Big development plan for Brandon means new businesses, jobs

Oct. 17, 2023

Source: Scott Simmons 16WAPT

L to R: Noel Daniels, President Rankin First Economic Development; Governor Tate Reeves; Dawn Thrash; Ike Thrash; Joseph Trash, Thrash Group, and Brandon Mayor Butch Lee

BRANDON, Miss. —

Developers are planning to build a complex in Brandon that will bring jobs and money to the city and county.

For the city, it’s the promise of a multimillion-dollar mixed-use development designed to extend downtown Brandon to the west from City Hall.

"From that point, all the way down to Crossgates Boulevard will now be a Highway 80 corridor that will be downtown," Mayor Butch Lee said.

A large crowd attended the unveiling Tuesday at what will be the construction site for the Heights at Brandon. The project will offer an 82-room boutique hotel, 92 loft apartments, retail and office space.

“It will cost around $45 million; we are still pricing some things out,” Joseph Thrash, with the Thrash Group, said. “Our hope is that it is a big catalyst for continued projects that look similar to this one throughout Brandon."

Developers said the area’s growth was part of the attraction to build in Brandon, measuring the lure of people who attend events at the Brandon Amphitheater and are likely to look to the area in the coming years.

The economic impact could be more than $100 million over 10 years.

“There are probably three restaurants going on. There is a hotel, there are lofts, so you have all of these businesses going on in one place, and when all of those businesses are hopefully fully operating, you just have a lot of impact in a lot of different areas,” Thrash said.

The city, county and state are helping offset some of the construction costs with redirected tax collections. The mayor believes it will lead to more development and provide more for the city than it will need to provide in Tax Incremental Financing support.

"I have a board that has a vision to understand what this is going to do for the city of Brandon," Lee said. "You are going to extend downtown instead of just being a little nucleus."

Developers hope to get to work on the project soon. Shovels could hit the ground by January and take 18 months to complete. Developers said the Heights at Brandon will have 18,000 square feet of retail space and a green space for holding outdoor events.