University of Memphis Hosts Community Meeting on Deloach Proposed Student Housing Project

Oct. 16, 2020 — The University of Memphis and Stella Group, who have worked together to propose “The Central at Memphis" student-housing development, hosted a community meeting on Thursday regarding the project.

The proposed project will consist of 135 student apartments with a total of 529 beds, including five buildings on Deloach between Central and Poplar Avenues. The development team presented the project to the community and answered questions about the project. More than 80 citizens participated in the virtual community meeting asking questions about the project, development team and the University’s plans for the project.

“This was a very helpful experience, hopefully for all participants,” said Raaj Kurapati, chief financial officer, University of Memphis. “The University has always worked to be a good neighbor, and this was an opportunity to share the details of the project and its operation, as well as to answer questions and gather helpful input. We will now review the comments with the development team to see which refinements may need to be incorporated into the project design.” 

This project is supported by the University of Memphis Board of Trustees and is critical to the University’s efforts to achieve Carnegie R1 status, which would place the University in the top tier of academic and research facilities in the country. In addition, the proposed project will provide essential modern housing capacity that is much needed by the University to attract the highest quality faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students. The project represents approximately $54.5 million of 2021 private investment in the City of Memphis, with 25% of the construction budget committed to local MWBEs.

“This is an excellent, much-needed project that will help keep the University on its strategic development path and moving towards achieving Carnegie R1 status,” said Kurapati. “The University has been working cooperatively with the development team for over a year to make sure the proposed facility, which will be owned by the University, will fit well into the University’s campus and the surrounding community.”

“We were quite pleased with the community meeting, the level of interest and the feedback gathered,” said Adrian Stella, president of the Stella Group. “We have assembled a uniquely qualified and experienced Memphis-based team and will now work with the University to determine how best to incorporate the input provided into the project design and structure. We have been refining the facility design based on community feedback throughout the development process, and we will continue to work with the University of Memphis to listen to the community’s concerns.”