Staff Reports - The Commercial Appeal -

If it helps land an attractive new anchor for the south side of Overton Square and helps keep Lick Creek in its banks, a $5 million parking garage-storm water retention facility is well worth the investment of public funds.

As described by the Midtown shopping and entertainment district's developer and city officials, the two-story structure would help make Overton Square the example of new urban design that many residents of Midtown and beyond want it to become.

Bike lanes on adjacent streets would become more practical as the free parking garage became available to replace any street parking spaces that might be lost.

The storm water retention basin that would be built beneath the garage would relieve some of the pressure to use precious green space in Overton Park to soak up the Lick Creek floods -- big factors for residents desperate for some relief from the flooding as well as park users worried about encroachment.

Those are significant benefits from a $5 million investment, assuming no other major public commitments to the project have been made but not revealed.

Three possible sources for those funds could avoid a major infusion of general tax revenues.

Housing and Community Development Director Robert Lipscomb and Memphis City Council member Jim Strickland say most if not all of the cost could come from federal disaster funds for flooding remediation, revenue from the local storm water fee and the proceeds from a tax increment financing (TIF) district that diverts sales tax proceeds for specific infrastructure needs.

The revival plan for the south half of the square, which is being redeveloped by Loeb Properties, meets many of the expectations set out in a new zoning plan for Midtown that is designed to create more sustainable, livable, energy-efficient neighborhoods.

One addition to the existing plan -- an entrance to the project's new 53,000-square-foot grocery store on its Cooper Street side -- would enhance the development's sense of place. And it would provide more continuity for pedestrians going from shop to shop along Madison and Cooper.

One very appealing aspect of the plan, though, is that it retains two uniquely designed buildings on the south side of Madison that hold a lot of memories for longtime Memphians.

The north side of Madison has become a hub of activity despite the loss of Paulette's, its signature fine-dining restaurant.

The Overton Square area in general is undergoing an esthetic and commercial revival, thanks in part to Playhouse on the Square's $12.5 million theater, which opened early last year, and Malco's $1.5 million Studio on the Square, which began showing films in 2000 and filled an entertainment gap that had frustrated Midtowners for 20 years.

Those who have seen the district go through phases of vitality and near abandonment over the years have their fingers crossed that the square's revival will continue to progress. The plan is not perfect, but completion of the Overton Square puzzle is overdue.