JXN // progress
Back to the Future
// by Adam Lynch
Adam Lynch
ate more communal yard space, and every unit has a carport with a solar-paneled roof. The solar panels, with net-metering technology provided in a special arrangement with Entergy Mississippi, will help reduce residents’ electricity bills by up to 28 percent. Overall, the project will create 16 new residential units, which are only one part of a master plan for the Midtown neighborhood developed by Duvall Decker for the North Midtown Community Development Corp. and JHA. Commercial space included as part of the plan will likely host a health clinic, barber shop and community meeting space, along with offices for housing counselors.
Bennie G. Thompson Research Center
Construction workers are assembling a series of solar-powered and energy-efficient duplexes as part of a new Midtown development this year.
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rogress in all sections of the city continues to push forward despite some delays:
Holly Hills Workers are banging away on a $7.75 million affordable housing project near Northside Drive. Holly Hills is using low-income housing tax credits to install 60 rental units, some of which should be open this summer. The property at 4555 Holly Drive, near Banner Hall, is the former home of Stratford Manor Apartments, which were vacant and desperately in need of renovation. New Horizon Development is the project developer. Construction will include demolition of two buildings and raising two- and three-bedroom units with new roofs, electrical work, heating, air conditioning and appliances, said Phil Eide, senior vice president of Hope Enterprise Corp. Developers target the project for moderate to lowincome renters. People with incomes 60 percent of the area median income or below are eligible to apply. Developers reserve a portion of the apartments for prospective clients with incomes of 50 percent of the area median income or below.
Capitol Green Project
Full Spectrum Inc. completed its construcWork. Live. Play. Prosper.
tion analysis for a $27 million robot-assisted parking garage. The company plans to build the garage and adjoining $4 million multiple-building air-conditioner as a component of the first phase of the Old Capitol Green Project in downtown. The company is moving forward with development on the garage this year using Jackson Redevelopment Authority bonds and New Market Tax Credits. It’s also working on beginning construction on a neighboring commercial building connected to the Old Capitol Green project now that the company has been approved for $45 million in industrial revenue bonds, through the Mississippi Business Finance Corp. The garage will feature industry-specific electrical hook-ups for charging electric cars—including that picky connection for the Nissan Leaf.
Midtown Solar Homes Developers are moving ahead on construction on the first phase of a $3.49 million energyefficient residential development in Jackson’s midtown neighborhood at Livingston and Lamar streets. The Jackson Housing Authority partially financed the project through stimulus funds. The duplexes represent the city’s first solar-powered, sustainable, green, energy-efficient affordable housing development, according to Sheila Jackson, JHA executive director. Duvall Decker Architects designed the buildings to cre-
Duvall Decker also designed Tougaloo College’s Bennie G. Thompson Academic and Civil Rights Research Center, which had its ribbon-cutting in May. The research center’s 27,000 square feet of space features a 120-seat lecture hall, seminar rooms, and modern classrooms with the latest technological trappings. The $8.5 million building has a gallery for Tougaloo’s impressive art collection containing many renditions of the Civil Rights Movement. Roy Decker, principal architect of Duvall Decker Architects, said that the building honors Tougaloo’s role in the Civil Rights Movement, and creates a place where civic discussion can continue as well as displaying important works of art.
Retro Metro The city of Jackson’s under-used Metrocenter mall will get a boost this year as the city moves several municipal agencies into a space formerly occupied by Belk department store. Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. signed on to the plan last year to move city departments—including water and sewer, human and cultural services, and parks and recreation—from their current offices at the Jackson Medical Mall and the Atmos building on West Capitol Street into the mall’s 60,000 square feet of property. Retro Metro LLC, a project of Watkins Partners, leased the space to the city and plans to invest $2.5 million to build out and renovate the space. Johnson anticipates an economic boost to the area, courtesy of 200 to 300 new city employees. He said he expected the city to complete the move in October, following renovation. Get breaking development news at jfpdaily.com. Send Progress reports to editor @boomjackson.com. 21