Silo Square developer shares vision for $200M Southaven project
Article courtesy of Memphis Business Journal, Susan Ellis.
Brian Hill, the developer of Silo Square, is old school.
How old school? We’re talking graph paper old school.
“One Saturday morning, I took four sheets of graph paper together and eight hours later, I had drawn the master plan for Silo Square,” he said.
The $200 million development in Southaven broke ground in 2018 and includes 300 single-family homes and 700,000 square feet of commercial space. The square, centered around a bell tower, features boutiques, a coffee shop, gift stores, and more. The development also includes two of Memphis’ heavy hitters — Central BBQ and Wing Guru.
Hill said the project started off as 225 acres but has since grown by 80 acres. They are currently in phase six of what is expected to be an 11-phase plan. This fall, the single-family homes near the square will be connected by a street running to Tchulahoma Road.
MBJ: Was it important to you to be next to Snowden Grove?
Brian Hill: I wouldn’t have done this project without being across the street from that park. People used two words about this project: This is an aggressive project, and this is an ambitious project. We don’t have anything like this in North Mississippi. The park is a special place, and the energy around it and the activities [there] are a business driver for everybody.
And there’s so much [City of Southaven] money that has been invested into that park, you can rest assured that the City is not going to let that park change. They’re always going to try to keep it at the pinnacle of parks in the Southeast. They’re doing that very thing right now with the amphitheater expansion. They’re doing a $9 million update and expansion to the amphitheater in order for Southaven to be able to attract headline artists on weekends. The City’s commitment to that park made me commit to doing a project right here. Because as long as I take care of that park, it’s gonna draw solid business.
Tell me about the pedestrian bridge. I see the bridge get used every day. It’s going to become more and more used. We have a hotel that’s going to start construction imminently. It’s a Fairfield by Marriott. So imagine when there’s a baseball tournament., the people can come into town, they can park their car at Fairfield. They can dine here, they can get dessert here, they can shop here, they can walk across the street go to their baseball game. In all those tournaments, they’ll have a 9 a.m. game and a 2 p.m. game. So, in between all those baseball games, they can walk back across the street and take a nap, grab lunch. That bridge will get used more and more.
Tell me about your vision for the square. Did it have this many clothing stores and this many restaurants? We were limited as to the number of restaurants that we can actually put on the square, because restaurants are very parking-intensive. So I cannot have restaurants too close together. We’ve got Staks here. They have a huge lunch crowd. We’re going to have a restaurant at the other end of the square, and they’ll have a huge lunch crowd. So, I’ve got to spread them out.
But as far as boutiques, when I first drew the square, I drew every building on it and segmented the buildings into bays. Everything I want here is exactly where I thought I would put it initially.
I can’t make a business move here or there, but as they call me, I try to place them where I think they would be best. When I thought about the businesses that I wanted here, I thought about the Oxford Square and the Collierville Square. I want the same businesses here as they have on those squares: nothing more, nothing less. So if it’s viable in any of those, then it’ll work here, as well.
I noticed there’s a liquor store in the square. That’s smart. Well, there will be over 300 loft-style apartments in this mixed-use district. There was just another 140 approved right north of us, and everything is going to be within a three-minute walk. One of the things we’re trying to do here is take into consideration all the walkable foot traffic these businesses can have, and what these people need in order to live their life right here and not have to get in a car. They may even work here.
But if they do work here, there could be days on end that people never leave the site, never start their car to go anywhere. We want everything they need right here. We’re fast approaching that.
You’ll need a grocery store. We’re in talks with a grocery store right now. I’ve already designed the site plan. We’re having a study done as to the viability of the grocery store, and we’re hoping that that moves forward.
How do you describe yourself? A visionary? My youngest daughter, Lexie, who works with me, is pushing me to retire sooner rather than later. But she said that I can be the chief visionary officer. So I do design on everything I develop and build — most every aspect of Silo Square other than picking out colors. I’m not real good with color. So I let my daughter and my wife handle that.
But when it comes to infrastructure or architecture, I am a visionary. I’m fortunate that I can see things before actually getting them built. What you see here today is within three feet of being exactly where I had drawn it. We’re getting the drawings framed, and it’s going to hang on the wall for my grandkids to look at one day.
Were you ever nervous about this project? My nervousness comes before I ever decide to pull the trigger on the project. Once I decide that I want to do something, I have given it so much thought that I’m pretty sure that it’ll work. One thing about me, I was in business during the last recession. And back then, I had 400 developed vacant lots and 80 spec houses when things went south. I was operating without an escape plan. Now I don’t operate without an escape plan. When I do something now, I always look at what happens if it doesn’t work out exactly the way that I envisioned it. I have another idea in my head as to what I would do if things went south. So again, once I decide to do something, my worrying is in the rearview mirror. I’m convinced that it’ll work, and I’ve just got to make it happen.
Was there one business that you signed up that made you think, ‘This is going to work?’ It’s a crazy thing. I had a vision of this whole concept on the front end. The majority of the businesses that are in here today are ones that I envisioned being in here and ended up reaching out to me.