JTM1

This is going to be interesting to follow, because Fred Smith is getting involved. France will be the honored country for Memphis in May and the $750 million fiber optics deal with the French company aren't just coincidences.

Groundbreaking for 100 N Main.

I am familiar with Southern. While it doesn’t have the traffic volume of Central, it does have traffic and I expect that will only increase as the fairgrounds become denser. I noticed there is some type of new construction happening on Southern down from the fairgrounds. I sense the reason they proposed adding soccer fields, on the Southern edge, was due to mayor Strickland planning to raze the coliseum and build a soccer stadium in that location. Building a soccer stadium at the fairgrounds will not happen and I sense the coliseum will be handed over to a conservancy and redeveloped. I believe the Paul Young administration will find the revenue for building a soccer stadium and AZP, but it will not happen where Strickland proposed. One of the good things coming with the UofM acquiring ownership of the Liberty Bowl is that it will encourage more private development at the fairgrounds. This is also serves an opportunity for the city to build parking similar the downtown mobility center at the fairgrounds because I read it has been a success with generating revenue above expectations. I personally hope the city has abandoned the idea of soccer fields on that property and will focus on ice skating. They missed an opportunity by not adding an ice sheet in the design of the sports event center and I hope they will look at adding one as a future addition. The ice rink at AZP proves it. I saw kids Saturday night, at AZP, with their parents that couldn’t skate a lick, but they were definitely trying. I am one of those people that believe more isn’t always better, but in the case of having amenities at the fairgrounds they need more to make it work for both visitors and Memphians. I don’t think adding more retail near the MSEC will hurt the CY area, but I think it will make hosting events at the fairgrounds that much more attractive.

Interesting design. I love what he said about we need to start living here and not move East. It appears that he want to give some local investors the opportunity to partner, but his financing is coming from outside investors. This will definitely influence what the Commercial Appeal property will become.

Wow! That would look good on Beale St. The image that I saw of this structure was a hand drawing. I have never seen his before. It looks like the Mason Temple. building. I have a several friends that are COGIC members and some are ministers. Their new presiding Bishop is from Detroit and they tell me he is a visionary and from what I understand COGIC was once the largest property owner in downtown Memphis.

That fire house is here to stay and the Memphis Music Initiative is occupying it. Perhaps that parking lot could serve as a connector to the garage that serves as a bridge over MLK and connected to a hotel.

I am familiar with the history of Robert Church, and I am not advocating erasing his history or doing away with the park named after him. However, I am suggesting adding something to the park that would bring life to that area of Beale and Fourth, because it is dry there. Perhaps on the outer edges. My wife is a former educator, and she was part of a group of teachers that was brought in to learn the curriculum for the Memphis Heritage Trail, before she stepped aside to care for her mother and our newborn. She took photos of design renderings for Church Park, MLK Blvd, the area around the Universal Life building. I assume these are the designs that you are referring too. My memory isn’t that clear on these photos, but I do believe there was a monument somewhere in the design for the park. I noticed the Zoo has rebranded and is no longer the Memphis Zoo and Aquarium. It’s just the Memphis Zoo. I have always believed any aquarium should be designed and managed by the zoo. I know it will take private dollars and the zoo is better suited at raising those funds and would be a better partner to private investors than the city.

I think Paul is going to be a lot more bold moving the city forward. My sense from him is that he's going to partner with more of the city's benefactors to build out Memphis, especially downtown. I would like to see the Rock & Soul Museum staging concerts on that plaza. Church Park is where the should build the aquarium, Mayor Strickland's freshwater institute, a complete replica of Ida B Wells newspaper office and relocate the Handy museum. They could leave about 3 acres on the Beale St side for greenspace and design the aquarium and freshwater institute to look like the auditorium Robert Church built. This would create foot traffic that could be fed onto Beale in the daytime. It would be nice if the COGIC church listed its property.

This makes sense now. Billy Orgel is a part of the group the owns the property across from FedEx logistics and he also owns the property where the Memphis Music Initiative is located. They could build out to Pontotoc and Vance. He's definitely about density.

I wonder if they're going to feed the traffic off of Uptown or Mill? There is no way they will use Danny Thomas as an inlet and outlet. Look at how traffic comes to a complete stop in the right lane at the Poplar location. I was at the Grizzlies' game Wednesday night and I had a discussion with someone affiliated with the organization. She told me the Grizzlies want to expand/enhance the entertainment /food options around FedEx Forum. They're not just looking to remake the inside of FF, but they want the outside area to also reflect the remodel.

I wouldn’t say that Memphians have an inferiority complex about everything happening in Tennessee’s capital, but Memphians rightly point out the discrepancies made between the state’s capital and the state’s largest city. I would argue that Memphians are resilient in the face of adversity and the independence expressed by this city is intimidating to the rest of the state, especially the lawmakers in charge of governing. The state is going to give Nashville nearly $500 million to relocate a performing arts center. Show me where the state has given anything like that to Memphis for the Arts, and Memphis has a more established, active, and robust, arts scene. Nashville is what it is and despite Nashville’s recent emergence as a party city to get drunk, Memphis is still more popular and has a more diverse and richness in culture. People don’t come to Memphis to get drunk, but they come because of its genuineness and culture. Don’t try to compare Memphis to any other city. You have to compare Nashville to another city, to give it an identity, but Memphis doesn’t need do that, because it has its own unique identity. I mentioned CMT Awards, not CMA. You’re the one that tried to counter with CMA. It doesn’t change from my original post that Nashville has become too expensive, and the city lost the CMT Awards because of it. Having said all of that, Memphis is moving in the right direction. Instead of erasing the city’s character and charm, razing buildings, and replacing them with glass towers that are sitting half empty, Memphis developers are reimagining and restoring the old. Great things are happening in this city from the riverfront to the most eastern edge and I don’t need you to tell me about it.

https://www.kvue.com/article/entertainment/events/cmt-music-awards-austin-moody-center-2024/269-a57a2eb1-9c2b-4290-b62c-49f25255351c

I remember reading that there would be a gated entrance to it and they will have to add sidewalks to Wheelis.

True. Paul Young mentioned that there should be some movement from the Walk in 2024 and the MLGW HQ would perfect for that development. I hate that it's not going vertical. I know the Opus development in East Memphis is a success and they're already looking to build another similar development.

I was reading another article and I believe it mentioned there would be a gated entrance.

I agree.

https://dailymemphian.com/section/business/article/39153/land-use-control-board-approves-mid-city-memphis The board unanimously moved to approve the project with an amendment that requires a buffer along the eastern property line, which borders the Lexington Condos at the corner of Sanderlin Avenue and White Station Road... The project is expected to cost somewhere between $500 million to $700 million...The project is intended to complement nearby landmarks such as Clark Tower, the DoubleTree Hotel, the Malco Paradiso Cinema Grill and Brookhaven Circle. According to the DM, there is some opposition, because of the increase level of traffic this project will bring.

While you're joyously frothing at the mouth, about this pause of the BSMF, I feel that I must inform you this is a good thing for Memphis, because mismanagement and a lack of vision was killing the musicfest. The BSMF was stale, needed to be reimagined, with a fresh new vision. I have already seen where other people are stepping up to do what the present MIM president and MIM administration has failed to do. Your "Memphis can't catch a break" phrase should read that Memphis needed this break. Perhaps you should be concerned that Nashville lost the CMT Awards, because the city has become too expensive.

I went to comedy show this past weekend in Southhaven and I saw more TN tags than MS tags walking into the Landers Center. The people that invited me to this show told me Memphis need more event space that will seat 5000-7000, because a lot more events would come to Memphis if the city had the available space. This couple specifically mentioned downtown. It's my hope that whoever buys the CA property whether its one or two developers, I hope they will see the need and be willing to invest in making this property a mixed use that could also serve as a smaller event venue.

Mixed use is the best use for that property and it should include some form of lodging in the development.

I read that too. I was hoping that one party would buy the entire property, because separating the property might be good for the seller, but not for development. I wish the city had bought it and issued an RFP.

It's good to know this property is under contract and Shelby County can take their idea to another location. I like what they want to do, but this property has the potential to generate a lot of tax dollars for the city. I would love to know who is buying it, because I heard Paul Young mention it a couple of times when he was campaigning.

I would have you to know the proposal by Doug isn't as it appears and it still has to be approved by the very people working to increase downtown density. Buying the old Harrah's building is part of a broader plan for the city and MLGW. That's why he mentioned the construction of a new MLGW headquarters and this isn't the first time the city council has heard this, because several of them would prefer something constructed downtown. You mentioned empty buildings and vacant lots, but what you didn't mention is that every large empty building is presently being rehabbed and redeveloped. Vacant shops are seeing life with news businesses and the large vacant property between Union and Beale will have activity on it 2024. While you're offering your negative view of Memphis, perhaps you should show more concern about the unfinished office buildings in Nashville as well as the unleased office space that's just sitting there. You better believe there is an interest in the MLGW property and one party that had shown interest was Hard Rock.

Here you go. The former home of the Commercial Appeal could be split into two lots in order to allow the property's warehouse and former office space to be marketed separately, according to filings with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development (DPD). If the plan is approved, 495 Union Ave. would be subdivided, with the property line along the common wall between the warehouse and office building and extending north to Union. One of the newly formed lots would include about 3 acres of land and the five-story office building that for decades was the daily newspaper's home. The other, 4.1-acre lot contains the industrial facility that held printing and other production operations. The site was the home of the Commercial Appeal from 1933 to 2019. The current buildings opened in the 1970s and, at the height of the paper's long run there, housed 1,500 employees. The newspaper was no longer printed on-site beginning in 2016. It appears that the property owner — an LLC controlled by Connecticut-based real estate investment and management firm Twenty Lake Holdings — intends to sell the subdivided lots. "The owner is proposing the subdivision to separate the warehouse and office building to market as separate entities," according to a letter of intent included in the filing. A representative at Twenty Lake Holdings declined to comment. Twenty Lake bought the property at 495 Union from Commercial Appeal parent company Gannett in 2018 for $2.8 million. Twenty Lake also bought an adjacent property, at 597 Beale Street, from Gannett for $1 million. Twenty Lake is a subsidiary of prominent New York City-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital. Another Alden subsidiary, Digital First Media, was unsuccessful in its bid to acquire Gannett in 2019. Without being subdivided, 495 Union is a 7-acre property, according to the plat filed with the DPD. The Shelby County Assessor of Property appraised the land at $2.12 million. The combined 280,000 square-foot building — including both the office and industrial spaces — is valued at $4.79 million. The warehouse portion of the site, with the 151,000-square-foot industrial building, is already being marketed by Colliers International for $3.5 million, according to the firm's website. Marketing materials propose an opportunity for a four-story, mixed-use building with up to 258 parking spaces on that parcel. Rendering options presented depict ground-floor retail. Colliers is also advertising the property with the existing five-story, 129,000-square-foot office building for $4.9 million. Both listings already feature the new subdivision property line.

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2023/08/23/memphis-sports-event-center-economic-impact-visits.html From the article. MSEC general manager Antonio Perez recently told MBJ that the facility has seen strong traffic since it opened in December. The MSEC has registered more than 630,000 visitors to date and expects to hit 1 million by the end of 2023…. According to figures from Memphis Tourism, the facility’s major events in 2023 have led to nearly 45,000 requested hotel nights and a total economic impact of $39.8 million. It appears the Sports and Events Center is pulling its weight. Not including ice sports into the design was a mistake and I hope they will someday rectify it.