Apartment Complex Breaks Ground Next to University of Memphis; Germantown Welcomes New $4.1M Medical Office Building

By Liviu Oltean, Associate Editor

Students in Front of U of M’s Manning Hall

California-based Rael Development Corp. recently started on the construction of an $8 million apartment complex near the University of Memphis.  The company hired Montgomery Martin Contractors LLC to build the four-story complex, and has recently requested a $200,000 building permit for the laying of the foundation of the property, according to the Memphis Business Journal.

Located at 3595 Southern Ave., the project will be developed on a 1.7-acre site, and it will feature 64 units. This represents the company’s second development in the vicinity of  U of M. In 2013, the company announced the plans for Gather at Southern, a 74-unit complex that features a study lounge, computer center, theater and fitness room, and a center courtyard with a pool.

Tommy Bronson III, senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis Memphis, declared to the Memphis Business Journal that the project’s sustainability is directly connected to the situation of the current on-campus student housing that only services about 12 percent of the total enrollment.

In other regional news, construction has begun on a $4.1 million medical office building in Germantown, according to the same source. Located at 7600 Wolf River Blvd., the office building, which is being developed by Cypress Realty Holdings and Ford & Jarratt Realty Development Co., has already landed two important anchor tenants – West Tennessee Imaging and Mid-South Imaging & Therapeutics. Each company has pre-leased about 8,000 square feet of office space. The new building will be designed to resemble the developer’s Medical Arts I building, a Class A, 44,000 square feet facility.