “There are plenty of people that are moving down here that are making this their neighborhood and a place to be.” 

In March 2021, the development team was awarded another 20-year PILOT for the second complex of the Historic Snuff District. 

The second phase includes St. Jude and Bright Horizons partnering on a 26,000-square-foot daycare center at 701 N. Main St. 

The center will cost about $7.5 million, according to permits filed with Develop901 in 2023. 

The Kent to open in Uptown, first project of Snuff District redevelopment

Slovis said the center will be completed in the next year or so. 

“The whole historic Snuff District is a work in progress,” Slovis said. “It’s very busy down here right now.” 

With the first phase complete and the second phase well on its way, Slovis said they are looking into redeveloping the area around and behind the two abandoned silos. 

The two 77-year-old concrete silos, or grain storage towers, sit abandoned at the end of the completed Conwood Flats. Slovis said there is some office space below, but other than that, he is unsure of what to do with them. 

“We would like to be able to keep them, but we just don’t know,” Slovis said. “Does it make sense to keep them? Develop around them? Incorporate them? We’re working on all sorts of ideas that just take time.” 

Slovis said there are many opportunities for the remaining acreage surrounding the area, even if he does not know what those opportunities are yet. 

“We have land up there that we can develop into more potential living space or other commercial uses,” Slovis said. “We would love to have another headquarters of some kind.” 

The plans show that the development will include single-family residential, a riverwalk extension, a connection to the greenline and other public and private amenities.