Lesley Young - The Daily News -

Eric Robertson gets excited when he thinks about the future of Memphis. That’s because he knows he’ll be a part of its development.

“This is a great time for anyone who wants to be a part of building a city. We have the opportunity to participate in what Memphis will look like 50 years from now,” said the 36-year-old native Memphian.

To participate in the evolution on a grassroots level, Robertson left his post as chief administrative officer of the Center City Commission this fall to take on the position of project manager for the newly created neighborhood revitalization effort, Greater Memphis Neighborhoods.

“That was part of my rationale in taking the job,” he said. “If we can get this right, if we can initiate the transformation of our neighborhoods and bring them back so that we have a thriving city, I can say I was a part of that.”

Members of a steering committee, the Greater Memphis Partnership – which includes the city of Memphis, the Assisi Foundation of Memphis Inc., the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, the Consilience Group, Bank of America, the Coalition for Livable Communities and the Community Development Council of Greater Memphis – formed GMN to rally revitalization efforts around a single, unified plan.

Working with consulting firm EDAW (now known as Design + Planning at AECOM), the partnership gathered input from community associations, the private sector, and city and county staff and officials.

It then conducted a needs assessment and an existing neighborhood conditions report, collected an inventory of revitalization organizations and came up with a comprehensive plan for revitalizing the neighborhoods of Memphis, called “A Blueprint for Revitalization.”

“The great thing about this effort is that it was not something that was from the top down. This was from the bottom up,” Robertson said. “Community development corporations and people in neighborhoods came together with foundations and said, ‘We want to put together this plan to revitalize our neighborhoods.’

“Past plans have been developed from the top and sold to the people, but GMN was developed by people on the ground level, and now we’re taking it to the city.”

Since taking on his new position in October, Robertson’s responsibilities include rallying support around the plan, including the City Council.

“I have to present a resolution to the City Council along with members of Mayor Wharton’s administration, and ask that they adopt the GMN plan as recommended policy,” he said.

Robertson describes the plan as an effort to “maximize investments in the community for the greatest return” using a three-fold approach, with Robertson serving as a middleman between investors and neighborhoods.

“We plan on looking at three areas of each neighborhood: the built environment, such as affordable housing; the people, such as social services and resources available to them so they can grow to their capacity; and the economic development, such as grocery stores, lawyers, CPAs, and doctors’ offices,” he said.

Through GMN, Robertson will work on only one to three neighborhoods with the greatest amount of need at a time, investing the funds from foundations, corporations and other investors in the specified areas of need.

“We’re talking about improving the quality of life for the citizens of Memphis,” he said. “You cannot have a community of choice without having neighborhoods of choice.”

Robertson’s resume proves the University of Memphis graduate to be well-suited for the job ahead.

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and urban studies, Robertson worked as an intern for The LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corp., which turned into a full-time position for eight years and kept him working where he was living.

“I live in Soulsville, and I love to tell people where I live,” he said. “It’s a great neighborhood with a lot of history and tradition.”

The CCC is where Robertson was able to cultivate his city-building savvy.

“Dealing with community development at such a high level, I view as great exposure and experience for me professionally and personally,” he said. “I believe a city must have a thriving, fiscal downtown to be a thriving successful city, and so being able to be a part of the CCC’s efforts in that is tremendous for me.

“This opportunity is so big. We have the possibility to create a transformational change for the people of the city of Memphis. This is a one-of-a-kind plan that has the opportunity to be a national model.”