What's that going in at former Southwest Twin Drive-In site in South Memphis?
Construction could soon get underway at the former Southwest Twin Drive-In in South Memphis.
On Sept. 23, Memphis-based Aaron Patrick Architects filed a construction permit application with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development for the Southwest Twin development at the former drive-in site at 4233 S. Third St.
The permit application includes new construction for a one-story, 24,560-square-foot Memphis Police Department precinct, along with landscaping and exterior work surrounding the new building. The estimated cost of construction is $13.5 million, according to the permit application.
In May, city officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the mixed-use development.
Redevelopment of the 30-acre site has been in planning stages for several years. The drive-in, which dates back to 1951, has been vacant since 2001. Several community groups continued cleaning up the vacant property and hosting pop-up events after the site closed and began to deteriorate.
The City of Memphis purchased the property in 2022. In August 2023, the city issued a Request-for-Information (RFI) proposal for the redevelopment bids on a portion of the site and rebranded it as the Southwest Twin Town Center.
Following the RFI, Arkansas-based Baldwin and Shell Construction Company was selected as the construction manager for the project. Allword Project Management is the program manager along with Aaron Patrick Architect, 4FDesign and O.T. Marshall Architects as the planning and architect teams.
The City of Memphis has reserved $16 million for redevelopment of the site for the first two years of construction, with plans for the police precinct, a public library and private businesses at the site.