Three years later, Boyle Development in Germantown Moving Forward 

Memphis Business Journal

By Jacob Steimer

A 50-home development on Germantown’s border with Memphis is moving forward after years of slow progress.

Boyle Investment Co.’s Allelon development first received the Germantown Planning Commission’s approval in September 2016. On March 5, Boyle will return to the Commission to make a change and get its final plat approval, so it can finally start construction of homes this year.

The delay was primarily caused by rain and soil issues, Boyle vice president Gary Thompson said.

“We’ve had exorbitant rains since April 2017,” Thompson said. “[And], we had a ton of bad dirt [that] we could not process affordably so we had to end up hauling [that] away.”

While going through this extra long process of site preparation and road installation, Thompson said one message came through loud and clear from potential buyers: the neighborhood should be gated.

The original plan was to not gate the neighborhood, which would allow the City of Germantown to pay for road maintenance instead of residents. But, Thompson said people willing to pay $700,000 or more for a house in Germantown — and the builders willing to build them — are now insisting on gated neighborhoods.

“I’m not a particular fan of [gates],” Thompson said. “[But], the plus for the citizens of Germantown is they won’t have the costs of maintaining the roads and the drainage. … [And] it gives [residents] some sense of security at night.”

The homes are set to range in size between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet.

Thompson is hoping construction will start on the first 10 or so homes in May and be finished early next year. From there, he expects between 10 or 15 homes will be built per year, barring a recession.

For that to happen, though, Memphis’ rain streak will have to end, which doesn’t seem likely to happen soon.

“This week we’ll probably be washed out completely [and then] we’ll need three to five [clear] days before it’s dry enough to work. [But], we’re not going to get that [next week],” he said.