MDC26

Belz continues to sit on one of the best properties downtown (the entrance of Beale St at Main & Beale) because they didn't think there was a need for a hotel. Yet, 2 hotels have recently opened a block away, and another one is about to be built, also a block away. 5 years have passed since they agreed to conditional use as a parking lot for 15 years. They are also about to have a large parking structure next door. I still hope a hotel gets built here, ideally a Hard Rock Hotel. Then, I hope that MLGW will move (Thomas Building looks like a good spot to relocate), and open their property for redevelopment.

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I guess it just depends on the specific owner of each hotel, and what amenities they build out, and update over time. Your name "nothingspectacular" goes along with your 6 posts, all of which are negative.

I like the design and glad they are keeping a good portion of the existing building.

I know the Symphony plays there, and they've had concerts, Miss Tennessee Pageant, speakers, but I didn't know if it was made to be able to do plays/musicals with the elaborate sets and stuff.

Light rail transit will probably never come to fruition to any significance (connections between downtown, Liberty Park, UofM campus, airport). But there may be another (cheaper) option. Many US cities are discussing utilizing gondolas for transit. The only existing public gondolas in the US are in Portland and NYC (connection Manhattan to Roosevelt island). Both are around 1km in length. Disney World has around 3 miles of gondola lines connecting Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and numerous hotels. I’ve ridden them many times, and they are pleasant to ride. Bolivia & Colombia are two countries that have made good use of gondolas for public transit. Capacity isn’t as high as subways, but I think they would be more than enough for demand in Memphis. Could this be a realistic option for Memphis? https://www.fastcompany.com/90725056/how-urban-gondolas-grew-from-a-tourist-attraction-to-a-viable-transit-option

Is the Cannon Center not a professional theater capable of handling these other shows? I have no idea as I’ve never been inside it.

You arrive at the airport 2 1/2 hours early? I’m good if I arrive at the LR airport 1:15 early, but have shown up inside an hour and been fine. Of course it helps having TSA pre-check, and yes I know BNA has more passengers than LIT.

An article about how the Orpheum was almost torn down. Has an aerial before/after slider photo of the Urban renewal. Interesting to see how much was torn down. https://storyboardmemphis.org/history/almost-forgotten-history-of-the-orpheum/

It was horrible to let Stephens tear down 4 buildings in the heart of downtown to put in a surface lot, then I thought it was bad to let Chick-fil-a tear down a whole block of store fronts.

It could be both. Don’t know if the canal concept would work. It’s much wider. The Mississippi River bank is more like a beach. It slopes down and the water level rises and falls. It also has waves if a boat goes by.

Yeah, does seem like a poor decision to deal a negative blow to the capital city downtown by it's own government. I'm sure someone complained loud enough about having to walk too far to park, or something about crime, or whoever made the decision did it was closer to their house.

Broadway has turned into a total drive-thru centric street in the middle of downtown. There's Sonic, Simmons Bank, Starbucks, Popeye's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Rally's, Centennial Bank, Jimmy John's, Chick-fil-a, McDonalds, and Tropical Smoothie. The gas station actually has a decent urban design.

It's too bad that these have the same name. There's an aquarium like AQUARIUM! - with sharks and giant sea turtles. And then there's the zoo aquarium, like on the level of some fish tanks at the pet store.

Nice article. Sad that that all those workers bolted for Riverdale and West Little Rock. Now they have the difficult task of refilling all the space. The new OZK HQ is very nice, but imagine if they would have built a new tower downtown. I think the next things that need to be done as soon as possible is to renovate the Boyle and Donaghey buildings for residential.

Yes. Orleans Station, and lots of other things here and there. 100N Main and Sterrick haven’t started yet, so crossing fingers on those. And we were so close with the Grand Hyatt.

I think what would be more accurate in possibilities is Seaport Village in San Diego.

As far as the MLGW site, this land could be sold to private entities for development. It is in a prime area with high property values. The city would get a nice check for selling the land, then would also get yearly property tax payments. If an aquarium goes there, they will get neither. The empty lot next to the welcome center is now considered a "green space." It's completely barren, and there's no escaping the sun during a hot day, and I have no idea if anyone uses it at all. It should be named AC's Park. They could have spent less money by not cutting down any of the trees along the lagoon or the Lone Star site, and kept the concrete towers with the Memphis sign, and it would have looked nicer. Anyways, this site will probably never go back into private hands, as that would not adhere to the city's use plan. Also, I don't know if any of the property falls within the city's founders original public promenade. An aquarium could go there. An aquarium could also go on Mud Island. Whether it be on the Southern point, where the current Mud Island Museum is, or where the Memphis Belle was displayed. If it was on the Southern point, I think there would have to be a pedestrian bridge from Cobblestone or Beale Street landing to make it more accessible.

Here’s the article https://www.laprensalatina.com/conservancy-could-save-mid-south-coliseum/amp/ And I don’t think it has to be completely reimagined. I think there would be plenty of uses such as concerts/wrestling/other events that are smaller and wouldn’t be ideal for FEF. Also, local graduations. Concerts for Liberty Bowl/Southern Heritage classic. Championship games from the sports complex. Community events. Potential All-Star weekend or WNBA/minor league hockey franchises.

Well, I like that idea then. Retail at both areas. If there’s a need for a soccer field, use the Kroc area. Add a parking deck or two.

I get what your'e saying as there's a big separation between the Soccer Fields/MSC/Sports complex and the "Entertainment/Hotel" area. I agree. Are you suggesting moving the entertainment area over and switching with the soccer fields, or just scrapping the soccer fields and having retail at both? The site of the soccer fields is a little bigger than half the area for retail that is on Central. The other problem with that area is it's not as easily visible/accessible. While it fronts E Parkway, you can't access it from Parkway (unless you turn in on the other side of the sports complex), as there is the overpass that goes over the train tracks. You have to take the narrow exit, make a left turn with no stop light on to Southern. Retail will not like the poor visibilty and accessibility in that area. Also, aren't there soccer fields next to the Kroc Center? Are those a separate use, or could things be combined there?

Article says six stories, but picture shows 7. Also, really high rent prices, but includes all utilities and fully furnished.

Yeah, I do too. I'm a fan of the structural expressionism architecture. I really like the new JP Morgan Chase building that is going up in NYC and the planned 175 Park building that both are structural expressionism.

Might be for the best. Article says several floors are completely empty. Overall, this could probably work fine for residential. Looks much more residentially than the Morgan Keegan tower. Plus they say they will add new ground floor retail. Should liven the area up. Interestingly, I had someone tell me a story about this building years ago. The story was - the person that owned the building had a young daughter. They drove by the building every day together, and the daughter was impressed with the size of the building, and loved the round part on the top. Her father never said anything and she had no idea that he owned it. Then one day, when she was 18, they were driving by, and the father said "Hey, you know that building there that you've always liked, I actually own it, and there's an apartment for you on the top floor to move in to after you graduate." No idea if there's any truth to it or not.

Yeah, I like having more cities involved. Would grow the fanbase across the country