July 12, 2016

Schilling Tract to Take Shape in Fall


By Daisy Fontaine
– The Collierville Herald –

It was the first of March, 1995, when Robert Dalhoff, engineering designer, presented a plan for the 450-acre Schilling Farms. It wasn’t the first plan, but Collierville planning officials thought it was a better plan than the one a number of years earlier, which contained a large amount of high density residential property.

Now the new plan, changed slightly, is about to be reality, said Gary Thompson, director of planning for Boyle Investments, speaking to Collierville Chamber of Commerce members at the chamber’s monthly meeting. The plan, he said, leans toward keeping the ambiance of the development in touch with the past while accommodating the present, a goal of Russell Bloodworth, executive vice president of Boyle Investment "The only thing we lack now is access (no railroad crossing) and sanitary sewers and we’re soon to get both," Thompson said.

Expecting Norfolk Southern to gain speed on building the crossing will be ready by the time development on the front of the property begins late this fall. And the sanitary sewers are expected to be in place in a few weeks. "This is the most important thing, that we have adequate water and dispensation of sewage," he said.

The director review portions of the plan which might have been forgotten, listing the uses to be found in the development-work places, shopping places, education places and living places.

Things already in the making in Schilling Farms are the new middle school south of Winchester; BankTennessee at the main entrance on Poplar at Poplar View Parkway north of Norfolk Southern Lines; a residential development with 87 lots, which will be ready for marketing next month; the Collierville YMCA, already begun; and biggest of all, Schilling’s two major speculative buildings for light industrial use.

One building, an office/service building, is slated for 120,000 square feet with a glass front and completed interiors and the other, a distribution center, will encompass 83,793 square feet. Thompson said potential tenants are on a list for space in these buildings, which will have attractive facades, extensive landscaping, and ample parking.

Noting the proximity of a number of major industries and facilities, Thompson said Schilling Farms is 45 seconds away from both The FedEx computer complex and Baptist Hospital Collierville. He mentioned the large number of banks, including BankTennessee, within eye distance of Schilling Farms N First Tennessee, Union Planters Bank, and National Bank of Commerce.