Memphis Business Journal - by Jane A. Donahoe
Memphis Business Journal - September 23, 2010
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In spite of winning Memphis City Council approval last month, CVS may not be out of the woods yet in its fight for a store in Midtown Memphis.
A press release distributed Thursday afternoon by law firm Brewer & Barlow PLC described a deed dating back to 1912 that would require the property at Cooper and Union to be "forever used as a place of Divine worship."
The deed, uncovered by a volunteer researcher, could provide a new angle for those opposed to the CVS development.
The 98-year-old deed conveyed the property that eventually became the site for the Union Avenue Methodist Church, the party which is negotiating a sale to CVS Caremark.
Webb Brewer with Brewer & Barlow said two women sold the property to the Methodist Episcopal Church South for $12,000 with annual payments of $1,000.
But the women put stipulations on the sale, possibly to make up for a below-market value situation, Brewer said. Similar restrictive covenants are more common when benefactors donate gifts, he said.
Brewer said the deed is still "a little bit of a mystery" and more factual research on its origins is needed. But he described the development as "very promising."
"I think there's plenty of precedents for enforcement of valid covenants if they're not otherwise illegal or against public policy," he said.
The original deed states: "To have to hold the same unto the said second parties, their successors and assigns forever, that said premises shall be used, kept, maintained and disposed of as a place of divine worship for the use of the ministry and membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church South (the predecessor to the United Methodist Church); subject to the discipline, usage and ministerial appointments of said church as from time to time authorized and declared by the General Conference of said church and by the Annual Conference within whose bounds the said premises is situated."
The church has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987; CVS plans to demolish it.
The store has been the subject of local debate for months. The city council voted to approve the pharmacy giant's development plan even after the city's Office of Planning and Development and the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board opposed it.
The council's approval was contingent on CVS adhering to the Midtown District Overlay, with the exception of building setback requirements and the addition of a drive-thru.
The Midtown overlay is designed to provide regulations which will encourage development consistent with the uses, scale and character of the neighborhood. The overlay was passed by LUCB and currently is awaiting final council approval.
CVS' latest plan made design concessions, including moving the building closer to Cooper and adding more windows and columns on the building façade.
But the concessions were not enough for those opposing the development. Various other legal challenges are in play and local opponents are garnering support to boycott CVS.
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