A century-old church sanctuary in Memphis' Soulsville neighborhood is about to become the new home for LeMoyne-Owen College's business students. The historically Black college has filed plans for a $1.5 million renovation that will convert the former Bethel Presbyterian Church property at 1060 Mississippi Blvd. into its new School of Business and Entrepreneurship building.
The permit filing, submitted by Memphis-based Self + Tucker Architects on behalf of the college, was reported by Action News 5, which noted the project is still in the planning and development process and that renovation documents include renderings of the new building. LeMoyne-Owen College President Dr. Christopher Davis said the renovation represents an important step in the college's long-term vision for expanding and enhancing the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, according to the same report. The college has said it plans to share additional project details as they become available.
Once complete, the renovated property is expected to support student learning, entrepreneurship, and workforce development, per the station's report. That mission lines up with the school's existing academic footprint: through its Division of Business & Economic Development, LeMoyne-Owen already awards Bachelor of Business Administration degrees as part of 21 undergraduate majors offered across the institution, according to LeMoyne-Owen College.
A Church With Deep Ties to the College
The building slated for conversion carries its own history. Before transferring the property to the college, Bethel Presbyterian Church was the oldest African American congregation in the Presbytery of the Mid-South, and it had previously given a major gift to LeMoyne-Owen in March 2023, according to reporting from the Daily Memphian. Repurposing the church's sanctuary into an academic building threads that congregational history directly into the college's next chapter.
LeMoyne-Owen itself traces its origins to Lincoln Chapel, established in 1862 for freedmen and runaway slaves, and took its current form after a 1968 merger between LeMoyne College and Owen College, according to the Tennessee Encyclopedia. It remains the sole Historically Black College and University in Memphis, a status that gives added weight to any capital investment on its campus.
Part of a Bigger Land Grab in Soulsville
The business school renovation is only one piece of a larger 2026 real estate expansion that has grown LeMoyne-Owen's landlocked campus by 17.6 percent, from 17 acres to 20 acres. That growth includes the $500,000 purchase of a 7,462-square-foot former YWCA facility for the college's School of Education and the acquisition of the 53,975-square-foot Town Center shopping complex, as detailed in a Daily Memphian report shared on Facebook.
The college sits in South Memphis' historic Soulsville district, near the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, where it serves as an anchor institution in long-term community revitalization efforts alongside local development corporations, according to the South Memphis Renaissance Collaborative. Each new acquisition adds to that role, tying the school's physical growth to the neighborhood's broader economic development goals.
Leadership Behind the Expansion
The expansion has unfolded under Dr. Christopher B. Davis, who served as interim president starting in July 2023 before the college's Board of Trustees appointed him as the permanent 14th president in July 2024, per LeMoyne-Owen College. Davis is also notable for being the first active church pastor to serve as president of LeMoyne-Owen, balancing the role with his position as senior pastor at St. Paul Baptist Church in Memphis, as reported by the Daily Memphian.
In July 2025, Davis was selected to Leadership Tennessee's 2025–2026 Signature Program Class XII, joining a statewide cohort of 50 civic and institutional leaders, according to the college. The recognition reflects a leadership profile that now extends well beyond the LeMoyne-Owen campus.
Echoes of a Larger Regional Trend
LeMoyne-Owen isn't the only Memphis institution investing in business education infrastructure this year. The University of Memphis broke ground in March 2026 on Phase 1 of a $30 million renovation of its Fogelman College of Business & Economics facility, according to Flintco. LeMoyne-Owen's $1.5 million project is far smaller in scale, but it reflects a similar local push to modernize where future business leaders are trained.
For now, the timeline for construction, fundraising specifics, and the finished architectural design remain unclear, with the college and Action News 5 both indicating that more details are still to come. What's established is the plan itself: a century-old Soulsville sanctuary, once home to one of the region's oldest Black Presbyterian congregations, is being reshaped into a new center for entrepreneurship at Memphis' only HBCU.
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