Conversations with Les Binkley, Vice President, Boyle Investment Company

Les Binkley oversees activities pertaining to Boyle’s mixed-use developments.  Binkley is now also spearheading Boyle’s re-entry into the multi-family market with the development of The Carrington at Schilling Farms, an upscale apartment community consisting of 111 boutique flats and townhomes along with corner retail at the intersection of Winchester and Schilling Boulevard in Collierville. 

Editor:  Why is Boyle getting back into the development of apartment communities? 
Broadly, we feel it is a wise move as greater portions of the general population are choosing a more flexible housing situation.  That, coupled with home ownership levels continuing to fall back to normal levels, gives us confidence that apartment development offers a sound investment opportunity.  For The Carrington at Schilling Farms, we joint ventured with Harry Smith, our long time land partner at Schilling Farms, as well as apartment experts Clyde Patton and Bruce Taylor.  Their company, Patton & Taylor Construction Company, is building the project.  This has been a wonderful team for our initial foray back into apartment development. 

Editor:  How will The Carrington at Schilling Farms differentiate itself from other multi-family communities in the market?
Our project is quite small compared to the ordinary suburban project, and we feel the market will respond well to a more personalized experience.  We also focused on creating a great public realm with buildings maintaining a high level of architectural detail and interior design. Finally, we incorporated corner retail into our most prominent building to provide neighborhood services and activate the street along our main boulevard.  This benefits the residents as well as the surrounding neighborhood.  Every effort is being made to avoid the creation a mono-culture found in many parts of suburbia where you see sprawling multi-family communities behind gates with buildings endlessly repeated.  The Carrington at Schilling Farms aims to counterbalance this type development and offers unique, refined living typically not found in multi-family communities.

Editor:  How will developing multi-family enhance Boyle’s successful community-building initiatives for which the company is so well-known?
Multi-family, in all the various forms it can take, plays an integral role in building complete communities.  We find the mix enriches the neighborhood as a whole and allows prospective residents at all phases of life to consider living in our projects.  Developing multi-family ourselves gives us additional capacity to knit these neighborhoods together in a more meaningful way, and thus elevate the entire community.  The experience and lifestyle this yields for those who choose our communities is a positive one, which encourages us to continue refining our place making abilities to produce better and better neighborhoods as we move forward into the future.