Many times during the last five years I’ve said to developers, “Bring something to Southaven that we’ve never had before.”  Well, developer Brian Hill is doing just that.  Construction will begin soon on a $200 million development on a 228-acre parcel of land between Getwell and Tchulahoma just north of Nail Road.  “Silo Square” will be a mixed-use development with office, retail, hotel, and restaurant commercial occupancies combined with upscale, loft-style apartments built around a traditional town square near an old silo.  This walkable, pedestrian-friendly community will also consist of approximately 300 single-family residential homes with a variety of price ranges connected to the town square with a 10-foot multi-use trail that will span the distance between Getwell and Tchulahoma.

This development will tie-in nicely with Snowden Grove Park and help make our city more pedestrian-friendly and improve our entertainment value.  The main entrance from Getwell will line-up with the park entrance on May Boulevard.  Many young adults and “empty-nesters” are attracted to residential options within walking distance to entertainment options.   Southaven is an “auto-era” city that has never had a traditional town square that is commonly found with older, “rail-era” cities that were naturally designed to be more walkable.  The town square design with this development will add this amenity.

Silo Square will also bring architectural character never seen here before as the buildings will be built with an urban design up near the streets and sidewalks and made to look like old buildings built many decades ago.  The general design will have the look of what you will see on Main Street in Memphis, the square in Oxford, Mississippi, or in old ski-resort towns in Colorado.

Continued development always brings traffic challenges.  The development itself will have a new street from Getwell to Tchulahoma which will provide relief for Getwell.  The City already has a pending project to widen Getwell south of Church to Starlanding which is projected to be under construction in 2020.  The development itself will also promote more pedestrian activity which will also reduce vehicle traffic.  Nonetheless, the development will bring traffic, although certainly manageable.  This inconvenience is greatly outweighed by the financial benefits the development brings to the City in the form of significant tax revenue that may be used to improve amenities and services throughout the entire City.

Get ready for Silo Square…”something we’ve never had before!”