MEMPHIS, Tennessee — "We've been deep rooted in Frayser for 20 years so I would call it prayers being answered," Pastor Ricky Floyd with the Pursuit Of God Transformation Center said.
Pastor Floyd gushed with enthusiasm Friday, reflecting on what he believes is the ongoing momentum in the Frayser community he calls home.
"For us, Frayser has been a diamond in the rough," Pastor Floyd said.
But it's shining much brighter of late, following the recent announcement of hundreds of new jobs at a new Amazon delivery station.
It will be built next door on the Frayser/Raleigh border to the Amazon fulfillment center that already employs more than 1,000 people.
"Frayser is one of the few communities in the entire state of Tennessee where we have access to air, land interstate, river, train, rail," Pastor Floy said.
He and others are also finalizing the purchase of a strip mall on North Watkins Street for mentoring and job training.
"When I first moved out to Frayser it was a bustling community, we had a lot of businesses and things of that nature, then we had a lot of disinvestment, now it seems Like a phoenix rising back up," Teddy King added.
Those who've lived in Frayser for decades point to the ongoing renovations of the Ed Rice Community Center as yet another example of Frayser's momentum and revival in recent months.
"We have commercial spaces that people are interested in new restaurants and so I think it's part of a resurgence that's going to continue for a number of a years," Frayser CDC Executive Director Damon Williams said. "There is a lot of positive activity in Frayser, particularly around housing, home prices are going up, values are going up, houses are selling quicker."
Williams estimates the average home price in Frayser nearly doubled the last few years and new homes at places such as Overton Crossing are giving the community new life and more tax revenue.
"An increase in home value is actually ownership , it's actual equity that people can use for home improvements, open a business, they can leverage that to return to school, so endless possibilities," Williams said.