dxfret

Excellent news. This is ultra prime real estate and replacement of the aging strip mall shopping center is long overdue.

Nothing is likely to change with this unfortunate large scale urban blight. The costs for rehabbing Sterick or 100 North Main would be astronomical and no investor in the current market will risk big scale development in a tepid, smaller city market like Memphis. This is why these two building, plus other planned downtown projects, have never happened. That’s the situation here.

It’s hard to believe two of the tallest downtown Memphis buildings are both long vacant and continuing to deteriorate. Sadly, both 100 North Main Street and the Sterick Building have become highly visible, monuments to urban blight. The prospects for renovation of either building are low, especially in the current economy. This situation has been going on for many years and remains a huge eyesore and negative for all of Memphis.

The start of construction on a Top Golf is certainly important news for Memphis. Impressive.

Yet another in a long string of failed development further tarnishes the city’s reputation. Memphis seems to attract only questionable bottom fishers who lack the ability to make anything happen.

“It doesn't take a real estate expert to realize the office space market is virtually dead in Memphis, especially in downtown. “ This earlier poster’s quote is spot on. Downtown Memphis has lost thousands of jobs and businesses in recent years. The Sterick Building and 100 North Main have become massive monuments to urban blight and are a huge embarrassment for all of Memphis. The astronomical expenses that would be required to even begin years of work to renovate and repurpose them is beyond anything a corporation, developer or government could stomach. The tricky lease situation with Sterick presents even more complications. With the global recession, the weak Memphis economy, and several failed and delayed projects downtown, absolutely nothing is going to happen with these buildings anytime soon.

It will always be minor league sports teams in Memphis.

I’m wondering what the monthly maintenance charges are for these apartments? I’m guessing the majority of buyers do all cash purchases, but high maintenance fees and property taxes can detract from value. I can find only a 950 sq ft one bedroom unit listed for rent at $7,500 per month, which is about the same as a similar unit in a new luxury building in Manhattan. I think I’d choose something at Broadwest over this project. The interiors look really cheap and the location right by lower Broadway would be a negative.

Memphis has been stagnant for decades, always among the most sluggish cities for growth and development in the country. The negatives (crime, poverty, declining population, unskilled workforce, tepid economy, weak public/private leadership) have simply not improved. These delays, cancellations and missteps are embarrassing for the city and don’t help turn things around. The population stagnation alone is a huge red flag. Smaller projects will continue to be the norm. It would be great to see something major actually happen, but until the negatives improve they will continue to hold back badly needed development.

The interior of the Four Seasons residences looks incredibly cheap. The interior decorator must be an amateur. I would not live there because of the location and the quality of the interiors. I’ve seen their residences in other cities, this one doesn’t compare.

The negatives aspects of Memphis have been well known for decades. Crime, poverty, declining population, tepid economy, unskilled workforce, and weak leadership are important reasons why big things rarely happen in the Bluff City. Outside big investors have long been wary of Memphis, and the local good ole boys like Carlisle are too small to successfully deliver. This project may eventually happen, but today’s economic conditions are the major roadblock.

MEM once billed itself as “America’s Aerotropolis” That claim didn’t work out so well. Today there are 75 daily passenger flights.

This speaks volumes about the multiple weaknesses of Memphis.

With a recession underway this project will not happen for the foreseeable future. The cost of borrowing money at today’s interest rates are just too high and in a tepid market like Memphis the financial risks are not justifiable. Big scale projects are only happening in booming cities like Austin and Nashville.

MEM continues to struggle to get any real growth. The fact that the existing carriers haven’t added many more flights and destinations is the telltale sign of the weak market. This also explains why Breeze Airways hasn’t added Memphis in spite of significant growth in similar smaller cities and the expansion of its fleet and route network. The bottom line is that MEM doesn’t have the volume of passengers that airlines look for to support more flights. MEM should expect the current number of flights for the foreseeable future.