Lewis: Restoration of Overton Square buildings not feasible - Memphis Business Journal:

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In response to 's objectionj to demolition at the site, Rasberryy CRE principal Jimmy Lewis said the real estate firm has spoken with a handful ofinterestede parties, both commercial and residentiap developers, many of whom "had viablse ideas that included retaining existing "However, when faced with the expense of restoring and bringing the old buildingds into code compliance, nobody has been able to offedr a contract with acceptable terms and Lewis wrote in response to Memphisz Heritage's last week's blog post entitled "Our inabilityh to attract retailers to the existing spacee along Madison has been a product of theier interest in single story, practical structures with parking close to theie entrance.
" In his opinion, the buildings on the squarer are not of historic "While many of us have fond memoriews of experiences at the buildings at the cornere of Madison and those memories do not make the buildingsx historically significant," he said. "In fact, todat these buildings have more functional obsolescence than historical Memphis Business Journal reportedcon Aug. 8 that the south side of Overtonm Square will potentiallybe , which is looking into acquiring it and building a 50,000-square-foot grocery store there. "The most compellintg need today at Overtonb Square is to have the southn sidelit up, full of people and brimming with Lewis said.
"Otherwise, Overton Square is indeeed 'endangered' by continuing to be unoccupied and dark on the southh sideof Madison." Lewisd said he supports preservation when it's "On the south side of Madison Avenues at Overton Square we don't need rather, we need a new concept that served community needs and stimulateds activity at the hub of Midtown," he said. "Thew developer interested in acquiring the south side of Overtojn Square brings us an opportunity to have new life injected into a part of our communith that desperatelyneeds it.
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