Parcels at Concourse, Gold Award, Multifamily
Parcels at Concourse
Memphis, Tenn.
Entrant/Architect/Interior Designer: Looney Ricks Kiss
Builder: Grinder, Taber & Grinder
Developer: Crosstown
Photographer: Chad Mellon / McGinn Photography
Size: 267 units
Hard cost, excluding land: $61/sf
Completion: August 2017
The jury lauded Parcels at Concourse as “a phenomenal example of adaptive reuse,” recognizing the monumental task of rehabbing an abandoned former Sears distribution center comprising 1.3 million square feet.
After demolition, “The only thing left was the building structure and the masonry veneer,” says architect Tony Pellicciotti, principal of Memphis, Tenn.–based Looney Ricks Kiss (LRK). All 3,200 windows were replaced and an 86-person crew took a year and a half to tuck-point the 100-year-old masonry.
In terms of design, getting natural light into the building was critical. LRK created several large atria that serve as civic space. “Cutting out areas and opening floor plates to bring in natural light is an impressive design move,” noted the judges. “Interior units are leasing at the same price as exterior units.” Pellicciotti notes that Parcels is “the world’s largest historical rehab LEED Platinum–certified building.”
Today the 10-story building—the vision of Todd Richardson, a University of Memphis art history professor—is truly a “vertical urban village” complete with residential rentals and retail spaces as well as a high school, YMCA, radio station, chapel, dental clinic, and a health care company’s corporate headquarters. The building is also home to four teacher and health care worker residencies that include apartments.
“These fundamental aspects create a unique, rich community that is more robust than it might otherwise have been,” Pellicciotti says. “There’s a beautiful cross-section of the community here—all ages, socioeconomic levels, and religions—playing and working together.”
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See more photos of this project below.