30,000 Square Feet of New Mixed-Use Space Coming to South Lamar Corridor

Construction site for Oxford’s newest development, South Lamar Court.

A new development is underway on the south side of town, and Luke Chamblee, president of Chamblee Hospitality Group and developer of The Graduate at Oxford, couldn’t be happier to help accommodate for Oxford’s rapid growth.

In April, Chamblee announced that Home2 Suites by Hilton, which is expected to be complete in spring 2017, was currently under construction near the site for the new Baptist Hospital on South Lamar Boulevard. But, now there’s more.

The new development, collectively called South Lamar Court, will consist of 30,000 plus square-feet of restaurant, retail and office space. The project, including both the hotel and other amenities, will cost over 20 million dollars to build.

“The South side of Oxford is long overdue for quality restaurants, retail, and office space,” Chamblee said. “With the rooftops, student housing and businesses currently located in this area, we felt like this would be the ideal location for this development. We aren’t having to create the market, the market is already here, and we are inserting needed amenities to this area.”

“We now have a concept of five different buildings… retail/office type buildings, which allow for a lot of desirable endcaps for easy access and great visibility,” said Frank Dyer III, CCIM, principal broker of Loeb Realty Group.

Dyer said they have purposely “over-parked” the project knowing the hotel will work hand-in-hand with the development.

“The parking required by the city, by their code, is 199 spaces,” Dyer said. “And, we’ve got 227 total on the project.”

The proposed site plan for South Lamar Court

Hotel, retail, and office parking requirements work well with each other. During the day when the office and restaurants are at capacity, the hotel parking spaces will be open. At night when the offices are closed, the restaurants and hotel can absorb the parking.

“They really work hand and glove and provide each other with necessary amenities,” Dyer said.

Developments in Oxford (along Jackson Avenue, for example) have, traditionally, been built away from the road, like a typical strip center, with parking spaces in front of the building, with the backside having no appeal visually.

For South Lamar Court, a different approach will be taken under the City of Oxford Planning Commission’s new vision.

“It’s a unique design, in that, the zoning has required us to pull the buildings up close to the street,” Dyer said. “It’s got to be very nice and very appealing.”

There’s not a true back to the buildings as it is more like two fronts with the main customer entry facing the parking lot and hotel.

“The customer will be able to enter and come right in or walk, stroll the entire area,” Dyer said. “That’s the concept we’ve gone with, and so far, the city is enamored with it.”

Located on the corner of South Lamar Boulevard and Belk Boulevard, South Lamar Court will be 1.24 miles away from the University of Mississippi campus and 1.4 miles away from The Square.

Chamblee said he feels that they’ve decided to develop on, “other than the Square, the best piece of property in Oxford.”

Currently, the city planning commission is building more roadways to connect South Lamar Boulevard and Old Taylor Road. Belk Boulevard, one of the East and West byways connecting the two, is detached on South Lamar Boulevard, but will be realigned by the placing of a roundabout in 2017.

An aerial view of the South Lamar Court building site. The site is shown in the red box.

“Basically, everything south of (Highway) 6 is going to start to have a dynamic nature to it that can function on its own,” Dyer said. “There’s going to be lots of back and forth traffic through there.”

Between a new hospital and several housing developments south of the building site, Dyer and Chamblee both believe the location will centralize the development very well.

“Not only for present day, but for the next 30 years, that’s going to be a great corner as the growth continues that way and as the roundabout is built,” Chamblee said.

The new hospital is projected to bring in close to 1,000 more employees to the area, and as housing developments continue on South Lamar Boulevard and Old Taylor Road, Chamblee said he hopes to give the residents and employees of that area an option, whether for food, shopping or other business, aside from Jackson Avenue and The Square.

“This will be the first one to grant these people, these employees, these rooftops, a retail-type development in their own backyard and convenient to a large percentage of residents, visitors and employees in Oxford,” Chamblee said.

The proposed idea of the front of the buildings in South Lamar Court.

With a third of the tenants “earmarked,” Chamblee and Dyer are still working to find the perfect blend for their “high-end development.”

“It’s not just retail, we also want medical offices,” Chamblee said. “It’s a great spot for an eye doctor, for a dental office. We are being selective with the right combination of uses. It will be a lifestyle center.”

The plan is to use the development for medical offices, professional offices (such as law firms), restaurants and retail.

Dyer said they would allow three or four restaurants; however, they must be distinctly unique and a different style from one another.

“The great thing would be that, for the folks at the hospital to be able to head to our project every day for lunch and have a different option,” Dyer said. “Three or four really good restaurants that don’t necessarily step on each other’s toes, but they synergize. That’s when everybody’s ships are lifted when you have that kind of synergy.”

The dirt work for South Lamar Court is underway, and construction on the shopping center will begin once the leasing threshold is met.

Although Chamblee avoids making projections on construction duration because of constraints, such as weather hindrances, he suspects the project will take about nine months once they start pouring the slab.

Being the first major mixed-use development on the south side of Highway 6, Dyer and Chamblee are both excited about how South Lamar Court will complement Oxford’s growth.

“That’s what a growing city needs,” Dyer said. “You don’t want all of your eggs in one basket, all of your options on one side of town. A viable community needs different nodes of retail and services. This is the first node south of 6, on the south side of town, that’s going to be offering what folks need.”

Chamblee said, “This will be a fun neighborhood, business-type walking community development off of The Square, which the city is really pushing. This is a new vision for the city.”

Frank Dyer (left), principal broker of Loeb Realty Group, LLC, and Luke Chamblee, president of Chamblee Hospitality Group.

For those interested in leasing opportunities at South Lamar Court, contact Frank Dyer at 901-277-8183 or email him at frankd@loebproperties.com.

Randall Haley is the social media editor and a staff writer for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at randall.haley@hottytoddy.com