Construction for the Oxford Commons is seen Tuesday. PHOTO BY: GIANA LEONE
Due to immense population growth making Lafayette County the fastest growing county in the state since 2010, construction developments such as the Oxford Commons have expanded in Oxford to meet the demands of the residential and student community.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lafayette County in Northeast Mississippi is recognized as one of the nation’s top 100 fastest growing counties with a 43.36 percent increase in Oxford’s population over the past 10 years, growing from 40,007 residents in 2000 to 51,318 residents in 2013.
The Oxford Commons is being developed by Blackburn Communities and commercialized by the Randall Commercial Group. This planned urban development will provide local residents with retail, professional office spaces and a place where people can live in a walking, biking and shopping community.
Terri Peeler, director of sales at Blackburn Communities explained the community’s purpose.
“Blackburn Communities is very interested in developing projects in Southern college towns to provide single family residences and student housing in the local Oxford community due to the city’s population growth and increase of the students enrolled over the past four years,” Peeler said.
The Oxford Commons is in the second phase of development and includes residential sections such as The Preserve and The Heights, which consists of traditional Southern elegant homes, as well as The Blake, an assisted living facility and The Park, the professional office park.
“Since the groundbreaking in June, the sales and positive feedback from the community have exceeded our expectations as we have sold the housing in phase one and successfully are now in phase two of development, so we knew that when we started this project, the retail developments were going to follow the residential developments,” Peeler said.
The Oxford Commons is located on the east side of Oxford on Highway 7, approximately one mile from the Square. On site traffic generators for The Oxford Commons include the Oxford High School, Della Davidson Elementary School, the Oxford Conference Center, two new hotels, Malco’s Oxford Common Cinema and Family Entertainment Center and phase one of residential developments near the new high school.
Peeler said this project was started in 2005 when real estate was on the downturn in Oxford, now as Oxford is growing so rapidly, there is a shortage of houses, so Blackburn Communities developed a master plan for the Oxford Commons that will consist of a total of 600 acres as Blackburn Communities plans to develop between 500 and 750 homes over the course of 10 to 15 years depending on the success of 50 to 75 home sales per year.
Brian Phillips, an associate broker at the Randall Commercial Group, LLC., a boutique commercial real estate investment brokerage that focuses on properties and development opportunities including the Oxford Commons, Phillips provides services for commercial and investment real estate acquisition and disposition, tenant and landlord representation, commercial leasing, site selection, development consulting and land brokerage.
Phillips discussed the importantance of creating an area for businesses.
“The issue with Oxford is not the immense growth but rather how to grow it,” Phillips said. “We took on The Village at the Oxford Commons because we wanted to have that hometown feel, but we also call it economic gardening. We want to work with the city to bring in businesses that will benefit not only the residences, but the tax revenue for the city.”
Phillips said they are in the current process of reaching out to tenants, gauging interest with potential retailers, working with the developer, Blackburn Communities to fix any changes we need to make to the development plans, as well as looking at the rent numbers and how we can attract people to the Oxford Commons.
“As Oxford is projected to double in population in the next ten years, the city is very aware of this immense growth and is trying to manage and control the growth by updating the comprehensive plan to help keep the essence of the small town feel as Oxford continues to expand,” Phillips said.
Allen Kurr, vice president of the Economic Development Foundation at the Oxford Chamber of Commerce, said the Oxford Commons will become a point of pride for the community as it will offer new shopping opportunities, residential options, and business locations to the residents and visitors of a county that is among the fastest growing in the state of Mississippi and United States.
“The commerce generated by the Oxford Commons will be a benefit to the community through new taxes that will go toward improved infrastructure, governmental services and education,” Kurr said.
Pam Swain, who has served as vice president of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce for over 12 years explained the chamber’s involvement with the Commons.
Swain said their role with the Oxford Commons is to help market the area to prospective businesses as a viable location or as another quality of life benefit to being in this community. She said they also partner with private investors to develop the area and assist them in their land development needs.
“My favorite part of being a part of growth being a part of seeing Oxford change and grow and get new additions to our community that only help us attract newcomers and people to our area, but it is definitely a challenge to maintain the unique local charm that Oxford holds,” Swain said.
