Housing Remains a top concern
By Scott Waller
Friday, April 21, 2006
- The checkerboard of properties in downtown under development could more properly be seen as dominoes - which will cause the cascade of growth?
- KEY PLAYER
The Mississippi Museum of Art planning to relocate in the Arts Pavilion building by May 2007 includes an ambitious expansion of greenspace that will serve as an outdoor "lobby" for downtown.
For plans, artist renderings and projections, see:
http://www.msmuseumart.org/newmuseum.html
April 21, 2006
Downtown: Housing remains a top concern
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Over the years, the Business Forums by the Charles W. and Eloise T. Else School of Management at Millsaps College have proven pacesetting for critical business opinion-making.
So, when a guest at this week's forum not only endorsed the longstanding dream of more downtown housing but declared "I'd take every one of those parking lots and put a house on them," it got - and should get - people's attention.
Henry Turley, owner of the Henry Turley Co., knows whereof he speaks. He has pioneered urban development in Memphis since the 1980s when he led the conversion of downtown buildings into residential space.
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David Watkins, who is a leader in the emerging transition in Jackson to a better mix of business/professional/residential space, says it is hard to buy property because those who own properties are expecting values to increase.
What should be a big boon, in addition to projects such as renovation of the old King Edward Hotel take shape, is a bill passed by the recent Legislature to allow development on state-owned property along Commerce Street.
Jackson is poised to capitalize on new investment once the shape of the projects under way start to emerge - including the planned Mississippi Museum of Art expansion, dovetailing with the Capital City Convention Center and the telecommunications conference facility.
Turley's words could prove prophetic.
