archimania to build cutting-edge South Main office

Memphis architecture firm archimania has big plans for its new office.

Real estate development firm Filament LLC – owned by archimania principals Todd Walker and Barry Yoakum – intends to construct a new mixed-use development on a vacant lot at 705 S. Main Street.

The cutting-edge project will include a 5,000-square-foot office building, which archimania will use as its headquarters, as well as six multifamily units in a separate, 6,000-square-foot structure.

The entire development will be conceived as a demonstration project to address civic engagement, education, enrichment and sustainability. Plans call for the building to be the first privately owned Net Zero-energy building in Memphis.

Vegetable gardens and fruit trees will be components of the overall development. An art and education plaza will be available to the public, and the owners want to host outdoor concerts and art openings on-site. Architectural lighting will brighten the now dimly lit corner.

Located at the southwest corner of South Main Street and East Carolina Avenue, the Filament development seeks to connect and activate southernmost South Main Street to a more developed South Main District.

Construction on the $1.7 million development is slated to begin in December. The office component should be complete by July 4, 2015, when archimania celebrates its 20th year in business. The residential units are slated for delivery in early 2016.
Walker and Yoakum – operating as Filament – have owned the vacant 0.5-acre parcel since 2010. Through a joint venture, Grinder Taber Grinder and Precise Contracting will build the project; Metropolitan Bank is providing the financing.

The South Main district is ripe for redevelopment and has been a hotbed for new announcements in recent months. High Ground News recently brought you a rundown of planned and underway development projects in South Main.

Bigger projects like the Chisca Hotel redevelopment and purchase of The Horizon on Riverside Drive are being bolstered by smaller projects filling in the rest of the Downtown Memphis neighborhood.

And all of it – including the archimania project – is happening along the $40 million Main-To-Main Connector Project, which includes 10 miles of streetscape, utility, sidewalk and roadway improvements from Uptown to South Main and the conversion of the Harahan Bridge for bicycle and pedestrian use.

The City of Memphis held a ceremony this week to mark the official construction launch of the Big River Crossing pedestrian boardwalk.

By Jane A. Donahoe