Zoning overlay proposed to ensure future development

Highland Street's empty storefronts and cold cracked sidewalks give a barren welcome to campus visitors and students alike.

"What we have now doesn't give The University the sort of image we want to portray," said developer Steve Barlow. "We want people to come to this area and see it for the booming urban environment it can be."

As executive director of the University Neighborhood Development Corporation, Barlow recently requested approval from the Memphis City Council to draft a zoning overlay for future development within The University of Memphis and surrounding neighborhoods.

The overlay would legally protect the area from any future builders, requiring them to meet a defined set of criteria before construction could begin. All changes and updates within the University District would first require approval from the UNDC and its partners.

Future designs will encourage commerce and be pedestrian friendly, said Barlow, including wide sidewalks, vivid architecture, expansive windows and varied retail and residential opportunities, all organized as efficiently as possible.

"An overlay district would promote that sort of collaborative development," Barlow said. "There are some zoning categories that allow a wide variety of uses, but we have to get more control than we currently have over what is allowed to be built there."

Barlow said everything will be designed in conformity with the neighborhood and The U of M's master plan.

While the UNDC operates independently of The University, U of M officials have been involved in planning the area from the beginning.

"It's an ongoing process," said campus planning and design representative Tony Poteet. "We have a working relationship with the neighborhood and the UNDC. University engagement within the community and our surrounding neighborhoods, and vice versa, is extremely important to the success of us all."

The Office of Planning and Development wanted to be sure the City Council is supportive of an overlay district, Barlow said. Already in drafting stages, the UNDC should have a final plan for review within the next two months, when it will undergo a six week review process by the City Council.

"Optimistically, we're less than six months away," Barlow said, referring to the Poag and McEwen Lifestyle Center, one of the largest mixed use project in the University District in decades.

Upon completion, it will hold 234 apartments, 35 townhomes, more than 95,000 square feet of retail and restaurant uses, plus structured and surface parking.

The project was expected to begin construction earlier this year north of the FOX 13 building, where the Highland Street Church of Christ currently stands, but a steady economic decline pushed the $65 million project back more than 6 months into spring 2009.

"They're still committed," he said. "It's just been a really bad year to start a big project."

Executive assistant to the president David Cox said the project will make The University area more appealing to students, faculty and visitors alike.

"The overlay will create the kind of legal protection to ensure the kind of quality growth we need in this area," Cox said. "The strength of The University is critical to the strength of the economy of our geographical area. How we behave as an institution models for our students and how they behave when they become leaders of their own institutions. We want this area to not just be another urban university, we want to become a destination of choice."