Southaven police east precinct to move

June 22, 2023 Bob Bakken

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite said Thursday he has signed a contract that puts in motion a move of the police department’s East Precinct to near Silo Square.

Developer Brian Hill is acquiring the property where the current police station is located next to Snowden Grove Park. In exchange, the city will have land near the silo to construct a larger police station next to the development.

Mussewhite said the current location on May Blvd. at 2,600 square feet is adequate as a traffic division location, but not much more.

“With the City’s tremendous growth to the east, we’ve known that eventually we would need a facility that can function as a full-service east precinct,” Musselwhite was quoted on his Mayor’s Report blog posting announcing the action. “Because of economic demand, our current property is much more valuable if used in other ways.”

The mayor said the deal helps both sides in these ways:

The City gives the 1.81 acre parcel of land appraised at $700,000 and $1.5 million for the construction of a new building.
The City receives a 1.69 parcel of land at Silo Square and a new 10,000 square ft. fully-constructed building appraised at $3.135 million.
The City gains $935,000 in equity immediately with this transaction and the private developer gains property with better economic potential and opportunity.

Police bookings would not be able to be done at both precincts, instead of the current situation where bookings must be done at the Northwest Drive headquarters. Musselwhite said the expected economic growth in the Snowden Grove area and eastern part of Southaven will also require a larger law enforcement presence.

“I’ve signed this contract today and we expect completion of our new facility and relocation of our operations in late 2024,” the mayor said Thursday.

Hill, responding to an email request, said the site will be home to a mixed-use project. He said it’s not determined what the project will consist of, but added that he has not started talking to any businesses as yet, about the property, exclaiming people are speculating but he does not have “even a clue” at this time.

“My next projects and most of my focus is to get Lucky Dog open and the Belly Acres building and the Grocery Store started,” Hill said.