I am surely showing my age by referencing the 1967 Billboard Hot 100 #6 song by Sonny & Cher, “The Beat Goes On.” The last several years have been good for our community in terms of economic growth. Housing stats have been solid. Commercial development has seen brisk activity. The office market continues to move in our direction. Industrial stats have been impressive. As we close 2018 and look toward 2019, we can take a line from Sonny and Cher, “…and the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on…”

OFFICE

By the time Tour Collierville hits the stands around town, Mueller Industries, a Fortune 1000 manufacturer and marketer of plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration, and industrial flow products and components, will have moved close to 150 team members into their new corporate headquarters in Boyle’s Schilling Farms development. Occupying 38,000 square feet of the Hyneman Development (a 50,000 square foot building), Mueller and Hyneman will be making a $15m investment in our community. This significant office project comes on the heels of Orgill’s new HQ in 2017, Helena Agri Enterprises expansion in 2016, and MCR Safety’s move to Collierville in 2015. With the Memphis MSA continuing to show active office development, especially Downtown and moving east (Poplar & I-240, Germantown, and Collierville), Collierville can anticipate more opportunities. With well over 400 acres of developable land zoned for office uses, most being in Schilling Farms, along the Houston Levee corridor, and at Byhalia and SR-385, coupled with corporate America’s appetite for updated and reconfigured office space, the future is bright for office development in our town.

INDUSTRIAL

As the proclaimed “Distribution Capital of America,” Memphis has an abundance of warehouse space. Very little warehouse space has been developed in the Collierville market though, and our current warehouse spaces are becoming old and outdated. Most of the new, larger developments have been in DeSoto and Marshall Counties in Mississippi. The completion of the I-69/I-269 corridor and the increasing e-commerce wave have placed Collierville in a perfect position to take advantage of the coming industrial development spike. The recent news of the first spec warehouse building in Memphis in over 10 years, a 425,000 square foot building near the Memphis International Airport, was a welcomed sign for the area. Collierville has over 300 acres of developable land zoned industrial, with the majority at the I-269/SR-385/US 72 crossroads. The Dunavant Enterprises Glenn Farms Industrial Park calls for seven 50,000 square foot spec warehouse buildings to be constructed on Shelby Drive, in the town’s southeast industrial corridor. The grading and drainage work has already been completed on the first two buildings, with completion of these properties slated for the 2nd quarter of 2019. In an industrial market with hardly any new 100,000 – 250,000 square foot spec industrial spaces, we expect others to follow the Dunavant lead with new construction of smaller, more specialized spaces heading our way. With our game-changing infrastructure, adept workforce, and strategic location, our industrial partners Carrier Corporation, IPS, CCL Label, American-Marsh Pumps, Philips Lighting, and Exact Commerce can expect some new neighbors in 2019.

COMMERCIAL

This past summer, the town conducted an informal survey of new residents. We wanted to know where people were moving from, where they were moving to, what they did for a living, family dynamics, and their primary reason for the move. In a ten week window, for example, from mid-May through August 1st, we saw an average of almost 20 families per week moving to Collierville. That equates to roughly 50 people per week making Collierville their new home – our version of Nashville-like population growth metrics! With our new $93m high school in a highly educated town, with elevated median incomes and home values, you can imagine that our commercial development has been brisk. New restaurants have opened with more on the way: Raven & Lily, P.O. Press Public House and Provisions, Wolf River Brisket, Freddy’s Steakburgers & Frozen Custard, The Collierville Commissary, The Bar-B-Q Shop, and Cheffie’s are just a handful of the new dining choices in town. U-Haul is constructing a beautiful 95,000 square foot facility at Byhalia and Winchester. The 90,000 square foot Villages of Porter Farms, with their adjoining Springhouse Village residential development, is adding senior housing choices at Shea and Winchester. John Green & Co. is redeveloping buildings off the Historic Town Square on Washington, now called Washington Square, with Lost Pizza Company inbound. As our affluent and educated population continues to surge, you can expect continued commercial development in all parts of our thriving community.

Residential construction is strong all over town, especially south of SR-385 and in and around the Town Square. The town continues to elevate infrastructure in advance of commercial development. The 2040 Growth Plan, a highly vetted and thoughtful long-range development plan, positions our community for appropriately planned growth for years to come. Sing it with me now: “…and the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on…”