Important Notice
From Memphis Heritage
To Memphis Overton Square Supporters
As many of you have heard, the owners of Overton Square,
Univest/Fisher Capital, have applied for a demolition permit for Overton Square.
They have asked that the Memphis City Council approve their request on Tuesday,
December 15th.
Before the City Council hears the owners request for this demo permit, Councilman Shea Flinn, sponsor of the Resolution that passed requiring council approval of any demo permit for the Overton Square
This meeting is being held this Wed. Dec. 9th at 4pm at
City Hall 125 N. Main in the 5th floor conference room.
We want our supporters and the community to know about this important meeting. This is an open meeting. The public is welcome to attend.
Sooner Investments, the proposed developers, have not submitted a plan for the site. Instead the owners' plan to demolish the buildings at Overton Square before a plan is approved. It is a possibility that the proposed development
might not move forward and there would be an even larger parking lot.
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
June
June Waddell West
Executive Director
Memphis Heritage, Inc.
901-272-2727
2 comments:
Unprecedented here, I think, to keep a PRIVATE property owner from demolishing structures on its own real estate safely in accordance with usual regulations, just because some guy from East Memphis representing a district NOT INCLUDING this property stuck his nose in the middle of it.
I hope East Memphis Shea secretly intends to turn this into nothing more than a face-saving dog-and-pony show before ceasing to obstruct legal action on these hapless investors' property.
Oh hogwash Mute! The community has a vested interest in the aesthetics of their environment. Such as that are encoded within the "usual regulations" to some degree and in the case of historic structures another layer of regulations come into play.
I agree with you on your characterization of these investors. Hapless yes indeed. If any due diligence was done it must have missed the effect on their business from midtown residents should they destroy the Square. How did I-40 dead end at Overton Park? The new chicken sandwich joint on Union at least kept a facade up from the old building it tore down. I would argue that building had a lot less historical significance than Overton Square.
But an excellent case in point is the old Hill Mansion on Union near Cleveland. Now occupied by a locally owned restaurant that had no role in the demise of the mansion. However the business that did, Shonney's, never made it there. How could a Shonney's fail on Union Ave? I would suggest midtowners remembered that they tore down the mansion after a very contentious fight in which the community lost. The all knowing corporate management had to unload the property when they couldn't make a go at business there. To your "hapless" investors this should be a de ja vu event for them.
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