Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park was completed in 1967, but it’s only now, four-plus decades later, that the property is finally realizing its full potential.
More than four decades after being completed, the Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park is finally realizing its full potential with tenants such as Canadian National Railway Co.
The 3,500-acre industrial park was developed when Memphis and Shelby County paid roughly $4.5 million to buy the land in the late 1950s after city, county and Port Commission leaders saw the need for a large industrial park following the creation of Presidents Island.
“The concept was very innovative for its time and very impressive,” said Randy Richardson, vice president of port and industrial properties for the Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County and executive director of the Port Commission. “I’m sure at the time when they purchased it they thought it was a lot of money, but if you look at it over the long term the return on investment is significant. But you had to have the vision to look that far into the future.”