CBANA Partners with the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce and Shelby County Department of Planning and Development on HUD Community Challenge Grant

The Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action is working with the Shelby County Department of Planning and Development and the Greater Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce to evaluate property condition and create an asset inventory for an area branded “Airport City,” surrounding the Memphis International Airport.  In partnership with the Center for Community, Criminology and Research (C3R), CBANA analysts are focusing on multifamily housing, commercial, retail and warehousing in the 37,000 parcel area, with a special emphasis on community safety and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), and conducting a housing and quality of life study of the adjacent neighborhoods. 

With blight and vacancy rates higher in Airport City than the Memphis average, CBANA and C3R will be closely examining the role multifamily complexes play in the provision of affordable housing options for the local workforce, and how their traditional role has been supplanted  as an outcome of foreclosure in surrounding neighborhoods.  Single family housing has transitioned to the rental market and is often marketed as a more desirable alternative to apartment living.  These studies are supported through a HUD Community Challenge Grant funded five year redevelopment plan for the area.  The plan is designed to stimulate commercial growth and stabilize blighted residential areas to create an Aerotropolis where one-third of the city can live, work and play.