Nearly $6M permit pulled in Frayser

Memphis Business Journal
Jacob Steimer 

The "big barn" Frayser development the MBJ wrote about in August 2019 is moving forward — and appears to have grown.

A $5.8 million building permit was applied for June 9 for the new Girls Inc. of Memphis facility. In August, the project at 1179 Dellwood Ave. was set to cost $4 million.

"[We are] investing in a neighborhood that deserves it," Girls Inc. CEO Lisa Moore said at the time. "It will exhibit to girls and their community that they are strong, smart, and bold."

The organization's plan is to construct three distinct buildings under one roof. Archimania has designed the structure to look like a "big barn," Moore said.

The building permit listed Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. as the contractor.

Girls Inc. has been using two acres of the eight-acre property for teaching girls to grow produce but only had two shipping containers, a porta potty, and a water spigot on the land.

The new facilities will dramatically increase the organization's programming abilities and help it expand the farm to six acres. They will also provide offices for staffers and a meeting place for the community.

The new development will be named the Patricia C. Howard campus. Howard worked with Girls Inc. of Memphis for 35 years and died in March 2019, according to The New Tri-State Defender.