Boyle Plans First Office Building at Schilling Farms

By Terry Hollahan
– The Memphis Business Journal –

Memphis-based Boyle Investment Company is launching its first office building at Schilling Farms, a 62,000-square-foot office/flex facility that will be expandable to 86,000 square feet.

The one-story office complex, called Schilling Farms Business Center, will become a cornerstone in the $350 million, mixed-use Schilling Farms development in Collierville because of its central location and design.

The curved building will conform with a bend in Schilling Boulevard, a primary entrance into the 443-acre development. Upon entering Schilling Boulevard from Poplar, the front of the new business center immediately becomes visible from the intersection.

Cary Whitehead III, senior vice president of Boyle Investment, says the building is designed for traditional offices uses, but the facility is versatile enough to meet a wide range of office needs.

The building will accommodate tenants that need warehouse space or call center operations and provides enough parking for medical practices. The facility has 14-foot ceilings and will provide 336 parking spaces, well above the standard ratio of four spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space.

The building, being constructed on a 6.5-acre tract, is scheduled for completion in April, Whitehead says.

The architect for the project is The Crump Firm. Mid-America Construction is the general contractor. Whitehead says the growth of Collierville and the location of Federal Express Corp.’s Worldwide and Technology headquarters nearby make Schilling Farms a prime location for office development.

“Schilling Farms Business Center is strategically located in the heart of Collierville and is convenient to Nonconnah Parkway,” Whitehead says.

Bays can be built out in 3,500-square-foot increments, but the project also can accommodate a few smaller users. Each tenant will have their own front door and separate meter to control HVAC.

The Class A building will have a glass-and-brick exterior, extensive landscaping and conduit for fiber optics.

Whitehead says there has been a lot of interest in the building and that Boyle is currently negotiating with three prospective tenants.

Planned for six years, development at Schilling Farms has taken off in the past year and is now home to a new middle school, KidTech day care center, apartment units and its first building, a $7 million state-of-the-art YMCA facility which is planning a $2 million expansion after a year in operation.

The development’s master plan calls for 70 acres of distribution space, 80 acres of office space and 900 homes, plus retail shops, a hotel, medical facilities, banks, a church and parks.

“This is one of the largest and most complex projects we’ve undertaken,” says Joel Fulmer, vice president at Boyle, a 67-year-old Memphis company.

Schilling Farms, a joint venture with Schilling Farms Enterprises, was designed around a theme that retains natural attributes of Collierville, such as its agricultural heritage.

The development includes a trademark agricultural tower at each entrance that resembles an old pigeon nesting tower commonly seen years ago.

Whitehead says the Schilling Farms concept also is pedestrian-oriented, with a common sidewalk theme throughout. The single- and multi-family residences under construction or planned are designed to be within walking distance of retail and other amenities Schilling Farms will offer.