After years of planning and preparation, the first phase of the Northside Square redevelopment project is officially open.
The former Northside High School at 1212 Vollintine Ave. in the Klondike community, has been transformed into a mixed-use development designed to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. After nearly a decade of closure, the historic school has been given new life as Northside Square — a 270,000-square-foot community hub.
The $81 million redevelopment project brings together affordable housing, workforce development, education, health care, and retail and office space — all under one roof.
On Friday, Jan. 16, organizers, community members and local leaders gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting for the project’s first phase, which includes community space and 42 affordable housing units, and marks the beginning of additional openings expected throughout the year.
The moment was especially meaningful for Northside alumni, who watched their former school — once home to Cougar pride — evolve into a space designed to serve future generations.
Northside Square is owned by The Works, Inc., a Memphis-based nonprofit community development corporation. President and CEO Roshun Austin said residents will begin moving into the housing units this spring, with commercial tenants expected to follow this summer.
“To reopen this building, which has been the anchor of this community since the 1960s, is life-changing for residents along the Vollintine corridor,” Austin said.
Those involved in the development acknowledged that the project was not without challenges. According to Archie Willis III, president of ComCap Partners and lead developer, the scale of the project made traditional investment difficult.
“This project, given the magnitude and scale, just wasn’t going to generate the typical return on investment that most financial institutions look for,” Willis said. “It took significant civic investment to make it possible.”
Through collaboration and long-term vision, Northside Square is now being hailed as a beacon of hope and a catalyst for a broader Klondike neighborhood renaissance.
“It brings additional development,” Austin said. “It attracts small developers to build homes, and it helps small businesses reopen their doors because you’re bringing more people into the area.”
Organizers emphasized that Friday’s event marked a beginning not an official grand opening, as construction continues and more components of the project remain to be completed.
“Trying to convert a school into something other than a school is not always the most efficient idea,” Willis said. “But we were determined to make it happen — and we did.”
Long-term plans for Northside Square include nonprofit offices, retail space, law firms, low-income apartments, a Northside High School Hall of Fame, and eventually a home for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The project’s scope has drawn comparisons to Crosstown Concourse as another example of adaptive reuse fueling community revitalization.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee, 9th District) highlighted the importance of reimagining historic schools as community assets.
“It’s important that we reuse these high schools and turn them into community centers,” Cohen said. “We’ve done it at Melrose, and we’ve done it here at Northside.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young acknowledged that projects of this magnitude are complex, but said the results speak for themselves.
“Efforts like this are hard,” Young said, “but this one is paying off.”
