Drive south on Houston Levee Road toward Carriage Crossing right now and you will pass a cleared, graded lot at the corner of Shea Road, the kind of raw dirt that looks like nothing until you know what is coming. What is coming is Morrison Village, an 11.5 acre mixed-use project from Boyle Investment Co. that is going to hand this stretch of Collierville something it has never had: a second walkable hub to compete with the Historic Town Square for the town's daily life.
That matters for anyone weighing which Collierville neighborhood to buy into, because most of the market is still shopping off the old map. The Square has been the town's one recognized center of gravity for years. Morrison Village changes that math, but only on a timeline, and the timeline is the part almost nobody factors into an offer.
What Is Actually Going Up at Shea and Houston Levee
Boyle's own release puts the project cost at $50 million, built across 11.5 acres just north of Highway 385. The plan calls for 100 apartment units, split between 72 studio or one-bedroom flats and 18 two-bedroom units, plus eight live-work structures and roughly 28,600 square feet of retail space, according to the company's announcement. The plan's first phase includes a childcare facility, with a hotel planned for a later stage, per reporting from The Commercial Appeal. Residents will also get direct access to the greenbelt trail system along Nonconnah Creek, a detail that ties the development back into the walking and biking network Collierville has been building for years.
Les Binkley, senior vice president at Boyle, framed the project's purpose plainly when it was still in the approval stage: the new housing is meant to feed the retail that already exists next door. As he put it to reporters, "I think it will really help the mall because the mall needs housetops in close proximity."
"I think it will really help the mall because the mall needs housetops in close proximity."
That sentence is worth sitting with. Boyle is not describing Morrison Village as a stand-alone amenity. It is describing it as fuel for Carriage Crossing, the mall and market place that already anchors this end of Houston Levee. The apartments and live-work units are the mechanism, not the destination. If it works, the retail corridor gets stronger because the rooftop count around it grows, and every existing home within an easy walk or short drive of Carriage Crossing gets a small, compounding lift in day-to-day convenience.
The Timeline Nobody's Buying Against
Here is the detail that should change how a buyer reads a listing today. This project did not appear overnight, and it will not finish overnight either.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Planning Commission unanimous approval | September 2024 |
| Board of Mayor and Aldermen approval, 5-1 vote | November 11, 2024 |
| Vertical construction begins | January 2026 |
| Retail shell buildings complete | End of 2026 |
| Residential units available for lease | Summer 2027 |
Source: Daily Memphian and AOL/Commercial Appeal reporting.
A buyer closing on a house near this corridor in August 2026 is not buying into a finished amenity. They are buying into month seven of a construction schedule that does not put keys in residential doors until roughly a year from now. The retail shells finish first, sometime around the turn of the year, which means the earliest visible sign of "arrival" for most passersby will be storefronts sitting empty for months while build-out happens inside. Anyone judging this corridor by what they see driving past in the next two quarters is judging it too early.
There is a second layer here that explains why so few current residents saw this coming. The apartment entitlements behind Morrison Village were granted back in 1998, not created new for this project. Binkley said as much when the plan came up for its final vote: "This isn't new. It's not newly zoned. It's grandfathered in. We're just finally moving forward to develop it." One alderman, John Worley, noted during the vote that the original entitlement predated every current board member. A parcel can sit zoned and dormant for decades before a developer decides the market finally supports building it out, and when that switch flips, the neighbors who bought ten or twenty years ago rarely had any way to see it coming.
Not a Single Building, a Corridor Shift
Morrison Village is the visible piece, but it is not the only piece. Boyle representatives have said the project is meant to complement other residential work moving forward on the same stretch of Houston Levee. Jason Crews is developing The Parke at Houston Levee nearby, and Grant & Co. along with John and Joel Porter are working additional residential parcels further south on the same road, according to reporting from the Shelby County Chamber Alliance. None of these projects are being built in isolation. They are being built as a set, on the theory that housing density near Carriage Crossing strengthens the retail base for everyone building there.
This is worth knowing if you already own or are considering a home in an established subdivision near this end of town. A listing that already leans on proximity to Highway 385 as a selling point, something you will see in real estate marketing for neighborhoods in this part of Collierville right now, is describing a location whose convenience case gets stronger with each of these projects that delivers, not weaker.
The Road Underneath All of It
None of this lands cleanly if the road network can't absorb it. Houston Levee is not a side street. Regional planners have flagged it as one of the only continuous north-south arterials crossing the Wolf River in this part of Shelby County, serving a corridor more than eight miles wide, and the Memphis MPO's own project documentation notes plainly that the lack of an adequate southern extension is already inhibiting further development and will increase congestion on nearby roads if nothing changes.
Locally, the Town of Collierville's Shelby Drive Improvements Project, the road Houston Levee dead-ends into right at Carriage Crossing, is still active. A town update posted July 10, 2026 flagged what to expect on that project as the new school year approaches, which means construction activity and traffic pattern changes near this exact intersection are current, not historical, as of this writing.
Put together: new residential density arriving on a road that regional planners already consider strained, with active construction on the connecting road happening at the same time school traffic ramps back up. That combination is worth a direct conversation with anyone advising you on timing a purchase in this part of town, not an afterthought.
What This Means If You're Comparing Collierville Neighborhoods Right Now
A few practical questions worth asking before you write an offer near this corridor:
- Ask whether the subdivision you're considering sits inside the drive shed that feeds Carriage Crossing and Houston Levee, since that's the area positioned to benefit first as retail and residential phases complete.
- Ask what your actual move-in date is relative to the milestones above. Buying in late 2026 for a spring 2027 move puts you much closer to seeing retail activity than someone closing this month.
- Ask your agent whether they're tracking the Shelby Drive Improvements Project timeline, since that construction directly affects daily commute patterns for anyone living near this intersection through the rest of 2026.
- If walkability to a second amenity node matters to your decision, weigh it against a firm date, not a rendering. Summer 2027 for residential leasing is Boyle's own stated target, not a guess.
FAQ
Is Morrison Village open yet? No. As of this writing, vertical construction is underway with retail shell buildings targeted for completion by the end of 2026 and residential units expected to be available for lease in summer 2027.
Does this affect home values in nearby established neighborhoods today? The research available doesn't support a specific value claim, and any number you see quoted before the retail and residential phases actually open should be read as speculation. What is documented is the intent behind the project: more housing near Carriage Crossing to support the retail already there, and additional residential projects from other builders moving forward on the same road.
Is there anything I should watch before making an offer near this corridor? Keep an eye on the Shelby Drive Improvements Project updates from the Town of Collierville, since that construction is active and directly affects the road Houston Levee empties into at Carriage Crossing.
If you're comparing neighborhoods on this end of Collierville or anywhere else in the DeSoto-Memphis market and want someone who is actually tracking these build schedules alongside the listings, Move With Wow is a phone call away. Schedule a Consultation with Chad and Deanna Wardlaw and get a read on the timeline before you write an offer, not after.
