Our "What's That?" column aims to answer that very question about an ongoing construction project in Memphis.
If you've come Downtown lately, you might have noticed some construction near Central BBQ and the National Civil Rights Museum at the former Masonic Building Association site on G.E. Patterson Avenue.
The historic building, located at 154 G.E. Patterson Ave., dates back to the early 1900s. Memphis-based AOD Properties, LLC purchased the building in May 2022 for $520,000, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds. (The building was most recently known as the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge.)
AOD Properties is an affiliate of Memphis-based architecture firm UrbanARCH Associates. UrbanARCH co-owner Brian Bullard has overseen the project and in 2022 and 2023 applied for incentives with the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC). Plans are to renovate the three-story building into a mixed-use space.
In June 2022, the Center City Development Corp., an affiliate board of the DMC, approved a $60,000 development grant to AOD Properties for redeveloping the site. In July 2023, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp., a DMC-affiliated board, approved a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) for the $4.6 million project.
Plans for the site would convert the 13,083-square-foot building into a mixed-use space. The first floor would be an office space, with plans for UrbanARCH to relocate its offices there. (Currently, the architecture firm is located nearby at 498 S. Main St.) The upper two floors would be converted into 10 apartment units, the residential component is called DeSoto Lofts, according to the PILOT application.
The building will have a controlled access parking lot with 13 parking spaces for residents and guests. The DeSoto Lofts name is derived from the building's history -- it was built in 1913 as the DeSoto Hotel, according to the PILOT application. It was converted into a Masonic Lodge in the 1970s.
AOD Properties was founded in 2011 by Bullard and Stephen Skinner. Both Bullard and Skinner are principals and co-owners of UrbanARCH Associates. UrbanARCH was founded in 2002 and recently oversaw the design of Concourse B at Memphis International Airport.
Susannah Herring and Gabe Velasquez of November 6 Investments are also involved in the DeSoto Lofts project. November 6 Investments is the developer behind the mixed-use project at the former Greyhound station at 475-525 N. Main St.