New loft apartments planned for Downtown Tupelo

The Mill Village Historic District will likely soon be home to at least 62 new loft-style apartments. The Tupelo Planning Department has issued its OK for the project, which must now be approved by the City Council. Check out this story from the Daily Journal.

This is good news for Tupelo. More apartments are needed as the rental market has been tight for almost two years. This will also provide more affordable housing in town, which is needed. But taking this project another step, the development company, The Landmark Group, is planning to sink close to $10 million into redeveloping this old building, and they're going to want to get their money back, so this will not only be more affordable housing for the area, but it will also be well-managed and, I expect, well maintained. Both are positives in the rental market.

Your Blog about Tupelo

Do you blog about Tupelo/Lee County or this region in any capacity? If so, I'd like to include a link to your blog both on my Web site (www.apt-finder.com) and in the next print edition of the Apartment Finder & Newcomers Guide magazine of Tupelo, which goes to press Jan. 28, 2008. Leave a reply to this post about your blog, and leave a link to it, and I'll get in touch with you from there.

New Oxford edition goes to press

It took a week later than normal, but the new edition of the Oxford magazine has gone to press. The reason it took a week longer is that at the last minute we had a new cover sponsor sign on. Wouldn't you hold the presses a few days for a new advertiser? We thought so. Anyway, we welcome The Exchange at Oxford as our newest advertiser and cover sponsor. Watch for more information on The Exchange in the print edition and on our Web site.

Another auto industry announcement set

Gov. Haley Barbour will be in Tupelo on Tuesday morning, September 25, for another "major automotive industry announcement." The announcement is set for 10:30 a.m. at BancorpSouth Conference Center. Speculation is the announcement will be that a supplier to the new Toyota factory will be setting up its digs in the Harry Martin Industrial Park in north Lee County, near the current location of Hancock Fabrics headquarters. If this is where the next supplier lands, the north Lee County/South Prentiss County area will receive a major economic shot in the arm, especially the city of Baldwyn and the town of Guntown.

Ole Miss enrollment levels off

Though university officials are publicly wiping a collective brow on this topic (glad the furious pace of growth has slowed), this will not be seen as good news for condo builders in the area. The condo market is already well overbuilt, IMO, and it's been getting tougher on apartment properties to meet occupancy goals having to compete with the condos. No, not all condos in Oxford are built for students, but a serious number have been built aiming for a piece of that market, and the slowing of enrollment growth at the school will not bode well for those developers. See the story on school enrollments here: http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=251430&pub=1&div=News

Azalea Gardens (Tupelo) under new management

I can't say I'm sad to see O'Malley's Property Management no longer in control of Azalea Gardens Apartments in Tupelo. I don't know of much that operated smoothly in the time that O'Malley's managed the property. The previous company, out of Montgomery, Alabama (the name escapes me) did a good job, given the difficulties that go along with managing that property anyway. But just from my standpoint as publisher of the Apartment Finder & Newcomers Guide magazine of Tupelo, O'Malley's was difficult to work with. In fact, the property was delisted from the Apartment Finder for lack of payment. It took nearly two years to receive payment on advertising. They finally did pay, so I can't say they defaulted, but that kind of payment history, as I understand it, was not limited to just me. Again, I do understand there are certain difficulties that go along with managing that apartment complex, but it just seemed like O'Malley's was hobbled from the start. Here's hoping the new management company, Apogee Companies of Boynton Beach, Fla., has much better luck. Azalea Gardens was an effort on the part of the city that was supposed to lead to a rejuvenation in the Ida Street area of town and cut down on crime and urban decay. Good management will keep that trend going, but poor management will unravel all the good that has been done.

New manager at Campus Walk in Oxford

I learned today there is a new manager at Campus Walk Apartments in Oxford, Miss. Here is wishing Lynn Flowers the best of luck in her new position.

Update on new Tupelo properties

There's not much to print here at the moment. Two major rental properties have been announced in and around Tupelo since the announcement that Toyota would be building its next automotive assembly plant near here. I'll give you more details once I have them on what's going on with VistaRidge, the planned development across from the MDOT facility on North Gloster, and with the planed 216-unit property off McCullough Boulevard near Coley Road.

Beginning anew

This blog was started originally more than two years ago. Since then it fell into a deep sleep and wasn't disturbed. It's rested now and ready to be written on again. Watch for news involving Tupelo, Oxford and Northeast Mississippi in the days ahead.