Three Landlords Want to Create a More Walkable Poplar

One of the busiest commercial stretches of East Memphis will get the attention of three landlords who aim to improve walkability in the Poplar Corridor.

Boyle Investment Co., Highwoods Properties Inc. and Loeb Properties Inc. announced Wednesday the formation of the Shady Grove/Ridgeway Business Owners Association.

The new association will advocate for pedestrian and streetscape improvements in the East Memphis business district, particularly at Poplar Avenue and South Shady Grove.

“We want to make it easier for office workers in Boyle’s new Class A office building at 949 Shady Grove or at Highwoods’ premier office buildings at Triad Centre to cross Shady Grove at lunchtime and dine at any of the restaurants in Regalia shopping center or at Grisanti’s at the Embassy Suites,” said Boyle chief operating officer Mark Halperin in a statement released by the firm.

Boyle began construction last month at 949 Shady Grove on  a six-story building containing 155,000 square feet of office space.

Landlord efforts will focus on pedestrian use along South Shady Grove stretching from Briarcrest and extending across Poplar  to Park Place shopping center on the south at Ridgeway and Park Avenue

The real estate firms own many of the buildings that house offices, stores, restaurants, hotels and medical facilities on Poplar Avenue at Ridgeway. The area includes 7.7 million square feet of office space.

Boyle’s building is the first new office property to go up in years in the Poplar Corridor, where the vacancy rate on Class A office space has narrowed to 3.9 percent.

The demand for space has given rise to a series of projects along the street west of the Ridgeway intersection.

Poplar Commons, the planned East Memphis shopping center to be anchored by Nordstrom Rack, will cost more than $15 million on the site that once housed Sears.

Nearby, In Rel Properties is spending $6 million on the renovation of 34-story Clark Tower. The firm also is examining transforming the nearby grounds  into a cohesive office campus.