Silo Square in Southaven
Some of the recent developments that have Brian Hill most excited about Silo Square — the massive mixed-use project he is building along Getwell Road in Southaven — aren’t actually part of his project at all.
“What’s happened at Silo Square since groundbreaking is really things done by the city of Southaven,” he said.
That includes approval of a pedestrian bridge over Getwell that will connect his development with Snowden Grove Park, development of a trail system that will run from Snowden Grove Park to Central Park and the groundbreaking on a large soccer complex at Snowden Grove Park.
With the host of activities offered at the park and the soon-to-be-built pedestrian bridge connecting it with the retail, restaurants, residences and hotels Hill is building at Silo Square, the developer said it will all serve to enhance the town square environment he is trying to create.
When fully built out, the 288-acre, $200 million Silo Square will have 304 gated, residential lots with houses costing from about $225,000 to $400,000-plus; six retail outparcels; one bank outparcel; two hotels; 16 mixed-use lots; three office lots; a 2.6-acre farmers market; 10 acres for 128 loft apartments; and 64 acres of open green space.
The "downtown'' area of the plan blends residential, commercial and public uses around a Main Street lined with two- and three-story buildings. The first two of those 13 “town square” buildings should open at the end of May, Hill said, and the construction of four more will begin this year.
Slim Chickens, an Arkansas-based fast-casual chicken chain, became the first business to open at Silo Square in July. The development’s website lists dessert cafe City Hall Cheesecake, local jeweler Custom Jewelry and home goods boutique Magnolia House as future tenants, and Planters Bank will put its headquarters at the development. Hill said many more tenant announcements would be coming soon, but not everything had been sunshine and roses with the project so far.
Rain Delay
Silo Square, which sits south of Goodman Road, west of Getwell Road and east of Tchulahoma Road, broke ground in April 2018.
"This is going to be a game-changing development for our city,'' Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite said at the time.
However, even before crews started work, the Mid-South was in a rut of rainy weather Hill said started in December 2017. The soggy conditions have put Silo Square eight months behind schedule.
“The weather, I’ve just never seen anything like it,” Hill said. “It’s unbelievable.”
According to the National Weather Service, from April 1, 2018, to Jan. 13, about 120 inches of rain have fallen at Memphis International Airport, almost 24 inches more than what would be considered normal during that time.
Despite the elements, construction continues and Hill remains positive that Silo Square, in tandem with the new developments across the street, will be a boon to the community. The trail system will wind through Snowden Grove Park, follow the pedestrian bridge over Getwell Road, head through the Silo Square development and up to Tchulahoma Road where it will turn north before connecting with trails in Central Park. From there, an offshoot will head east to extend the trail system to Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto.
The 10-foot-wide trail will be able to accommodate cyclists, runners and walkers and will eventually be the longest trail system in the county. In an October blog post, Musselwhite announced work had begun on the trail — which is 80% grant-funded — part of a broader effort to make Southaven more walkable.
The mayor said the $5 million soccer park, which will include seven fields and a facility for concessions, restrooms and an office, could be completed by the end of the year.
Hill said the addition of seven soccer fields at Snowden Grove Park will also help Silo Square to thrive. The park is already a huge draw for youth baseball, hosting 65 days of tournament play in the summer and bringing millions of dollars into the local community. In addition, the amphitheater at the park can seat up to 11,000 and hosts events like Spring Fest and big-name performers, including Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews.
“Other than a bit of winter, this is a year-round park,” Hill said.
Desoto County Boom
Hill, who grew up in Southaven, said he’s seen the community change dramatically in his lifetime but isn’t surprised by the growth the Memphis suburb has seen in the past decade.
“We’ve got some of the best schools in the state and low real estate taxes,” he said. “Southaven has always been convenient to Downtown Memphis and (Interstate) 269 closes the loop and makes it easy to get to Collierville and other places, too.”
The county has gone through a population boom in the past decade. DeSoto County has grown by about 70%, from 107,199 residents in 2010 to 182,001 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That population increase has created a demand for new and varied types of housing, as well as other types of accommodation.
According to local hospitality industry expert Chuck Pinkowski, 12 hotels have been proposed or are in development or construction in DeSoto County. Six of those 12 hotels are in Southaven, which he said has been successful in marketing itself based on its proximity to Memphis.
“That’s new growth in the suburban areas that are creating the demand for those rooms,” he said in a previous interview with The Commercial Appeal. “They’re developing because, in those suburban areas, there’s a demand for lodging.”
Two of Southaven’s six proposed hotels will be at Silo Square.
The development is named for a large white silo that stands on the property, which Hill sees as one of three identifying images for his project, with the city’s pedestrian bridge providing another. The third will be a 40-foot-tall bell tower that will be fitted with a reclaimed church bell programmed to chime at certain times.
At the end of the day, all of it is aimed at creating a pedestrian-friendly city center where Southaven residents and visitors can live, work, eat, shop and socialize.
"I think everybody loves the town squares we have around Memphis, like Collierville Square, Hernando Square — everybody loves those," Hill said previously. "My vision for Silo Square is nothing different than those squares."
Corinne Kennedy is a reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy.