Charter school network expands to Goodlett Farms

By Dima Amro – Reporter, Memphis Business Journal

Mar 30, 2026

A national public charter school network is expanding its Memphis-area presence into Cordova.

KIPP Memphis Public Schools recently purchased the 50,500-square-foot office building at 7275 Goodlett Farms Parkway for $4.5 million. The property will be converted into KIPP Cordova Collegiate Elementary School, the charter network’s fourth local campus.

Brandon Ingram and Darrell Cobbins with Universal Commercial Real Estate represented KIPP, while Joshua Fisher and Wriley Gillen with Jones Aur Commercial Real Estate represented the seller, Pergament Properties. The deal closed the week of March 23.

“There was not a lot available, and we had to think creatively, and ultimately came across that property,” Cobbins said. “It wasn’t for sale at the time, but we convinced the owner to sell it because of all the work that KIPP will have to put into it to convert it to a school.”

KIPP Memphis COO Genard Phillips said the organization plans to invest more than $7 million to renovate the building into an elementary school. The site, formerly the headquarters of Lucite International, met key criteria despite its previous industrial use.

“We’ve been looking at what opportunities we have to expand and reach more families,” Phillips said. “Research showed Cordova as one of the better opportunities to offer an educational option to families in that area.”

The building is located within the 350-acre Goodlett Farms Business Park, with more than 170,000 residents within a five-mile radius.

General contractor Grinder, Taber & Grinder will handle construction, and 4F Design is the project architect. Construction is expected to begin soon, with the school projected to open by August 2027.

The completed campus will include 24 classrooms, a multipurpose room, 10 offices, a library, an art lab, a science lab, and a combined cafeteria and auditorium (“cafetorium”), which will be the largest space in the building.

At full capacity, the school will serve 527 students.

“Many of the schools are at or near capacity in the Cordova area,” Phillips said. “And that area is continuing to see growth in its school-aged population.”

The K–5 school will emphasize both traditional academics and performing and creative arts. Planned partnerships include Hattiloo Theatre and Collage Dance Collective to provide students with performance and training opportunities.

KIPP Memphis currently serves more than 1,100 students across three schools: Memphis Collegiate Elementary, Memphis Collegiate Middle, and Memphis Collegiate High. Nationally, the KIPP network operates 279 schools and has been active in Memphis since 2002.