New York-based urban development company Full Spectrum NY recently landed its first major project outside the New York metropolitan area with a deal worth approximately $600 million to develop a stretch of downtown Jackson, Mississippi. Full Spectrum will oversee $500 million in vertical infrastructure and $100 million in horizontal infrastructure on the project.
The deal is being referred to as the Old Capitol Green project. Construction will begin during the third quarter of 2007 and is estimated to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2011. The mixed-use project is expected to fill 2.5 million square feet of Jackson’s downtown area with residential, office, retail, and entertainment offerings, says Carlton A. Brown, chief operating officer of Full Spectrum, which made $50 million in revenues in 2005. “We’re solidifying commitments from retail and commercial office tenants,” says Brown. Among the likely partners is Hilton Hotels Corp., which is in talks to put an Embassy Suites Hotel in the space, Brown adds.
“Full Spectrum is growing from being a regional company to a national company,” says Brown. “That’s important for us and a major milestone.”
“We had some very specific goals,” says John Lawrence, president of Downtime Jackson Partners, the organization overseeing Jackson’s revitalization. “We needed someone who had experience in mixed-use development, urban development, and someone who could successfully pull off this type of project, which to us represents a catalytic gateway into our capital city. They really fulfilled all of those needs and those goals for us.”
Not only is the deal a stepping stone for Full Spectrum, but it may also lead to more business for other African American development companies, some experts say.