Dan Walker Proceeds with Plans in 7.6-Acre Business Park in Memphis; Tennessee Plans $70M Veterans’ Nursing Home for Shelby County

By Liviu Oltean, Associate Editor

Memphis-based Dan Walker Associates Inc. is moving ahead with plans for the development of a new  office business park, according to the Memphis Business Journal. The plan entails the development of approximately 240,000 square feet, seven buildings on 7.6 acres and a 10,500-square-foot headquarters.

Dan Walker Associates plans to start work on its headquarters in two months and hopes to relocate in spring 2015. The new HQ is a considerable upgrade for the company seeing as they operate within only 2,000 square feet at their current location at 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 420. The plot for the development was purchased for $350,000 and it is located between Winchester Road and Tennessee Route 385.

In other regional news, The Tennessee State Building Commission recently approved the development of a $70 million nursing home for Veterans in Shelby County. Governor Bill Haslam has allocated $600,000 from the state’s budget to begin the process of finding a suitable site for the facility and for elaborating a preliminary plan. According to the Commercial Appeal, the federal government will pay 65 percent of the construction costs, while the state or the local governments must support the land acquisition and the remainder of the construction costs.

Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder requested authorization for her and her agency from the Building Commission to continue planning the facility. Under her leadership, the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs’ focus moved towards ‘everything veteran.’ The agency’s goals for 2014 entail increasing the efficiency of processing veterans claims, promoting the impact of Veteran Treatment Courts and gathering resources to help Veterans struggling with mental health or substance abuse.