Blight Authority of Memphis

Given the sharp increase in mortgage rates, affordability challenges are likely to persist in a strained housing market.

We collaborate with local and regional developers to build more affordable, quality homes to combat the affordability gap and increase homeownership in the Memphis area.

Read The Wall Street Journal's article for more context on current mortgage rates.

Mortgage Rates Rise to Two-Month High at 5.55% The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has nearly doubled from a year ago, the latest challenge for a cooling housing market.

Neighborhoods around the country are taking a new approach to revitalization: building new homes with an affordable price point for the community. Our recent partnerships with local and regional developers reflect this nationwide movement.

Read more in Washington Post's piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/18/for-sale-homes-for-low-income-buyers/.

A model for neighborhood renewal Through an obscure tax credit program, two lawyers have helped build more than 4,200 for-sale affordable homes in 30 cities, including St. Louis and Atlanta.

As BAM continues to make progress in helping overcome blight in Memphis, our new executive director sat down with The Daily Memphian's Daja Henry to share our plans to take things to the next level. Read more below.

Interested in helping us reach our goal of acquiring 30 homes per month? Visit https://bit.ly/3piwlVH to contribute to our mission.

Blight Authority plans to acquire 30 properties per month The Blight Authority of Memphis runs a land bank aiming to bolster economic revitalization by returning blighted and tax-delinquent properties to productive use.

Blight Authority of Memphis is excited to announce the appointment of Michael O. Harris as our new executive director, following a general consensus by our board. In his new role, Michael will touch everything from daily operations to networking and strategy to ensure BAM's success.

Michael brings more than twenty years of knowledge and experience that fuel his main passion: investing in Memphis. We know that under Michael's executive leadership, he will leave BAM and Memphis better than he found it.

As a quasi-government agency, all of BAM's Board of Directors meetings are free and open to the public via Zoom. We invite you to join us for our next one, scheduled for August 3 at 3:00pm CST.

To register, email us at [email protected] to receive login credentials. See you soon!

Congratulations to our friend, Dwayne Jones of Dwayne A Jones Construction Company LLC. His generosity and investment in our community have no limits. Read his latest feature in High Ground News.

Well-known local developer adds children’s books to his already impressive repertoire

We have a new addition to our Board of Directors, Joy Touliatos. Joy serves as Deputy Director of Public Works, and leads a staff of nearly 800 employees. She is responsible for many core services provided to citizens including neighborhood Improvement, street sweeping, drain and street maintenance operations and more.

Previously, Joy served in the Group Violence Intervention Program (GVIP), Public Service Corps and Permits Office for the City of Memphis. She also served in County Government as the Juvenile Court Clerk and other administrative roles in the Juvenile Court Clerk’s Office and the General Sessions Court Clerk’s Office.

Joy is a native Memphian and a proud graduate of the University of Memphis.

We are devastated by the passing of our friend and partner, Mia Madison, the executive director of Memphis Tilth. Mia's dedication to food security, environmental health and the overall quality of life for Memphians has left a lasting impact on our community. We are so thankful for all of her contributions to BAM and Memphis.

Mia Madison, executive director of Memphis Tilth, dies in car crash Memphis Tilth is a community organization that works to strengthen the local food system. 

Transforming vacant lots into productive spaces prevents blight from returning to the area. Starting a community garden strengthens the food system by supporting local farmers and offering a sustainable food source.

Here are two organizations that are paving the way.
Memphis Tilth
Black Seeds Urban Farms LLC

Eliminating uninhabitable properties is essential to reversing the effects of property blight. At BAM, proper equipment and professionals are always on the front lines to ensure everyone's safety. Here's a photo from our first ever.

Changing the trajectories of low-income neighborhoods around Memphis has been always been our goal. Partners like Dwayne A Jones Construction Company LLC help bring our goal to fruition. Thank you, Daja Henry and The Daily Memphian for giving these local development projects the recognition they deserve.

Read The Daily Memphian's article to learn more about this partnership!

Are you interested in supporting our efforts? Visit https://bit.ly/3piwlVH to donate.

Local developer to build 12 homes, increase area value by $1 million Developer Dwayne A. Jones is primarily known for building tiny homes.

Newest addition to the BAM team, Matthew Bellow, is a Mover & Shaker. Welcome, Matthew!

In this week's Movers & Shakers, the West Cancer Foundation welcomes five new members to its board of directors, and Matthew Bellow is named real estate assistant at Blight Authority of Memphis. Read more: https://dailymemphian.com/section/businessmovers-and-shakers/article/29149/movers-shakers

Leadership Memphis Southern College of Optometry Alexander Thompson Arnold CPAs Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis