The Commercial Appeal

By Tom Bailey

East Memphis commuters may be treated to some eye candy — up to 10 climbers at a time scaling a 40-foot-tall, outdoor climbing wall — if plans for a large climbing gym are approved.

Chattanooga-based High Point Climbing proposes to build a $9 million, 32,000-square-foot climbing and fitness facility at a high-profile intersection just west of Shelby Farms Park.

It’s the second substantial rock-climbing in the works in Memphis. Movie director and philanthropist Tom Shadyac is converting a long-vacant building at 879 E. McLemore in Soulsville into Memphis Rox, a 28,000-square-foot climbing gym and community center.

“The Memphis project will be cool,” said High Point Climbing principal Johnny O’Brien of Chattanooga, where passersby often stop and watch climbers at two High Point facilities. High Point’s third climbing gym opened early this year in Birmingham.

High Point plans a two-story gym on 2.7 acres at the northwest corner of Walnut Grove and Humphreys Boulevard. The site is now a parking lot immediately east of the Christian Brothers High School baseball field.

“We’re an indoor rock climbing gym with an outdoor component,” O’Brien said. “We wanted to be close to Shelby Farms” with its biking and running trails, kayaking and other activities. “We think it’s a real complement.”

High Point Memphis LLC filed an application with the Land Use Control Board to amend the Humphreys Center Planned Development to allow a sports facility there.

The board is to consider the request at its meeting on Sept. 14 at 10 a.m. in City Hall.

High Point Climbing is coming to Memphis for two main reasons: O’Brien’s son-in-law and business partner, John Wiygul, grew up in Memphis and Germantown; and the Memphis market is ripe for a climbing gym.

“Memphis has been in the sights of many (climbing) gym developers as a key city to be able to develop a new gym,” O’Brien said Tuesday. “Probably one of the top 10 cities in the U.S. That’s a result of the overall demographics and the fact there were no climbing gyms in the city…

“With us being located within the state we decided we’d better go ahead and take advantage before any other out-of-state developers,” he said.

One might not assume there’s an abundance of climbers in Memphis, surrounded for many miles by flat delta land or only gentle hills. But the topography will be an advantage for High Point Climbing, O’Brien said.

On a nice weekend in Chattanooga, climbers can travel to natural rock formations in 20 or so minutes as an alternative to the gym, O’Brien said. Not so in Memphis.

“What happens in a city like Memphis, your membership base is more solid and people become more of a community in the gym,” O’Brien said. “And they will take a trip on a weekend to an outdoor climbing crag.”

High Point’s website, highpointclimbing.com, quotes an April 2015 edition of Climbing Magazine as stating High Point is “the country’s coolest gym.”

In Chattanooga, the outdoor climbing walls feature climbing on transparent climbing material  “that is like nothing else,” the company’s website states.

The Memphis wall will be composed of a different material — molded Fiberglas — that is better for climbing, O’Brien said. The wall will be made in Bulgaria.

Inside the gym, climbing areas are available for all ages and abilities. The space includes a “Kid Zone.”

The gym also provides cross-training, as well as aerobic, weight and yoga facilities with 13 yoga and two spin classes weekly in Chattanooga.

The Commercial Appeal

By Linda A. Moore

Officials in Collierville are pondering a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) proposal from Mueller Industries Inc. that would move the company’s headquarters from Memphis to Collierville, bringing a nearly $15 million investment to the town along with 120 jobs.

Last week the Collierville Industrial Development Board heard the particulars of the plan that would move Mueller into a new building on the southeast corner of Schilling Farms Boulevard and Shilling Farms Boulevard East.

Mueller is a publicly traded manufacturer of metal and plastic flow control products. It has manufacturing and distribution facilities across the globe and will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year. It moved its headquarters to Memphis in 1996.

While Mueller looked for a new HQ, the company considered staying in Memphis, moving to Germantown or a community outside of the Mid-South, Treas said. It was aggressively courted by Mississippi, Treas told the Collierville IDB.

And they likely would have made it “incredibly valuable to Mueller in terms of dollars” to make that happen, he said.

“But when the smoke cleared, this felt like home,” Treas said.

Collierville collects about $4,700 on the land under consideration, said John Duncan, the town’s director of economic development.

The construction of a new 50,000- to 55,000-square-foot office building, including building costs and other expenses, puts the investment at $14.75 million, Duncan said. Average annual salary for the employees is $89,000.

That development, without the PILOT reduction, would generate $99,107 annually in property taxes, Duncan said.

With the PILOT, 75 percent or $74,330 of those taxes would be abated, leaving Collierville with $24,777 in property taxes.

The Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board must also approve a Shelby County tax abatement.

The estimated county PILOT would be $61,000 a year and the estimated county abatement would be $183,000 a year, Duncan said.

The land and building will be owned by developer Kevin Hyneman Companies with Mueller holding a 15-year lease, Treas said.

The Collierville industrial board will vote on the Mueller proposal later in May, Duncan said. If approved it will then got to the board of mayor and aldermen for final approval and then on to EDGE.

County Commissioner Willie Brooks, a Democrat from Memphis, is a non-voting member on the EDGE board.

Although there have been challenges to the practice of companies shuffling within the county from one municipality to another, adding another state into the mix quiets those concerns.

It’s more important that the jobs stay in the county, Brooks said.

“We certainly wouldn’t want them to go out of state. If we can retain these jobs in Shelby County it would to me serve as a benefit to Shelby County as opposed to another state being able to absorb 120 workers,” Brooks said.

If Mueller’s PILOT bid is successful, it would move in to its new offices in early 2019.

Memphis Business Journal

Sometimes it helps to know your neighbors.

That’s how Kevin Hyneman, CEO of Memphis-based Kevin Hyneman Cos. Inc, ended up with the contract to build a $14.5 million office building for one of Memphis’ largest companies.

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Fisher Arnold

Hyneman is preparing to develop the 55,000-square-foot building for Mueller Industries in Collierville’s Schilling Farms Community. But, it all started with a conversation with a powerful neighbor.

“[Mueller CEO Greg Christopher] is a neighbor of mine in Southwind. We often chatted. I knew their lease [in a nearby Southwind office park] was maturing December of 2018. I told him, ‘I got the ideal place,'” Hyneman said.

That place was Schilling Farms. Even though Mueller looked extensively at other options — including locations in North Mississippi and Fayette County — over the past year and a half, the company ended up settling on the first lot Hyneman showed Christopher back in early 2016.

Hyneman said Boyle Investment Co., which manages Schilling Farms and would be selling the plot for Mueller’s headquarter to Hyneman, and Collierville’s Industrial Development Board, which is currently considering a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes for the Mueller move, both made the move possible by being “extremely helpful.”

“I dealt with [Boyle executive vice president] Mark Halperin, and he’s a gentleman. … [Collierville director of Economic Development] John Duncan has been very resourceful,” Hyneman said.

Boyle vice president Les Binkley said he is “delighted” Mueller picked Schilling, as the development is “catered to be a good environment for corporate office users.”

If the move occurs, Mueller would join Schilling Farms corporate office tenants Helena Chemical, MCR Safety and Juice Plus. The development also includes residential neighborhoods, retail space, restaurants, doctors’ offices, a YMCA, banks and a church.

Avison Young’s Shane Soefker is working with Hyneman on the development, and Fisher Arnold is the civil engineering firm. Fleming Architects is the architectural firm, and Grinder, Taber & Grinder, Inc. is the general contractor, Hyneman said.

Hyneman said the Mueller investment will bring his total investment in Collierville to more than $50 million.

Memphis Business Journal

Memphis is set to lose a Fortune 1000 company to Collierville.

Mueller Industries, currently headquartered in Southwind, is planning to move its 120-person headquarters to a yet-to-be-constructed office building at Schilling Farms, according to Collierville director of Economic Development John Duncan.

The company, which produces piping, industrial metals and climate control products, presented an application for a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) to the Collierville Industrial Development Board (IDB) Wednesday, April 26, Duncan said.

In its presentation, the company outlined $14.8 million in land, building and personal property investments that will be made in Collierville in conjunction with its proposed move. The 120 jobs involved pay an average salary of $89,000.

A Boyle executive did not return a request for comment, and Mueller executives could not be reached for this story.

Over the 10 years of the proposed PILOT, Mueller would make about $248,000 in PILOT payments to Collierville. If the Schilling Farms parcel were to go undeveloped, property taxes on the undeveloped land would amount to $46,710 over the 10 years, Duncan said.

By Tim O’Connor

Construction Today Magazine

February 2017

By Tim O’Connor

Boyle Investment Co.’s most valuable asset is its experience. The 84-year-old company has an extensive portfolio that includes most any kind of development imaginable, from suburban subdivisions to massive downtown mixed-use projects, hotels, and office and retail facilities. .

“Boyle is one of Memphis’ oldest real estate developers and has a longstanding reputation for quality developments that stand the test of time,” Vice President Les Binkley says. “We are a long-term holder of real estate and are known for our attention to detail.”

The faces behind that reputation for quality have been a lasting presence even as the company has grown. Many of Boyle’s executives have worked at the company for 40 years or more. “Boyle has a deep bench of experts who have been with the company for years and provide the necessary expertise and experience to ensure the long-term success of our real estate projects,” Binkley says.

Experience has guided Boyle well even in the most difficult of times. Three brothers, Bayard, Snowden and Charles Boyle, formed their namesake property management firm in 1933, just as the nation began its slow recovery out of the Great Depression. By the end of the decade, the company joined with National Life, Provident Life and other insurance providers to issue commercial and residential loans.

Following World War II, Boyle fed the development of Memphis by providing loans for residential, commercial and industrial projects throughout the Tennessee city. In the late 1940s, the company expanded into developing subdivisions in Memphis.

For six decades, the company flourished in the Memphis market, undertaking major projects such as the conversion of the Ridgeway Country Club into a 204-acre multi-purpose development and the 650,000-square-foot headquarters for electrical component manufacturer Thomas & Betts. The company gradually took on developments and holdings in Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas and Missouri, but it wasn’t until 2001 that it opened its second office, located in Nashville, Tenn.

The Nashville division has since grown to encompass about 30 employees and 2.8 million square feet of commercial space. Another 5 million square feet of projects are in the development and planning stages. “The Nashville office has become one of the foremost real estate development and acquisition firms in middle Tennessee by partnering with local land owners, investors and growing businesses to create value in real estate,”  said Jeff Haynes, Partner of Boyle Nashville, LLC.

Diverse Developments

Diversification fueled Boyle growth for much of its history and remains a core part of the company’s strategy. Boyle has years of experience in developing complex, large-scale mixed-use communities and high-end neighborhoods. The company’s notable projects include Ridgeway Center in the East Memphis neighborhood, which has 1.5 million square feet of office space; Humphreys Center, also in East Memphis, an office, retail and residential development with a medical center; and Schilling Farms, a 443-acre mixed-use community in the Memphis suburb of Collierville.

Several projects underway will continue to advance Boyle’s position as a leading developer in Memphis and Nashville. In 2016, the company broke ground at Ridgeway Center on 949 Shady Grove, Memphis’ first new Class A office building since 2009 and the new home of Pinnacle Financial Partners’ Memphis headquarters. Binkley says the building is on schedule to be completed in the fall of 2017 .

Boyle just recently completed three projects at Schilling Farms: a 50,000-square-foot Class A office building, a 9,000-square-foot retail center and the second phase of a multifamily community of boutique flats and townhomes called Carrington West.

In Nashville, Boyle is overseeing the construction of Capitol View, a 32-acre mixed-use project featuring offices, shops, restaurants, hotels, upscale multifamily residential units and a 2.5-acre urban activity park. Capitol View will also be home to the corporate headquarters of at least two companies. Hospital Corp. of America (HCA) opened a 500,000-square-foot office in the development last October to house subsidiaries Health Trust, Parallon and Sarah Cannon. Meanwhile, a new 250,000-square-foot headquarters for Christian publishing company LifeWay is under construction.

Work on phase two of Capitol View has already begun.  Haynes says the development is adding a new mixed-used building with retail and office space and 378 multifamily units. A second building for restaurants, specialty retail and 300,000 square feet of Class A offices is also planned.

The development at Schilling Farms also continues to grow. The project’s upscale multifamily community, The Carrington at Schilling Farms, opened two years ago and Boyle is already leasing a second phase, called Carrington West, which will add another 125 boutique apartments and townhomes.

Building Communities

In the past, Boyle used an in-house construction company to build the vast majority of its projects , but today the company chooses to work in close relationship with select third party general contractors . “We currently contract out the construction of our projects and aim to build long-term relationships with firms specializing in the various building types that we develop instead of  of working on a strictly transactional basis,” Binkley explains. “We only engage with companies that maintain the highest standards of quality and pay the same attention to detail that we do at Boyle.”

No matter where its developments are located, Boyle strives to design projects that benefit the region beyond the project site. “We think it’s important to make sure that quality of life is maintained and enhanced in all of the communities in which we develop,” Binkley says. Boyle has provided financial and land donations to the Wolf River Conservancy, which is part of the Mid-South Regional Greenprint initiative, a 25-year government-funded plan to create 700 miles of trails and cycling paths in the Memphis area. Additionally, the company contributed to the Big River Crossing, a 4,827-foot long pedestrian boardwalk that opened in 2016 and is built along the Harahan Bridge, a rail bridge spanning the Mississippi River just south of downtown Memphis.