Two local real estate veterans are teaming up to develop a new hotel on Poplar Avenue, just west of I-240.

Hotel- I-240 Poplar Avenue Memphis,TN

 Anwar Aman & Yogesh Purohit recentlypurchased 5625 and 5635 Poplar Ave. for $2.4 million, and they have a nearbyCrossFit Triad property under contract. They plan to spend more than $14 millionat the site, developing a high-end hotel with at least 120 rooms, ground-floorretail and, potentially, a rooftop bar.

"I-240/Poplar is the best business center in Memphis," Purohit said. "You mix corporate on weekdays and travel on the weekends.” 

Aman is a Collierville-based real estate veteran who said he owns 85 Memphis properties — including convenience stores, Subway restaurants, Checkers restaurants, and retail centers — and more than 200 nationwide, including 13 hotels. Purohit has developed, operated and sold 15 hotels over the last 34 years, he said, including the Hilton Garden Inn in Wolfchase and a couple in DeSoto County.

The two friends have, for a while, been looking up and down Poplar between Kirby Road and Mendenhall Road for a spot to place their first joint venture. 

(L to R) Loeb Realty Group broker Barry Maynard, Anwar Aman and Yogesh Purohit stand in front of 5625 Poplar Ave., which Aman and Purohit recently purchased for $2.4 million. They are planning to develop a hotel on the site.

JACOB STEIMER

Purohit said the site they purchased is one of the best in the county for hospitality. Along with a Poplar address and I-240 visibility, many of the nearby hotels are older and still garnering high occupancy rates.

It's such a good site that the two are hoping to build a larger, dual-branded hotel there — if they can acquire more adjacent land. They are currently in negotiations for a few of the adjoining properties.

"We might double the size," Purohit said. "We’re trying to make the site bigger and better."

To help accommodate a bigger hotel, Aman and Purohit are hoping for a hand from  the Poplar Corridor TIF (tax increment financing) district,which their hotel would sit within. The TIF is set to generate $42 million forimprovements to the area's walkability and infrastructure over 20 years. The TIFdollars are set to be allocated by an association directed by seven PoplarCorridor stakeholders.

Franklin Revocable Living Trust sold the Poplar property to Purohit and Aman. Loeb Realty Group's  Barry Maynard, who has represented Aman for years, was the only broker involved in the sale.

Aman is also in the midst of redeveloping the gas station at the southwest corner of Poplar Avenue and Perkins Extd. into "the best gas station in Memphis." He said it will serve organic, fresh food along with quality coffee — a model he's seen work on the West Coast.

Maynard said Aman is constantly looking for new real estate investments between $500,000 and $50 million.