Support Overton Square
- af: Save Overton Square
- mottagare: Memphis City Council and Mayor Wharton's Administration
Update: We've surpassed our second goal of 1,000 signatures! Let's aim for 2,000!
Memphis City Council will vote December 20, 2011, on a resolution to approve $16 million in funding for a parking garage and a flood detention basin in Overton Square. Join us in urging Mayor Wharton's administration and City Council members to vote FOR this important investment in the future of Memphis.
The purpose of the City Council funding is threefold:
1) To build a parking garage to serve existing businesses there today.
2) To implement a flood detention basin which will address the costly flooding of Lick Creek.
3) To install streetscape and traffic improvements that will beautify Overton Square Theatre Arts District and connect it to the larger Midtown neighborhood.
Full funding of the project will result in:
* Creation of new jobs, new economic activity, and new tax revenues.
* Alleviation of flooding issues for Memphis residents.
* Creating a win-win for existing and new businesses in the Overton Square Theatre Arts District.
The garage & streetscape costs $8 million and the Lick Creek detention basin costs $8.2 million. Both will be owned by the City of Memphis.
With the parking garage, Overton Square will be reborn as a dynamic theater arts district. Loeb Properties plans to invest $19.2 million in the redevelopment of Overton Square. The existing buildings will be preserved and renovated, new buildings will be built, public spaces will be redesigned and upgraded, and Hattiloo Theatre hopes to relocate on-site and join Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, Theater Works, and Studio on the Square. Together, these developments will increase the likelihood of a new hotel and other commercial development in the district.
Lick Creek flooding is the number one flooding concern in the City of Memphis and affects approximately 4,400 households. $8.2 million will build a detention basin that holds 1 million cubic feet of water. Locating the detention basin in Overton Square is the key to alleviating the threat to these homes without digging up the Overton Park greensward. If it is not built before the Overton Square commercial development is up and running the opportunity will be lost.
Currently, the Overton Square parking lot is used by many neighboring businesses. After Loeb's planned redevelopment, this flat-surface parking lot will not be sufficient to service the new Overton Square and surrounding businesses. In order for the Overton Square development to be a success for stakeholders and neighbors, increased parking is justified and necessary.
With this vote city government has an important opportunity to transform the heart of Memphis, to address the persistent flooding, and to strengthen the Midtown tax base that is critical to the financial health of City of Memphis. It is imperative that Memphis makes the most of every opportunity to create new economic energy, new jobs, and to produce revenues from a growing economy.
The previous plan for Overton Square (by Sooner Development Corp.) met with widespread opposition for its disregard to the area's history and the neighborhood's interest in preserving the existing buildings. Loeb Properties' subsequent plan was developed as a result of public meetings with stakeholders in the area, from public input regarding the company's plans, and in conferring with city government officials. From this process, Loeb Properties created its thoughtful plan for an Overton Square that pays tribute to its past while shaping a new, vibrant future.
Loeb Properties seeks collaboration with the City of Memphis to build the parking garage for the neighborhood and its redevelopment. In addition, the company has agreed that the flood detention facility can be added to the garage's design. None of this happens without a vote by Memphis City Council in favor of the funding on December 20th at 3:30pm.
We need to demonstrate our support for the Overton Square redevelopment to our city elected officials, and we can do it by signing this online petition. Your support will be communicated to Mayor Wharton and City Council members.
We, the undersigned, support the City of Memphis construction of a parking garage, flood detention facility, and streetscape improvements at Overton Square and urge the Memphis City Council and Mayor Wharton's Administration to approve funding of $16 million for these projects.
Loeb Properties plans to expand the footprint of the Overton Square district, upgrade existing buildings, redesign and improve public spaces, construct new buildings, attract a unique tenant mix of boutique retail and restaurants, and attract additional hotel and commercial development. Loeb Properties bold vision for a reactivated, vibrant Overton Square theater arts district will create new jobs and new revenue for the city.
The detention basin under the proposed parking garage will make a major contribution toward alleviating complex flooding problems caused by many years of growth without attention to good development practices. Midtown residents deserve a solution to storm-water flooding, and the proposed detention basin in Overton Square is a necessary and timely step in the right direction. The opportunity to implement the detention basin is tied to a short timeframe; once Overton Square is up and running the possibility of installing the basin disappears.
The garage detention structure is the keystone for both the Overton Square development project and addressing nearby flooding. A fully revitalized Overton Square requires more parking, making the garage a major asset for the new development and the surrounding neighbors. The Lick Creek flooding problem is not addressed without the detention basin. That's why the City Council's decision to fund the garage will set the course for Overton Square and Midtown for decades to come.
The good news for taxpayers is that a reinvigorated Overton Square will produce over $2.3 million more in new taxes each year with more than $500,000 going into the city's treasury.
The vote by City Council is a vote on the future of Memphis. The vote FOR the Overton Square parking garage funding will trigger economic growth and address a major flooding issue. It is the smart choice for City of Memphis.
That's why we, the undersigned, urge City Council to cast a vote that ushers in a new era for Overton Square, a new economic engine for the heart of Memphis, and a new way to attack Midtown flooding.
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