Major Midtown Memphis development planned in Cooper-Young

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The southwest corner of Cooper Street and Central Avenue could soon become home to hundreds of residential units along with a hotel and restaurant.

Plans for a new development were filed Friday on behalf of Carlisle Development to redevelop just under six acres around the northern gateway into Cooper-Young.

“The Cooper” would replace the vacant former Albert Cook Plumbing buildings and surrounding empty lots. In its place, developers have proposed a four-story, 250-unit multifamily residential building with a dog park and parking, and five smaller buildings with 26 townhouse units.

Concept plans show a 120-room, seven-story hotel and restaurant on Cooper, just south of two existing historic buildings, which are not part of the redevelopment.

The group says the success of the nearby Memphian hotel in Overton Square showed the need for more hotel space in Midtown.

In a letter of intent, the development group wrote ” … we believe this PD, as amended, will be a positive addition to the Central/Cooper neighborhood of Midtown Memphis and will support its further growth.”

A previous development with taller buildings and more residential units was approved for the site in 2021. But that deal fell through when one of the principal investors was convicted in a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency scheme.

Dan Parrella said he is looking forward to the proposed development.

“I’m honestly all about more development in Midtown. I know some people are opposed to it,” he said, adding, “I would like to see more options around here and I always believe in building more housing too because people need a place to live that’s affordable.”

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Not everyone in Cooper-Young is in favor of the plan. Katherine Gore, who owns Fox and Catvintage on Central Avenue, says before one shovel is turned here, other serious issues need addressing.

“I think there’s a lot of systematic issues we have to address in our city before we continue to build more buildings. That means the underlying problems that are really causing the crime to occur and infiltrate this part of the city,” Gore said.

Crime is forcing her business and others to make tough decisions.

“Businesses are closing and I’m closing too,” she said.

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