JXN // progress
Full Speed Ahead Finally Farish? After decades of talk about proposed development, Farish Street may finally become the entertainment hot spot Jackson has hoped for. Jason Goree, vice president of Watkins Development LLC, said in May that barring any unforeseen problems, at least four clubs—including B.B. King’s and Zac Harmon’s blues clubs—will be open on Farish Street by the end of the year. Watkins Development hopes to finalize $11 million worth of historic tax credits that the company will offer as collateral for a $10.2 million bond issue from the city. Goree said they hope to close on the tax credits by mid-July. The $10.2 million issue will come in two parts, with Watkins focusing the first on opening the first four clubs and the second portion going
toward completing the first block of the project, from Amite Street to Griffith Street. Once the tax credits are finalized and the bond issue comes in the from the city, Goree said it will take approximately 90 days to get the two clubs open.
jacob fuller
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fter a flurry of Jackson development in recent years, progress slowed on a number of high-profile projects. But steam is building once again.
// by Jacob Fuller
Giddy Up The Iron Horse Grill may soon return to Jackson with a couple of additions Jackson Square is with deep Missis- open for business. sippi roots. The headquarters of the Mississippi Blues Trail and The Mississippi Music Experience, a museum celebrating the state’s greatest musicians, will occupy the lower floor of the renovated building, while the restaurant and
live music venue will be located upstairs. The Iron Horse, located in the Old Armour Building near the King Edward Hotel at Gallatin and Pearl streets, has been unoccupied since it suffered severe fire damage several years. The city is working on a contribution agreement with developer Capital Hotel Associates, headed by Joseph Simpson, for urban renewal bonds to help fund the project. Simpson said historic and new market tax credits are also in the works for additional financing and once they are finalized, Capital Hotel Associates will have all the funding it needs for the project. Best-case scenario, the Iron Horse Grill and Mississippi Music Experience will open during the first quarter of 2013, Simpson said.
More Beds for Downtown Capital Hotel Associates has signed a contract to purchase the former Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company land from Hinds County. The developers’ plan is to build a luxury
Full Spectrum to Buy Old Capitol Green Block // by Jacob Fuller
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Summer 2012
Courtesy Full Spectrum South
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ull Spectrum South plans to purchase a downtown property from the state by the end of June for $893,000. The area, 1822 Square, will be part of the Old Capitol Green project. The New York-based development company, headed by Jackson native Carlton Brown, has been leasing the 2.74-acre block that sits between Tombigbee and Pascagoula streets and is bordered by Commerce and Jefferson streets. Brown plans to purchase the property this summer and begin construction on the mixedused development in August. 1822 Square will include Terre Verte, a 169,500-square-foot building that will include 129 residential units and more than 20,000 square feet of retail space. The Legacy, a 128,000-square-foot office building will include another 37,350 square feet of retail space, and a 488-space automated parking garage. Malcolm Shepherd, development director of Full Spectrum
Full Spectrum South plans to begin construction on 1822 Square in downtown Jackson by the end of August. South, said he has already received more letters of interest in renting retail space than the development will have room for. Full Spectrum will not make any official deals with retailers until they break ground on construction, though, Shepherd said. Full Spectrum South designed the development to maximize sustainability and energy efficiency. Its green features will include under-
street cisterns, a robot-operated parking garage and a black-water/ rainwater cooling systems in the parking garage. Residents will be able to enjoy an outdoor garden on the second floor of the residential building, above the retail space. May 14, Shepherd submitted the final step before the purchase of the property: a tax increment financing application. After the developers
downsized the original plans for 1822 Square, Shepherd had to rework the value and size of the development for the financing application, which will fund infrastructure improvements like roadway renovations. “It’s kind of complicated because they ask you questions that you have to calculate for them,” Shepherd said. “I’m going to give them a draft. ... Then we can start sitting down (and) talking about how much in a tax-increment financing scheme that we would be able to generate.” The improvements include extending Court Street, which currently ends at Commerce Street, through Entergy-owned property to Jefferson Street on the other side. Shepherd said Entergy has approved the extension. The development is projected to be worth $83.7 million. If construction begins in August as planned, 1822 Square should become a reality by the summer of 2014.
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