JACKSON, MS

Neel-Schaffer helps bring luxury apartments to arts district

Neel-Schaffer provided design and construction engineering services associated with the utility services, site development, and storm water management systems for the Meridian of Fondren, a five-story building in Jackson (MS) that includes a 140-unit luxury apartment complex, retail/restaurant space, meeting facilities, an administrative office, recreational facilities, surface and covered parking areas, and supporting infrastructure.

The $29.5 million project redeveloped a five-acre site on Lakeland Drive in the Fondren Area to make room for a mixed use development intended to provide housing and other services for faculty, staff and students at the University Of Mississippi Medical Center, which is directly across the street.

Among the challenges:

• The size of the development required that a substantial amount of the parking be constructed beneath the building.
• The topography made it necessary to design and construct substantial retain structures that had to be aesthetically compatible with the residential theme.
• The proximity of adjoining existing buildings complicated design and construction.
• The proximity of overhead utilities to the new building front required significant coordination with utility service providers.
• It was necessary to design improvements to off-site sanitary sewer system components to comply with City of Jackson in-flow and infiltration mitigation requirements.