Lease-to-own jail? Local plan remains uncertain but happened elsewhere
A plan to build a new jail and relocate every criminal and civil justice institution in Shelby County to the former Firestone plant site in North Memphis was presented to the Shelby County Commission on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The first phase of the plan would cost an estimated $1.3 billion. (Submitted)
In 2018, the Kansas Department of Corrections signed a 20-year lease-to-own deal with CoreCivic, a private prison provider, to replace the circa 1860 Kansas State Penitentiary.
That deal, which happened roughly 500 miles from Memphis, has recently taken on new significance for Shelby County.
In early August, a group of real estate professionals officially pitched the county on building a new, 71-acre criminal justice complex on the former Firestone site in North Memphis.
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Dima Amro
Dima Amro is a native Memphian who covers commercial real estate and economic development for The Daily Memphian. She received her B.A. in journalism at the University of Memphis and M.A. in investigative journalism at American University.
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