Germantown development: Construction to start soon on Glasgow, Carrefour at the Gateway

Developers of the former Germantown Country Club and Carrefour at the Gateway have gotten the green light to begin the first phases of construction.

The Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday unanimously approved three development contracts — one for Carrefour at the Gateway and two for Glasgow Planned Unit Development, where the country club once sat.

After the approvals, the developers will start phase one construction this year but will return before the board again for authorization of construction of other phases.

Here is a look at the two major Germantown developments and their contracts.

Carrefour at the Gateway

In limbo for years, Carrefour at the Gateway began making headway this year with plans to construct one building as a preview for the rest of the project.

Developer CRE DEVCO Germantown, a group of investors led by Tower Ventures President Billy Orgel, purchased the 10-acre parcel for $17 million Jan. 13. Now the group plans to begin construction on phase 1A soon. That includes a 10,600-square-foot, two-story commercial and retail building at Poplar Avenue and Kirby Parkway.

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Developers expect construction to begin as soon as possible, before the end of the year.

Alderman Jon McCreery praised the "thoughtfulness" that went into the redevelopment.

"A development like this at our western gateway would potentially bring additional development all around it," McCreery said. "And that's happened."

The alderman hopes the rest of Carrefour will be as carefully thought out as phase 1A.

Phase 1B will include redevelopment of the rest of the land, but developers have not set a plan for that yet.

The group plans to keep the already approved plan from 2019 by Cannon, Austin and Cannon.

The outline features up to 320 apartment units, 20,000 square feet of public green space, 320,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space, a 174-room hotel and 1,400 parking spots.

Also, the name Carrefour at the Gateway is not CRE DEVCO's idea or final change, it was for the previous owners, said Project Manager Adam Slovis in a previous interview with The Commercial Appeal.

Glasgow Planned Unit Development

The former grounds of the Germantown Country Club will soon turn to Glasgow after the board approved the development contract for phase one of the project, which includes 150 single-family residential units.

"We have great developments in our community," McCreery said. "I think this one's going to raise the bar and provide something that's going to send a message, a clear message, to many developers that are coming to our city as to what type of product and what type of development we're looking for."

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Alderwoman Mary Anne Gibson reiterated McCreery's statement and thanked Spence Ray, one of the developers, for his outreach about the project and communicating with residents as well as the city.

Mayor Mike Palazzolo also praised Ray for his communication with the surrounding homeowners associations.

The first phase will cover about 74 acres of the 145-acre parcel and include about 2.5 homes per acre, according to the outline plan. The whole project will include 366 dwellings in three phases.

For the first phase, the developers, Farmington Kimbrough Development Group (FKDG), plan to build 129 homes with a minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet and 21 homes with a minimum lot size of 6,750 square feet. It will also include 12 common open space areas with private streets, guest parking, fountains, detention ponds, landscaped medians, a clubhouse, a swimming pool, a pickleball court, cluster mailbox units, pocket parks, pedestrian trails and a 100-foot-wide buffer area around the perimeter of the development.

FKDG expects to break ground for phase one in at least two weeks.

The board also approved the Glasgow Conservation Area development contract, which features 28.31 acres to provide flood storage, tree mitigation and drainage for all phases of the project. The Glasgow Homeowners Association will maintain the conservation area as the main drainage area for the neighborhood.

Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at Dima.Amro@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @AmroDima.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Germantown's Glasgow, Carrefour at the Gateway to begin construction