A giant building permit tied to phase three of a planned AI data center at the former Fred's headquarters on Getwell Road was pulled on Friday, signaling that developer 5C Group is shifting the MEM01 project from paper plans to real construction. It is the most visible step so far on the sprawling South Memphis campus and could speed up work across multiple buildings on the site.
As reported by the Memphis Business Journal, the permit is explicitly tied to phase three of construction and lists 5C Group as the project developer. The outlet's Friday coverage flagged the filing and highlighted the size of the permit compared with earlier applications.
What's planned at the Getwell site
The property at 4300 Getwell Road, the former Fred's headquarters, is a near million square foot complex that industry sources and developers have framed as a multi-phase data campus. Public listings and trade reporting indicate MEM01 is planned to support an initial IT load and then expand toward roughly 60 megawatts of capacity in later phases, according to DataCenterDynamics.
Jobs, incentives and the numbers
Local filings reviewed by The Daily Memphian show 5C requested a 15 year PILOT that lists about 15 direct jobs with an average wage near $103,400. Earlier reporting and developer materials have pointed to a larger buildout and higher investment figures, so projections for the final footprint and job totals remain fluid as the phases move ahead.
Local concerns and infrastructure pressure
Memphis residents and watchdog groups have already pushed back on big, energy hungry data projects after the controversy over another AI campus that leaned on dozens of gas turbines to meet power needs. That fight, and the permit battles that followed, have turned power demand, air emissions, and community input into central issues when large data operators seek approvals, according to reporting by TechCrunch.
What happens next
The city's permitting process runs through the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development and is visible through the Develop901 portal. Construction still depends on a series of sign-offs and inspections before crews can fully ramp up on-site. If 5C pursues tax incentives, those requests would go to the Economic Development Growth Engine and be documented in public filings and local meetings.
For now, the phase three permit stands as the clearest signal that the MEM01 campus is entering a more active construction phase. Neighbors, city officials, and development watchers will be poring over the permit details and any EDGE filings to gauge how big and how fast the Getwell project will grow.
