Jackson Walk plans to expand downtown residential development

JACKSON, Tenn. — In less than a year, a dirt lot downtown will be the site of a bustling apartment community, according to Jackson Walk representatives, with four three-story, one-bedroom apartment buildings.

“Our mission is to rebuild the portions of the community that are blighted and bring people back to the abandoned neighborhoods,” said Hal Crocker, partner of Healthy Community LLC.

And that’s exactly what they did, according to residential developer Chris Alexander, who says they can hardly keep their apartments on the market.

“Of the 149 units that we have, they fluctuate between 95 and 100 percent occupancy. That’s why we’re just trying to keep up with demand and kicking off the groundbreaking for phase two,” Alexander said.

Representatives say the apartment buildings that will be on the corner of Deaderick and Johnson are right in the backyard of the already built phase one Jackson Walk apartments.

“We’re looking for connectivity between this phase, which is only a half a block away, between it and the ongoing Jackson Walk activities,” Crocker said.

Developers say they also plan to improve the infrastructure in the area, including lighting, streetscape and sidewalks. Chris Felder, owner of Grubb’s Grocery, says he welcomes the new business.

“I ran the numbers earlier for the store here, and I was looking at May of this year compared to May of last year. We’re up 25 percent in traffic,” Felder said. “That’s only going to happen more because the apartments here. There’s always a wait list here. They’re always booked up.”

Representatives say they also plan to build a total of 40 single-family homes. At least three of them are scheduled to be completed by the spring of next year.