It’s been several years since Hattiesburg City Council members approved the initial outline of a master plan for midtown Hattiesburg, designed to rejuvenate and create a new identity for the area that’s since been expanded to West Fourth Street to the north, Lincoln Road to the south, U.S. 49 to the east and Interstate 59 to the west.
The results of that work have been impossible to miss over the last few months, particularly with The District at Midtown – the mixed-use development off Hardy Street at the former site of the Elam Arms dormitory – and with the partnership of several local officials, there’s no doubt momentum is stronger than ever in the area.
Most recently, local restaurateur and author Robert St. John helped spearhead the formation of the Midtown Merchants Association, a business organization aimed at uniting the estimated 430 businesses, 7,500 employees and 100,000 monthly visitors in midtown. The organization recently named Joel Ingram as chairman, David Gustafson (who also is publisher/editor of The Hattiesburg Post, The Petal News, The Lamar Times and Signature Magazine) as vice chairman and Amanda Blackburn as secretary and treasurer.
Also on board is membership director Keri Ray Galey, who is tasked with recruiting new members to the organization.
“The Merchants Association is primarily designed to gather all these different businesses so that we can pursue our common mission of trying to improve and enhance midtown, and make it a more vibrant business community,” Ingram said. “We want to see if we can get everybody on the same page here, at least from a business standpoint, and see if we can’t keep this momentum going and expand it.
“So in addition to business members, we want to invite institutional members like (Forrest General) Hospital, the University (of Southern Mississippi), the city and the county. We have several residential neighborhood associations in our area too, so we’re going invite them to participate if they would like to.”
One of the biggest ideas floated by Ingram and other officials for the last few years is an open-air amphitheater on Arlington Loop, although plans for that are far from concrete.
“The association desires to accomplish that goal one day if possible, but at the moment, we don’t have any agreements from anybody to make that a reality,” Ingram said. “We’ll try to focus on that becoming a reality, but at this point in time we don’t have any specific plans for it.
“But we think it would be beneficial to the neighborhood, and would like to see it become a reality at some point in the future.”
In the meantime, the association will continue to foster and encourage existing and new development in the midtown area. In addition, the organization’s project committee is currently identifying areas of improvement such as adding sidewalks and beautification efforts.
“We want everyone who’s involved in our area to recognize the potential for growth, development and enhancement of our neighborhood,” Ingram said. “So our committees are going to be focused on promoting everything we can to make midtown a better place to live and work.”
Meanwhile, over at Midtown Market, officials from Corner Market are on schedule to move from the current building to the former Dirt Cheap next door, with a scheduled opening of late October. The new building is about 50,000 square feet, which will offer more space for a bigger deli, more local goods, a full-service seafood counter and a salad bar.
“We’re hoping to get open somewhere around Halloween,” said Forrest Roberts, president of The Roberts Company, which owns the grocery chain. “We’re very excited.
“It’s almost three times the size of our old store … so we’re going to be able to offer a lot more to our customers.”
Eric D. “Poncho” James, who owns Midtown Market along with Paul H. “Bud” Holmes, said although they haven’t settled on a tenant to replace Corner Market, they are marketing the space.
“We just want it to be a good fit for that area,” he said. “We don’t want to just put the first person that comes around and wants to rent space – whoever we bring there, we want it to be good for the community and good for what we’re trying to do.”
James and Holmes also will continue with their plans to redo the façade on the entire building, including bringing the buildings up to date and offering more green space.
“That job has been awarded, and it should be taking place (soon),” James said. “We’re going to transform the entire look of the whole center, if you will.
“We love what they’re doing at (The District at Midtown), and I think it’d be nice to continue that … to (Interstate) 59. And what they’re doing at Corner Market is remarkable – it’s beautiful, and I think it’ll be one of the best grocery stores around.”
Work also is ongoing at the Midtown Square subdivision off South 37th Avenue, which will offer 28 lots primarily designed for professional retirees. The neighborhood, which is being developed by Hattiesburg Realtor Wesley Breland, currently features five homes that are either finished or under construction.
“It’s a single-family subdivision designed for smaller lots, so there’s less yardwork,” Breland said. “It’s nice houses, high-end houses, and all of them will have rear garage entrances.
“It’s for retirees who want to live close to the medical (facilities), and they can ride golf carts to the grocery stores and things like that.”
In addition, work is continuing at the District at Midtown, with several retail locations set to open over the summer, including 5 Star Nutrition, AT&T, Hancock Bank and South Boutique. Twelve luxury condos, which are located above the businesses, are currently being closed on.
The District also includes room for future development off South 31st Avenue, just south of the retail space, although plans for that space won’t be released just yet.
“We’re not ready to disclose that,” said local developer Rob Tatum, who is heading up The District. “We’re working on a plan, but we’re not ready to publicly announce it yet.”
