“As Harbor Town came together, the residents kept coming to me and saying: ‘This is so much better, I didn’t realize how excellent it would be and how it changed our lives.’ That prompted the question: Can we apply the same development pattern to lower income neighborhoods with similar, positive results? That was Uptown.”

—Henry Turley

As Master Developer, HTC facilitated the revitalization of 100 blocks of the Greenlaw neighborhood on the northern edge of downtown that had been left behind—the homes and the people. There had essentially been no investment in what is now Uptown for more than 50 years. We felt the project was worthy of our investment because Memphis has so many neighborhoods where blight and neglect predominate—that Uptown could serve as a model for improving these neighborhoods and improving people’s lives. The development was funded through a complex public-private partnership. And HTC partnered with MLGW and TVA to create the EcoBuild program—to help make utilities more affordable for low-income residents. The result: 600 apartments and 250 homes, all built according to energy-efficient, environmentally friendly standards—and a thriving new neighborhood.