Truse
Plaza - Memphis, Tennessee
The
Challenge
Home Depot had completed a new store at Truse Parkway and
Poplar Avenue located in the fashionable Mendenhall trade
area of Memphis, Tennessee. Through its relationship with
Home Depot, BSM discovered that Home Depot had some excess
property that could potentially be developed. BSM placed
under contract a 1.2 acre parcel of undeveloped land. The
submarket of Memphis was hard to duplicate given the restrictive
zoning and development obstacles. This was only the second
ground-up development project that BSM had undertaken since
its formation.
The
issues were:
1. Successfully negotiating the entitlement and utility
easements across the property of two major retailers in
addition to CSX Railroad Company.
2. Due to a short diligence period, BSM’s leasing
team had to quickly mobilize in order to find suitable tenants
that would commit to the site.
3. A suitable site plan and elevation that would satisfy
Home Depot and any potential new retailers would be difficult
to locate in such a short timeframe.
Our
Strategy
| BSM
quickly identified two, local civil engineers who enjoyed
a good relationship with both Home Depot and the city
of Memphis. They also realized the importance of identifying
a civil with a relationship with CSX Railroad and who
was in good standing with the city of Memphis. Bringing
together the right team members to attack the utility
issues was crucial. |
|
BSM quickly identified a local
civil engineer who had a good relationship with both Home
Depot and the city of Memphis. BSM also realized the importance
of a second civil engineer who had a relationship with CSX
Railroad and was also in good standing with the city of
Memphis. Bringing together the right team members in order
to quickly attack the utility issues was crucial.
The legal expertise of Tom
Trent, Esq. and David Rutter, Esq. of Boult Cummings Connors
& Berry (both principals in BSM) was utilized to develop
an extensive development checklist. The checklist was web-based
and very detailed. It assigned tasks by names of responsible
parties, dates to be achieved, and a notes section that
allowed for the principals and vendors that were to be involved
to log on and be held accountable.
BSM leasing and marketing team
members worked with David Baker. They were able to leverage
David’s tenant representative experience and market
knowledge to quickly complete a demand/gap study of the
Mendenhall submarket.
The
A & E team needed to work closely with Home Depot in
order to arrive at a suitable site plan and layout in conjunction
with elevations.
Results
David Baker represented Vitamin Shoppe in a tenant representative
capacity. Vitamin Shoppe was introduced to Truse Plaza
and quickly committed to the site. Through local market
knowledge contacts, it was discovered that Men’s
Wearhouse needed to relocate from an inferior shopping
center. They were contacted and they quickly committed
to the project.
The
two civil engineer teams obtained the cooperation of CSX
Railroad and the City of Memphis. Utility easements were
successfully negotiated. Although the 8,000 square foot
building blocked a portion of Home Depot’s visibility
from Poplar Avenue (as did the raised railroad tracks),
a successful compromise was reached between all parties
involved on the scope of the elevation and the ultimate
site plan that was needed to assure ample parking and
free flowing ingress/egress points along Truse Parkway.
BSM
arranged for and placed a permanent loan on the property
at an attractive interest rate which resulted in substantial
cash flow. The total value created was 3.2 million dollars
and represented a yield on cost of 11.2%.
