 Welcome, I'm Tony Plicciotti, lead architect for Crosstown Concourse. As you may know, Crosstown Concourse was honored as one of three 2018 Drey House Award winners. For those that don't know the story, Crosstown Concourse is the 1.5 million square foot behemoth in the background. It began as a Sears Distribution Center in 1927 and was largely abandoned by 1983. Predictably, as the employment base dwindled, the surrounding community died. We created this graphic to help understand the enormous scale. Stood on its end, Crosstown would be taller than the Chrysler Building in New York. Crosstown is in fact 30,000 square feet larger than the Chrysler Building. Beyond size, the physical condition was quite daunting. One of the beauties of Crosstown Concourse is the richness of the story. Please watch this powerful excerpt from a documentary that lives on the Crosstown Concourse website. I want to see it come back. Whatever you take to bring it back, put some more life in this building. And I think it would do the community a whole lot of good, sure thing. I mean, it might bring outside people in here to do some work, some business. Yeah, I don't think it should be left like this. It's just too good. You know, and I look around the town when I go around all these empty buildings, you could build something, put all them people in this building to produce and make money. Yep. Man, it's a good structure. It's stout. It sure is. You can put anything in here. Yep, I hate to see it like this. Kind of hurting. Back in 1926, Sears wanted to open a distribution center in Memphis. They come scout around, do it very, very quietly. And they look into the Crosstown neighborhood. So in 1927, 2,000 men worked 24 hours a day, only stopping from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday. The building was completed and operational in 180 days. That's almost unheard of. The original building was more than 650,000 square feet. The building included the retail store, the catalog distribution plant for like seven states. Sears at that time was a major catalog store. And to be able to have a distribution center here meant if you were living in Arkansas or Louisiana or Alabama, you took the Sears Wishbook and you filled out the form and you mailed it in, you were going to get your products that much quicker. I mean, it's a major economic development for the city. My first day in this building, just before going to the first grade, my mother brought me down here from the Greg School area on a streetcar and we bought blue jeans. I'll never forget the smells in the building. They had a candy shop, peanuts and pecans. Remember, when I first came here, Sears was probably the largest single employee in the city. We were the FedEx of Memphis at that time. This is where I met my wife, right here at this cash register. There are always a lot of activities going on in the plant. A lot of the employees got together. We would have skits. We would have programs on July the 4th. We had contests. They called all the managers and all the supervisors up to the 11th floor. Our general manager walked in and he read a letter to us that they were closed. That Sears was closing catalog and to the people with families or even if you weren't ready to retire. This was devastating news. There were people that loved this property, loved this structure. People would stop me if they see me out in the yard cutting the grass and they'd say, can you take me in there? I want to see that place. My grandfather worked there. It was just a big empty place. So one day I saw some young men that were walking around and looking over the building across the church. I went across and introduced myself, are you trying to do something here? Chris Mayan called me and said, yes, we are here. We're trying to do a feasibility study for that building. So basically the conversation started out with wouldn't it be cool if? And it was purchased purely for a civic vision. No developer in their right mind would purchase this building. We put together a development team and we started off with a year-long feasibility study that really looked at can anything happen with this building and if so what. At the core of that was the arts, music, visual arts, performing arts, multi-disciplinary. We also started Crosstown Arts, a non-profit that was to facilitate the conversation but at the same time begin to have events in the building, in the neighborhood to bring people back to Crosstown. It was an initial effort about renovating a building but it was also about building community. Anyone who had real experience doing this would have just said it's a completely ridiculous idea. The building's too big and everyone involved that had anything to do with a project on any level. They all share a little of that Memphis style of hardcore believing in something regardless of how crazy it might seem on the surface. In the initial introduction to the building, I think the emotion that that sparked the moment that Frank, he unlocked the door and you walk in just a sensation of awe at the magnitude and scale scope of this building. By the end of the first year, we didn't have the words to apply in vertical urban village. The only thing that we could say is beyond mixed use and so it was less about simply retail and office and residential co-existing like a traditional mixed use approach but it was more about recruiting tenants who actually wanted to be next to each other. We did a back of the envelope and realized this can happen. If these things work out and there was a list of about 25 of them then the project will happen. If any one of those things didn't work out then the project won't happen but there was a pathway forward. With the organizations that we had and Scott Morris has also a third party advocate for the project. If we started in 2009, it was August of 2012 that we first officially announced to the public what we were up to. I'll be very probably too honest. When I was first approached with this opportunity, I was like it's a great deal, it's good for the city. This is going to be a remungous task to have been a native Memphian. I didn't want to be the one who stood in the way of this project getting done That's why I jumped on board real early and with one meeting I said we're going to see what we can do. This is one of the biggest projects I've ever been on. I see the character they leave in the building. There's a movement going on. Instead of turning down some of your valuable properties, the building can be saved. I think you can bring it back and keep character in Memphis. One of the most memorable moments in my life was when all 32 sources of financing and the attorneys for each of those different groups sent out an email that said we are ready to close. And it all happened within about 45 seconds. As a young developer understanding the power of inclusion and diversity and how that really impacts a product and the results of something being right, that's instrumental. They were updating me periodically and they said there are some things we're working on and hopefully we're going to present them to our group and see what they will think of. And so when finally they say that there's a viable group that's going to pick up this building and willing to invest in it. I really shouted I would go Hallelujah. And I'll never forget we were riding on the bus. Bringing kids back to school, bringing them back home. And one of the younger ones comes up and he sits next to me and he's looking at the building and he says Miss Jazzy, are we moving in that building? And I said yeah, in a couple of months we're going to move in that building. And he said Miss Jazzy, does that building kind of sort of belong to us? And I looked over and I could see that sign yours slash ours down the side of the building and truthfully I was able to answer, yeah, it belongs to us. This is Crosstown Concourse after eight years of visioning, design and construction. Note the yours sign on the garage. You might have picked up on the community focus in the video. This sign is an art installation that alludes to the iconic Sears signage that used to be on the garage and proudly proclaims the mission of community. Within a year of its 2017 opening, Crosstown proudly hosted the 50th commemoration of Martin Luther King's life. It's a lifelong Memphian, this was a significant moment, not just for Crosstown, but as a beacon to the world of just how far Memphis has come. Through very intentional outreach, design and programming, Crosstown opened 98.7% occupied. Clearly, that's a business success. But more importantly, Crosstown opened as a place for everyone, regardless of race, religion, age or socioeconomic status. In the video, Todd Richardson, one of the primary visionaries behind Crosstown said, Success is not the groundbreaking. It's not the grand opening. It's 10 years from now when the Crosstown neighborhood is revitalized and Crosstown remains active and vibrant. So where are we today? Crosstown opened five years ago. We naively thought that all the red lights Mayor Orton described in the video had turned green. Crosstown was acclaimed as one of the five best examples of social equity and creative place making in the world. Crosstown is also recognized as the world's largest lead platinum certified historic rehab. But COVID was one heck of an unexpected red light. What happens to a vertical urban village when a worldwide pandemic strikes? What happens when a newly opened theater can no longer be occupied? Or when the public art gallery and restaurants can't safely open? The mood changed from energetic optimism to contemplative reflection. With the thoughtful question of how do we best help each other? The community made the best of it. Remember, this is a truly mixed use vertical urban village. People live, work, go to school and play all in this magnificent structure. Communities with a shared purpose become closer, even if socially distant. The resiliency of a robust, creative and collaborative community took over. The founding partners drew on their better together commitment and reached out to serve the greater community's needs. Drive through testing was followed by drive through vaccinations, health care for the working uninsured never wavered. Takeaway food, virtual and drive by performance and visual arts all became normal. Remote education and remote work in an enormous yet intimate 1.5 million square foot civic space created a truly unique social bubble. As the pandemic wanes, Crosstown has excelled. Today, Crosstown is 99.8% occupied. Environmentally, it operates 30% more efficiently than the day it opened. With an award-winning project-based teaching model, Crosstown High just graduated its first class, where there had been a lively debate about what might happen after school as 400 unshaper-owned students filled the building. That answer is now clear. The students may Crosstown a much richer environment than ever imagined. They are an integral part of a symbiotic community where the sum is truly greater than the parts. Public artist lectures have returned. Massive community civic events have returned also. Non-profits have realized that annual banquets and fundraisers can be more powerful when open to the public than in an enclosed event center or a hotel ballroom. The rich community programming ensures there is always something new to discover. As intended, Crosstown is about community. It's where people bring out-of-town family or people bring out-of-town friends. Crosstown is a backdrop for the art of life. A place where all are lovingly embraced. Crosstown is a place of healing where St. Jude patients can feel normal as they recover. Once again, the theater is acted with live music, spoken word, and cinema. The green room and art bar provide fabulously intimate venues where artists and audience become one. The Memphis Listening Lab provides the Crosstown version of a library. A publicly accessible collection of 40,000 vinyl records, 20,000 CDs, and 1,000 unique pieces of musical history. Resident artists engage the public and routinely collaborate with local artists in the makers lab. Crosstown has become the quintessential parent date night where young kids can run and be themselves. And the parents can relax without fear of being judged. Crosstown is where you go to see old friends and meet new ones. What does the future hold? Will Crosstown continue to achieve Todd's vision of creating community and positive change? Yes, absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Crosstown has spurred an unparalleled city-wide optimism. It is routinely credited with inspiring more than $2 billion and recently announced downtown redevelopment. We imagine the change would spread like fire through the immediate surroundings, bringing back a vitality that had not been seen since Sears' heyday. It has, and it hasn't. We were unfortunately surprised by absentee building owners who decided that the Crosstown renovation transformed their derelict building into a lottery ticket. The Neighborhood Preservation Act is now being leveraged to encourage change. Crosstown has inspired the adjacent Northside community to infuse an abandoned 300,000 square foot high school with a similar community-based arts education health and wellness program. Northside began construction August of 2022. As icing on the cake, once the historic and new market tax credits sunset, there'll be an intentional process to transfer the Crosstown Concourse ownership structure to a nonprofit model governed by the founding partners. This ensures that the proceeds can be continually reinvested in the mission. I am thankful beyond words that my kids have gotten to grow up in the shadow of Crosstown Concourse. That no matter how hard things get, how challenging life becomes, they recognize we are indeed better together. Thank you. Hello, and welcome to your virtual tour of the Universal Life Insurance Building here in Memphis, Tennessee. My name is Matthew White, Marketing Coordinator with Self Tucker Architects, and I'm here with a few members of my team to introduce you to this wonderful project in our amazing city. I'll let them introduce themselves. Hello, my name is Juan Self. I'm one of the founding principals of Self Tucker Architects in Memphis, Tennessee, and also one of the partners of Self Tucker Properties. And together as Self Tucker Architects and Self Tucker Properties, we redeveloped the historic Universal Life Insurance Building. Hello, my name is Mario Walker, and I'm an architect here with Self Tucker Architects, and I was the lead designer on this project, so ready to get into it. Thanks guys. So before we dive into the tour, we just want to give you a couple lenses for the discussion. And these lenses will help to contextualize the story of the building as well as the neighborhood and city that it's in to really help you get an understanding of the importance of this project and its history. So there are three lenses, one being history, one being sustainability, and the last one being legacy. All of these three lenses are important to this project because they highlight how the Universal Life Insurance Building renovation honors the past, protects the planet, and empowers the future. So now, before we dive into the information and into the history, we'll play a quick video that'll introduce you to Memphis and really give you some of that context to help you experience this building and this tour properly. Memphis has a different swagger. You know, we have this thing, the grizzlies use this grid and grind. And it just kind of, that's just the nature of Memphis. You know, we just known for getting things done. Pride is also something to add. We're very proud to be Memphians. We're very proud of our history. And even with all the challenges, the one thing about Memphis is we persevere. We never give up. And so this building is a testament to that. You get things like Bill Street, Universal Life, you know, Tabor and Temple, just the blues of the churches and the religious history here in the city. All those things just kind of culminate to just give Memphis this unique, this unique personality. The era was one that was sort of a plus and a minus. Certainly, it was the era when people were experiencing segregation and limited opportunities. In the social norm, it wasn't okay to be black. To be black was to be different. To be black was to be less than. And I just love the fact that Dr. J. E. Amacio, everyone who worked at Universal Life, made an active choice to refute that because it's not true. Not only was I working here through the relationship of Lemono and College and Universal Life Insurance, well, as a kid, we lived in the neighborhood that the owners of this company built and developed. And that was called Walker Homes. I talked to my mom this weekend and she was like, yeah, you remember we used to walk over to pay our life insurance bills because we were clients of Universal Life. So I remember walking up those steps and going up to that next floor and paying that life insurance bill. They had the resources, they had the leadership and they made a decision, a very intentional decision of adopting that Egyptian revival style because, again, because of the pride they felt in their accomplishments. It is a passion of mine to watch Memphis become a city that is known for repurposing its historic buildings as opposed to tearing them down. This building in itself stands as part of that reputation. The danger that a building like this was in by the fact that sitting vacant is being cannibalized on a daily basis. And so it was important to look at a way in which it could be revived or else it didn't meet an ultimate demise of being demolished. When the city listened to self-tuck or when they came with this dream that honestly looked almost impossible, we knew that with a partnership, with investment and with truly being dedicated that it could happen. And now you look around and here we are. For city government and self-tucker architects to team up to repurpose this building, for their headquarters and for our efforts to build wealth among MWBEs was a perfect marriage. Developers like self-tucker to African-American men who have worked and contributed to this community with so much in now to have this project coming forth by their hands and by their vision. It's something that we're all proud of. We feel that we're being role-bottled particularly as architects, as entrepreneurs, as developers for what the possibilities are. If you have that sustained commitment, if you have the support of the community, if we grow business, create jobs, build wealth, the whole city prospers. We wanted to have really a community of tenants within the building where it became a certain synergy. The idea is to create a entrepreneurial space that's made for everyone from those with ideas, those that need support. All of those folks that have lived in this community and created and fostered a reputation for our city that has really sustained us in so many ways. And so now we have this one place and there I use the word Mecca where people can come and get support and services. Our focus is around entrepreneurship and creativity, a community of entrepreneurs and creatives. So that's the way in which the architecture begins to sustain itself for the future and for a new use and a new generation. We hope you enjoyed that video as a primer to the Universal Life Insurance Building. Now we just want to re-highlight some of the important topics that were mentioned. We know we talked a lot about grit and grind, about Memphis' history, about legacy. All of these things are part of what makes Memphis unique and what makes this project unique. Memphis is a city at a turning point where there is a lot of rich history that is setting the groundwork for a lot of revitalization. And this building is part of that because it connects that history to Memphis' next 200 years, its next future. And so from there we really are looking at a community that is developing and a really positive trajectory both for the building, both for the neighborhood and for the city. Now the Universal Life Insurance Building is within what we like to call the Memphis Heritage Trail, which is an eight mile loop that highlights the contributions of African Americans in the city of Memphis through a collection of markers of historical sites as well as important buildings that are along the Heritage Trail. Now as you'll see the Universal Life Insurance Building sits at the northeast corner of that trail in its current form and really was part of a mixed income neighborhood that really was integral to a lot of the civil rights history, commerce history, and economic empowerment of this region both historically and currently today. And so now I'm going to open it up for one and Mario to begin the discussion and start here with the project overview and the discussion of the Universal Life Insurance Building. Thank you, Matt. And as Matt indicated, the Universal Life Insurance Building and really the Universal Life Insurance Company was an integral part of African American life in Memphis. The company itself started in 1923 and my partner Jimmy Tucker and I purchased the building in 2006. We were both the architect and the developer. The building consists of about 33,000 square feet on three floors and a net usable square, net leasable square footage of about 25,000 square feet. We were fortunate in that the city of Memphis is one of our, is really an anchor tenant. We also have our offices here, self-talker architects as well as self-talker properties. And we were able to achieve lead goals. So sustainability is a key factor in the redevelopment of this historic resource. We also allow tours of the building and we have future plans in terms of a green roof as well as a solar canopy. And so really, Matt gave you a little bit of the context of this particular site. But in order to really understand the context in terms of how this building is situated, we really have to also look at its history and honor the past. Founded in 1923, the Universal Life Insurance Company grew to be one of the largest African-American owned businesses in the Southeast region. And its reach literally spanned from coast to coast, serving several states and several offices. And at one point in time having more than 700 employees. And of course the headquarters here in Memphis, Tennessee. The founders, J.E. Walker and A.W. Willis, really had a vision, not only in terms of developing the Universal Life Insurance Company, but also a legacy of community engagement and community redevelopment. Many of their entrepreneurial efforts spread not only from life insurance, but also into banking as well as community redevelopment, housing, et cetera, and even providing mortgage loans. Dr. Walker, both the founders, J.E. Walker, Joseph E. Walker, as well as A.W. Willis, were both born in Mississippi and you can see some of the milestones. And the company itself was founded in 1923. Dr. Walker was a graduate of Alcorn A&M. He was an undergrad at Alcorn A&M at just 16 years old. And the company in 1923 was founded and the building itself opened in 1949. And the architects for the building was McKissick and McKissick out of Nashville, who currently is the oldest African American-owned architectural firm in the nation founded in 1905. And Juan, one other important point that we want to mention, of course, is really the nature of the community involvement that was set out from the beginning and the founding of Universal Life, the company. One of the things that they did that was unique to found a company of this size in the Jim Crow South was that they funded the initial $100,000 required to open the building by door knocking. They went door to door the same way that you would as a salesperson selling insurance to sell shares of the initial run of the building's insurable policy. And so that was how they were able to really innovate in a culture where they really weren't able to get necessarily bank loans and that type of thing and get the proper support that would be needed to open up a business of this type and scale in this region. And so that was another unique aspect of the Universal Life story. Thank you, Matt. One of the successors of the Universal Life Insurance Company was A. Macio Walker. He was born in 1909 in Indianola, Mississippi and joined the company in 1923 when he was just 14. And he became president of the Universal Life Insurance Company in 1952. And during that 10-year, the Universal Life Insurance Company finances the construction of the J. E. Walker Homes. It's a multifamily housing development. And Walker Homes still exists to this day. The other developments, as I mentioned, they had an entrepreneurial spirit as well as community development and revitalization and Universal Life Insurance Company also financed the construction of Elliston Heights Apartments. In 1956, Tristate Bank had loaned one of the founding of... I'm sorry, the bank that was founded, Tristate Bank had loaned more than $10 million in mortgages to over 2,000 families. So the Universal Life Insurance Company and subsequently along with the Tristate Bank was an integral part of the commerce of the city of Memphis, particularly at the African-American community. And the company had assets that exceeded $9 million. And then those assets grew to up to $50 million. In 1983, as progressive as this company had been all along, Patricia Walker Shaw became president of the Universal Life Insurance Company. She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and a graduate of Fist University. And she served as president of the Universal Life Insurance Company from 1983 until her death in 1985. A. Maciel Walker then returned as president until his retirement in 1992 in 1990, rather, and then in 2002, the Universal Life Insurance Company itself closed. And Juan, part of the legacy of the Universal Life Insurance Company really was their impact on individuals as well as communities. Part of what they did is that they intentionally bought out other smaller life insurance companies that may have been struggling throughout different regions around the United States. And this really led to their exponential growth over the years. A. Maciel in particular was the longest running president of the organization. And because of that, he spearheaded a lot of that growth in addition to expanding the Memphis office and growing to that mark of 850 employees at their peak. They also ended up growing into over 11 states that touched both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean from California all the way up to Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. So it really is an amazing story of growth that from a small company that was founded from door knocking, selling $100 shares of a building of a company just to get boots on the ground and begin the process of even offering life insurance to becoming at their peak fourth largest African-American-owned insurance firm in the United States. Having those huge policy assets and really having a community impact both regionally and locally, some of the other things to highlight is that the Universal Life Insurance Company started scholarship programs throughout the Memphis area in the Mid-South region for high schools. And so some of the scholarships that they gave were in the amount of $3,500 up to as high as $5,000, which in those days was really almost a full-ride scholarship to some schools, especially for a lot of the youth that they interacted with specifically came from low-income backgrounds. And so really they were committed to making a change on just the economic level and really undergirding the community to help them to grow through housing, through educational opportunity, as well as through providing life insurance, which depending on how you use it can also grow familial wealth over generations. And so that was really one of the most important parts of the legacy that Amacio was instilled by his father, J.E., who he instilled in his daughter, Patricia, as well that really helped the Universal Life Insurance Company to grow. Next, we want to really highlight the relationship between the McKissick family and the development of this building because that is really architecturally significant as well, Juan and Mario. I know you guys are excited to talk about that, so we'll move on here. All right. And thank you so much, Matt. I have the distinction of having worked for McKissick and McKissick when I moved to Memphis in 1989. At that time, Mrs. Leattris McKissick was actually the head of the company. As her husband, D. Berry, had fallen ill. But the McKissick firm was founded in 1905 and they were among the first class of architects, period, in the state of Tennessee to be licensed. And this firm actually continues to this day and the granddaughters of the founders are running the company at this time. Actually, even the granddaughters are running that Sheryl and Daryl McKissick and their offices throughout the United States as well. But Moses and Calvin McKissick were the two founders and Calvin was instrumental in the design as well as the construction of the Universal Life Insurance Building. The first home was on Hernandez Street. That particular building was demolished, ultimately. And then in 1947, there was a groundbreaking for the building that we are speaking to you about today. That legacy continues until this day. And you can see some of the photos of the grand opening when the building opened in 1949. We were fortunate in redeveloping the building. We had a celebration for the 70 of the year of the building's opening in 2019. And we were fortunate in that there were many of the former employees of the Universal Life Insurance Company had an opportunity to come and see the building revitalized. Thank you, Juan. So really, that sets the stage for a lot of the history of the Universal Life Insurance Company. Really, a community-oriented organization and company that was focused on the bettering of society, both economically, culturally, educationally, and really set the groundwork for a lot of excellent things in the region and in the country. But also tying back that back to the building and this historic building where so much of this vital work happened. We also want to talk about how now in the revitalized building, these efforts are not being forgotten, but they're being honored and they're being continued through the ongoing work of self-tucker properties and the companies that work within the building. Particularly, first we want to talk about how this renovation protects the planet. Thank you, Matt. And Mario and I will piggyback on this. When my partner Jimmy Tucker and I purchased the building in 2006, we were really proud and still are that it is in the heart of the city in the zip code, 3-8126, the area that we call South Memphis. And we were one of the first to redevelop in this area and we are pleased that we see development happening all around this particular building. We were able to restore the historic sign and that was actually done by the company that actually created the original sign. It had become an iconic marker in the city of Memphis and even as once we purchased it and again the redevelopment, we received many inquiries. We'd be able to save the sign and we were fortunate to be able to have that sign restored. We have a team of designers, architects, engineers, et cetera that worked together along with our contractor in this redevelopment. We were so pleased in 2000 after the purchase of the building in 2006. We had it listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Unfortunately, by the time we put together our plans and we're ready to begin to look for financing, the real estate market crashed in 2008. And so our dream was certainly deferred, but ultimately in 2018 we were able to enter this revitalized historic resource, the Universal Life Insurance Building. Thank you, Juan. Can you talk a little bit about the funding strategy for how you made this happen? I know that this was a labor of love, but it was a labor in itself to really be creative and strategic in the ways in which you guys developed the capital stack and really were able to make this project a reality. Yes, thank you, Matt. Definitely a source of mixed financing. In 2015, we were able to secure an allocation of qualified energy conservation bonds. And so that really became the catalyst for the rest of the funding. We were also able to secure historic tax credits and as well as an infrastructure grant from the city of Memphis. And so in that alone with a pilot, a pavement in lieu of taxes, as well as a low interest, a very low interest facade restoration loan from the downtown Memphis Commission, and then ultimately a commercial loan. And so it definitely was a journey and mixed finance. And it took a lot of work and a lot of coordination to secure these funds, but the capital stack is not a traditional development in terms of the financing. But we were able to put together several different sources of funds to make the project happen, of course. And that also in addition to the equity that we have in the property as well. Thank you, Juan. Now, I also want to make sure that we highlight some of the efforts that were put together in terms of preserving parts of the building and keeping some of that embodied energy, excuse me, as Mario likes to say. So let's go through here and kind of look at how some of the space has changed from pre-vitalization through the end of construction. Yeah, thanks, Matt. Pre-renovation for this project, as you can imagine, a building built in 1949. There were a lot of hazardous materials and elements that were damaged over time that needed to be repaired, also removed from the building to make way for the new work. So these images show some of the typical damage, which included, you know, missing ceilings, damaged and outdated electrical MEP services, damaged windows, as well as broken windows and rusted frames. Also, lots of asbestos, which we had to remediate as wet as lead paint, were throughout the entire project, and we were able to remediate all of those hazardous materials to make way for all the new work. The next slide shows the layout of the original floor plan. We're going to go from the basement up, so the project is, I believe, 30,000 square feet each floor, 32,000 square feet each floor. Well, the total is 33,000 and roughly 11,000 per floor. Thank you, sir. So starting here at the ground floor, the original plan housed all of the services and activity zones for the workers of the building to the southernmost portion at larger volume. We're training rooms, an activity room for the staff as well as a full service cafe and kitchen. Also, on the floor, all your services, your boiler room, mail room, that sort of thing, and moving into the new phase of construction. A lot of those spaces or the atmosphere and feel of those spaces were retained, so the tenant city of Memphis occupies about 50% of that lower level. And they currently use it as it was recently used as training spaces and multi-purpose spaces for the city of Memphis Office of Business Development Center. And so really being inspired by the use of that space was the influence for how this space was ultimately renovated and redesigned. And so there's also the previous slides showed an area for a future cafe. We're actually talking with the current potential tenant to actually bring a cafe to repopulate the area where the original cafeteria occupied. Moving forward in the next slide, we can see the first floor, excuse me, the main floor, which is right off of the main entrance that you see to the south, which is to the left on this screen. That would have been the main entrance lobby. And on this floor were various services that the community could utilize, which goes from the computer storage mainframe to records department to the clients department. So these were all the workers facilitated those tasks from and from the renovated portion of the plan. We can see that the city occupies most of that space. So to the what would be the west, which is the top of this diagram of this city offices and to the west, which is the bottom of this diagram would be the Business Development Center, where locals can come in and actually start their businesses out in this space as their businesses grow, they can move out into the marketplace from here. And there are other areas around the on this floor, excuse me, that are currently for lease. So we're actually in the process of building out those spaces, which we'll talk about a little bit later. And one other additional element that we've incorporated on this floor plan, the cyan area of the floor plan is a exhibit space that kind of retails the story and celebrates the story of this historic building. You can go to the next slide. So these images show the entrepreneur's network center, which is an open office concept and restoring those windows actually brings a lot of light into this space with that's something that we really wanted to capitalize on was the amount of windows and amount of natural light that flows these interior spaces and the image to the right shows the private office space of the city space that the city occupies, which is on that southwest corner. Here, and I asked Matt to elaborate a little bit on the MTSU involvement. This is a historic gallery that's currently on the first floor, just to the right of the main entrance. And like I said before, it really highlights the history of this place of this building and the impact it had on its community. And this was commissioned, excuse me, by the MTSU Center of Historic Preservation that we partnered with. And they actually employ team tour guides to bring patrons into the building and educate the public on the history of this building. Matt, do you have anything to add to that? I know you were entering in that. Sure, absolutely, Mario. So this space actually has a special place in my heart, but also one of the things we want to make sure that we highlight is, yes, definitely that relationship between MTSU Center for Historic Preservation and our design team. So what we did is we intentionally took some time to develop a detailed resource report regarding the building, its history, the country, the company, and its impact locally, regionally and nationally, and really find a way to tell all of that story in a concise manner. And so what we did is we dedicated a specific amount of space here in this public facing part of the building where anyone who visits the Universal Life Insurance Building can immediately walk in and be inundated with a rich history of the building and then experience not only through the services that the building provides its legacy, but also see its history and see how that tone was set for this space that we like to call a building that sets a space for creatives and entrepreneurs. As you can see in the image on the right, we do have two teen docents. This image is actually from the grand opening in 2019. And so then what we did is we actually developed a tour route that goes throughout the entirety of the building where you can experience in a detailed manner the history of the building, the history of the company, their impact, and some of the things we've talked about so far and get that history hands-on. You can see some of the elements we preserved in terms of some of the glass lights in the doors, some of the reproductions of some materials. You can experience a lot of the materiality of the space as it was in 1949, but then also get the history of who was in that office. What did they do for the company? How did they make an impact? And so that's really part of what we wanted to highlight and talk about in the history. And so you'll see once again is in the image to the left actually the historic boards that were made that tell that history. And so part of the future planning that is ongoing now is to also add some display cases that showcase some of the objects that were found in the building as well. We actually have a wealth of hundreds of historic photos detailing the history of the building from the 1940s on up through as late as the mid to late 90s. And so that's something that we are working on now to further tell that story and have some of those photo books, some of the marketing materials that are as old as the 1950s, and showcase some of those objects as well within this space. And so that was part of the intentional nature of how we went about designing this project to not only reuse and adaptively reuse that space, but even more so leverage that history and keep that legacy identified and keep that top of mind is our key design inspiration for how we determine the uses for the building in the different spaces. And one other important aspect of that, Matt, in terms of the history and telling the story is we recorded oral histories from persons who either worked at the building or had close relationships with the Universal Life Insurance Company, and we'll ultimately have those available for the public to view as well. Thank you, Juan. And Matt, there's some great information. We really wanted to celebrate the interior spaces and showcase the history of this space and its materials that were used throughout the space. We really wanted to expound upon and celebrate the natural light that comes into the building, putting or putting back into play the original layouts of the floor plan, which showcased these open spaces, as well as allow that natural light to flood these interior spaces. Also preserving and maintaining the original design elements such as the marble Wayne Scotting and terrazzo floors were very important to save and make sure it was a major feature within these interior spaces. Next slide, please. Thank you, Mario. So here we move to the second floor, which has the largest open space with the clerical offices, as you can see in this image, historic image. This self took our offices currently occupy that space. And also on that floor in the thinner borrow that original diagram, where all of the executive offices, including the offices basic Macio and Dr Walker. A lot of those spaces are still retained to this day. The executive office spaces are shell space and are slated for redevelopment in our in phase three of our project, which would include adding more office space and a work share area for those small businesses, especially those coming out of the city's business development program could utilize that space as they start their businesses moving into the market for the self Tucker space. We really work within the historic boundaries of that space. That space featured a large barrel vault wouldn't ceiling with steel trusses, which we have preserved. And all of the natural light and 12 foot tall windows were all preserved in this space as well. We're very coming from our original office, which was very dark only had one window. We now have 15 that we're continuing with every day and it's it's been very great to have this amount of light in the space it really opens up the space and make it feel fresh. The windows were able to be restored. These are all the original windows that we were able to salvage and they were all reglaze with one inch insulated glass and none of the windows are operable. So they all lost their operable nature, but we were able to retain, like I said, the original windows and all that natural light. The original space featured a ceiling, a hard ceiling, which was about 14 feet tall above the finished floor and so our requirements for Shippo and the preservation and compliance for that we had to restore part of that ceiling feature. But we were able to keep the barrel vault exposed in key areas of our layout of our floor plan for this space. And that space would be our main entrance as well as our loft space above our entry volume. And I think that also allows the building of Mario and Matt to not only come alive, but also the building itself becomes an interpretive element so that it's visible in terms of the method of construction as well as honoring the original layouts and ceiling heights, etc. Absolutely. We definitely want to share that all of the aspects of this building that make it special. Also a major move that we decided to take was to incorporate contemporary office design into this historic shell. It was strategically done that way so we can have, we can view the future and what the space can be used for but also have a sense of where it came from and having those two just opposed to each other was very important in the design process. And on this floor are some major elements that we decided to retain or were able to retain I would say we preserved a lot of the historic original interior doors along the main historic corridor. A lot of those refurbished and hardware updated. We were able to keep and restore some of the gold leaf painted glass lights that are throughout the entire project and we were also able to retain and restore the historic cashiers window where a lot of patrons and visitors who visited this building went to pay their insurance policies. That's the main feature in one of our lobby spaces on the second floor. And we also were able to retain a lot of the historic details such as the historic handrails which are all cast aluminum which are major elements within the space. So moving to the outside of the building. These are some historic photos showing just the makeup and character of the building it is in Egyptian revival style. The west and southern faces of the building are a clad and limestone and the west and excuse me the east and northern are a brick masonry. So a lot of the repairs and refresh of the exterior was point tucking and refinishing and resurfacing a lot of these elements. As you can see on the corner there in this image, the very corner of the building, we had to do some minor restoration to the building's limestone facade but we were able to get the facade pretty much watertight. And so other elements that were added since the restoration, some transportation elements which include historic markers that are a part of the Memphis Heritage Trail. These markers go throughout the entire trail and they give detail historic information to those who are passing by or pedestrians. Also some changes to the site around this property were some street upgrades which include bike lanes as well as decorative planters and crosswalks which weren't there before. Also a part of that, all of these elements, including the restoration of the historic signage one mentioned before, all of that plays into the public and sustainable transit that's available to this site. This slide showcases the Egyptian revival elements that were saved on this project. The main columns that are at the two main entrances into the building are a papaya stalk, a bound papaya stalk which you really find a lot of in Egyptian revival architecture. Once again mentioned, we were able to retain and bring up to code the existing iron windows or steel windows with new insulated glass. As mentioned before as well, the restoration to the clock, the historic state's historic marker is still in place and was refurbished as well as well as the addition of the Memphis Heritage Trail marker. Mario, one thing I want to also highlight that you brought to my attention was also the intentionality behind the Egyptian revival style choice of the building. That was very intentional that the McKessix chose to do that. This is an interesting point of history is that originally the Universal Life Insurance Company was considering purchasing a neoclassically designed church that is just up the block just out of sight. If you look at that image at the bottom right, that red brick building in the background actually has a limestone facade that is neoclassical in nature and they were considering purchasing that building from a church that was leaving the area due to white flight. But they intentionally chose to select this site at this prominent corner of the community that was surrounded by a mixture of housing as well as stores and storefronts. And they chose the Egyptian revival style specifically and this was in some of the writings that I had seen done by Dr. J. E. and conversation with the McKessix specifically because they wanted to highlight the greatness of Africa and of a well known black civilization that had a huge indelible impact on culture, on society, on media, on all these different aspects and they wanted to highlight that and reflect that greatness in their building here. And this also ties into the interesting point of Memphis, Tennessee being named after Memphis, an ancient historic capital of Egypt along the River Nile and the parallel between that and the Mississippi River. And so it really was just this multi-layered design decision, both of the McKessix and of self-tech architects to highlight those elements in those ways. And so that's just an interesting point of the history I thought was important to mention here about the Egyptian revival style and why it was selected by the McKessix and the Walker family for this building. You're absolutely correct. And like I said, these elements and this style was something that we definitely wanted to celebrate and retain and make sure it lasted for years to come in this community. One thing that we also want to mention is really some of the outcomes that came from our strategic preservation of the exterior. Our preservation of a lot of the interior elements and key spaces that really made up the architectural character of the building. These resulted in some awards and some design awards as well as some impact awards. The first one, particularly being the 2021 Impact Awards, that is tied directly to the sustainable nature of the building, which we're going to talk about in just a moment. The building is actually lead gold certified and we'll get into that in just a moment, but that was an important reason why we were able to win that award is because of the impact of the building, both on the environment and the protection of that. But in addition to that, the impact on the community as well. That was really an important note that the judges mentioned was the impact of the building on entrepreneurship and honoring that legacy that we've talked about throughout this presentation. But we won several other awards and the building really is deserving was really deserving of those words because of the degree to which the history was both maintained architecturally, but also highlighted through the building programming that we've talked about previously. In part, due to the historic gallery to do some of the programs that parallel some of the programs that were done by the universal life insurance company. And so that's part of what we wanted to highlight here was how those how those outcomes tie into the mission that that was driving this project overall. As Matt mentioned, the building was certified lead gold. And so we are not only pleased with that certification as Matt mentioned but sustainability is really a core value of our practice overall as architects and as citizens. And some of the things that we actually have implemented within the building recycling and use of various elements, low flow water fixtures, high efficiency, heating and air conditioning, etc. We also wanted to highlight those elements within the building itself. So again, the building itself becomes an interpretive element so that it's visible with respect to those sustainable elements. The windows, the ductwork, the HVAC equipment, etc. And we recently implemented in install signage to add further interpretive elements to those key sustainable elements. And so we not only did that with respect to lead but also it was with respect to our values and lead but also it ties directly into the qualified energy conservation. So we were already moving in that direction. And so we also have future plans for 50kW solar parking canopy. We have the infrastructure in terms of the first phase already installed. We also have infrastructure for charging stations for electric vehicles. And so we are really excited about the future of this building from the sustainability standpoint. Absolutely. And in addition to that, there are plans for a roof garden. We actually are rooftop terrace and vegetated roof. And we actually have put in the infrastructure, new staircase and elevator access to this level of the building to really capitalize on one rainwater collection. And also cool roof strategy. So we're hopeful that this will be something that could be started in the near future and well as become a major amenity to this site. Additionally, when it comes to sustainability, many times historic preservation and sustainability are not used in the same sentence. But we believe it's a perfect marriage because first of all, there is an embodied energy within every building. And so we believe that renovating an existing resource is one of the most sustainable things we can do for our planet. And so all of the energy and all of the carbon that was taken and embodied within this structure, we were able to preserve a large percentage of that as we redevelop the universal life insurance building. Thanks Juan. And one thing, another element of the sustainability of the universal life insurance building is that it went beyond just the practice of in the design portion. And as we're doing the commissioning, making sure that the materials are sustainable and the systems are sustainable, but also making sure that we find ways to make sure that the people within the building are utilizing the building in sustainable ways. Part of that went to a building wide recycling process and waste infrastructure. And so we also have a clean greening program and plan that we have enacted that allows us to keep the building clean from top to bottom in ways that eliminate odors, VOCs and other volatile chemicals that might impact the health of the people that live that work in the building and that come to visit the building and learn about that history as well as utilize some of the services and functions. And so within the first few quarters of operation, we were able to divert nearly a half over half a ton of electronic material and waste from landfill and send that to an organization that works to refurbish those materials and give them to people in need and sell those to people in need and other businesses and small businesses throughout the region. So that was part of the intentional partnerships that we made and creating a pipeline for sustainability that began with the project inception, but goes on beyond that as the project begins to fully operate and as people come online and begin to lease the spaces. There will be an intentional upkeep that continues that sustainability for decades and generations to come with people who use the building. Thank you, Matt. And with that as well, the lease requirements, the leasehold requirements also include an agreement by current tenants as well as future tenants to incorporate these sustainable practices as they engage and are using the building. So Mario mentioned transportation transportation is key. One of the things we noticed since the building is open is that there's a marked increase of pedestrian traffic and that has to do with some of the development that's happening around the universal life insurance building. But it's also in part due to more friendly streets, a more friendly streetscape, bicycle lanes, et cetera, and so making it easy for pedestrians to engage. We also are on a major route in terms of the ingress and egress from the downtown portion of Memphis and there are also bus routes directly tied and anchored here at the universal life insurance building. And so with that, public transportation, mass transportation, as well as pedestrian and biking is an integral part of this particular development and also provides connectivity to many of the major bike and pedestrian paths in the city of Memphis. So part of the strategy that we developed to create lasting change were to go into these three lanes that almost line up with the three lenses with which we looked at this project from the design phase, but entrepreneurship being one, cultural heritage tourism being the second, and community revitalization being the third. And this isn't a hierarchy, none of these are more important than the other, but they were all really kind of a triumvirate that we used to look at the project from these three ways of how we wanted to holistically design the uses for the project. So that first heading of entrepreneurship, one of the ways in which we intentionally looked at developing that spirit of entrepreneurship within the building was to first of all take charge of that by ourselves by becoming the first tenant of the building. Self-tech architects moved our office into this building intentionally to be hands on with that approach. We also moved the development arm of self-tech architects, self-tech or properties into the building, which led the development here to be able to further be hands on with the community with the project itself and really take the lead on that and set and trailblaze in that way. We also had a pretty innovative partnership with the city of Memphis, and they actually were willing to move their office of business diversity and compliance into the first floor of this building, as well as we made sure to highlight and retain spaces within the building and intentionally keep that lease space and ear market for small businesses that may be using some of the services that the office of business diversity compliance provides to create a pipeline. So the second way of coming from new business owner or a small business, maybe you're at home using a remote doing the remote business and you're ready to move to that next stage of brick and mortar. You may need office space or you may just need support and training that allows you to take that next step and go full time in your business. That was one of the ways in which we intentionally leveraged entrepreneurship. So the second way of the three ways that we leveraged the way the mission of this project is cultural heritage tourism. We specifically wanted to make sure that we highlighted that history that we've talked so much about in this presentation, but really tie it into other efforts within the community to highlight the neighborhoods history that ties in directly to the Memphis Heritage Trail and some of the other buildings and structures and key points in Memphis's history that tie into universal life that impacted each other in a real beautiful and cyclical way. And so as we highlight that history we're furthering the history of the neighborhood itself. We also wanted to make sure that we do that in the building campus itself through the historic exhibit and through that historic tour. And create engagement for future generations. We spoke about it previously, but the universal life insurance company spent a lot of time being intentional in their community outreach to have students come into the space. They would shadow professionals within the building and find out about different career paths and things that they may not have even known about as career options and opportunities for them, especially in the Jim Crow South as we mentioned. And so that was really important to kind of make a parallel to that and really be intentional about engaging with students in the modern day Memphis through educational experiences being able to come and be mentored and shadow architects within our office, both young architects and seasoned professionals. And then also create opportunities for entrepreneurship for these young people through the ability to work as a docent or as a tour guide in the building. So those are paid opportunities to not only learn about the history, but apply what you've learned in there to not only learn about the history, but apply what you've learned and empower others, whether they be classmates or whether they be visitors to the building. So really creating ways in which these things kind of connect and click in with each other to really holistically bring about that project mission to create a place for creatives and entrepreneurs. And then lastly, and Juan may want to tap in more on this since we do have some more slides on that coming up, but about community revitalization as well. So part of the context and one highlighted at it or hinted at it earlier with the building and with, you know, the recession of 2007 and 2008, how that impacted not just this project, but locally in the neighborhood, several other projects that were around. This building was before we revitalized it was very much blighted, but also there were other blighted properties and just opportunities for infill at this prominent corner that really is that two of Memphis's biggest and most well traveled streets. But not only as developers for this building, but also furthering our developer acumen by building multifamily housing on this same block as this building to create even further and grow that pipeline. That's from entrepreneurs or small business owners to people that maybe even now live and work on the same block or in the same region. So really trying to fight the blight not only in this corner, but grow the economics of the area the same way that universal life insurance company was intentional about building this building here and doing life and working and revitalizing this community. We're mirroring that in our companies ethos and in their intentional work as well. Thank you, Matt. Also, and as you go to the next couple of slides from an entrepreneur standpoint and community revitalization standpoint. There are so many parallels with the with respect to the founders of the universal life insurance company and our organization self took architects and self took her properties. Having similar visions to provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to not only began, but also to grow partnering partnering with the city and other businesses, both major corporations as well as smaller private businesses. Really providing helping to provide opportunities and plant the seeds of entrepreneurship, not only to those who we come in contact with but also within our own organization to have an entrepreneurial outlook on all of the work that we do and also have a community revitalization and community empowerment site or lens on all the projects that we work on. And so we're pleased to really have just even to be able to touch and move forward and advance the legacy of the founders of the universal life insurance company. The cultural heritage tourism, along with redevelopment in terms of the community, just within this, this less than a half mile radius projects such as the revitalization of the historic Claiborne temple. Just two blocks from here, the revitalization of the Greeks business college and then re project that's completed, at least partially in terms of first phase, the NAACP building locally and then. And so it's really a hub of activity and so much that's happening around the universal life insurance building that are really offshoots as we planted our flag here and we can really see just around us. The history and the heritage from the heritage trail and so many other cultural assets and then even the spirit of being ignited to for preservation of these historical assets. You can see my partner Jimmy Tucker and all interviewing former employees, staff persons of the universal life insurance company who also went on to be great entrepreneurs themselves. Recording that oral history was an important aspect in terms of preserving this legacy and moving it forward. Thanks Juan. So looking at some future improvements to the universal life insurance building campus. As mentioned before, we are in the process of start installing a 50k w solar carport with EV charging stations, as well as the plan. Green roof and terrace on top of the original building. But we're also looking at other development on the property. We currently own the entire block that the building sits on. And we're looking at developing some market rate apartments, one bedroom apartments. These will be highly sustainable as well. We're really looking at pursuing leave for this project as well. Some sustainable features that are being explored are photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting as well as water reduction. Potential geothermal energy in a horizontal loop because Memphis is an aquifer. So we are limited to how deep we can have those loops. And then native planting and arrangements also maximizing views and open space as well as natural light access to natural light and fresh air ventilation. So this is we've dubbed this project the 510 MLK project, which will feature nearly 40 units. I believe 20 to 30 one bedroom units and a around 15 to 20 studio apartments. As mentioned before, there'd be market rate and the design of this building was directly influenced by the Universal Life Insurance Building and take some of those cues, but rearrange them in scale and in rhythm. Well, it mimics the building in scale and rhythm, but takes those cues and shifts them into a more contemporary language. So we're really excited about this project and looking forward to the next phase of it. All right, so I do want to take an opportunity, first of all, to thank Matt and Mario, as well as the National Trust and the Pass Forward Conference for the opportunity to just tell you a little bit about the Universal Life Insurance Building. I want to thank my partner, Jimmy Tucker, and the entire self Tucker architects and self Tucker properties team. There were certainly many challenges and roadblocks along the way. One of the greatest challenges was time and money, of course, the great recession that we were, we were that we had to go through during the development phase of it. Ultimately, we believe we have a better project for all of the various speed bumps and roadblocks that we encountered. And so this, this facility has become really a beacon, almost like a beacon of hope for this community. Again, we are planted in the center or within the 38126 zip code South Memphis community that has historically been under resourced. And we believe that the redevelopment of the United of the Universal Life Insurance Building has been a catalyst for redevelopment around this area.