Tony Randolph

It is frustrating that this city sits at the edge of greatness but cannot solve the crime problem and the lack of vision. Memphis has one of the best locations in the country as far as having the most northernly airport that rarely closes due to weather, major rail junctions and highways, and the Mississippi river. Memphis is well centered in the continental U.S. when the population layout is plotted. There is a reason why FedEx is headquartered here, in addition to the almost endless warehouses and distribution centers. I am hoping that the recent crackdown of juvenile crime is finally being addressed with new detention centers being built. The model of placing delinquents in foster homes and other unsecured placements has been a failure and has boosted the crime rate. I know I sound like I am getting off the subject, but crime, and worse, the perception of crime has a strong bearing on real estate. We need to repopulate our cities with professionals and other middle-class workers. Having these people live in the exurbs has also been a contributor to our 20 year and counting Eastern Oil Wars. Basically, it is easier on the environment to walk to work instead of sitting in traffic.

I can see how 100 N. Main could be converted to hotel rooms better than the Sterick, plus it is a stone throw away from the convention center and it directly on the trolley line. I can see the point for a larger hotel presence in Memphis, but if I was the lead investor in an historic building, I would be interested in amortizing the investment was quickly as possible. Stuart has pointed out the total investment is expected to be around $20,000,000. It would probably take much longer for a ROI on a hotel rather than selling condos.

Does anyone know if the Sheraton fills up during conventions? Also, is there really a shortage of hotel rooms in downtown Memphis? I spent several years working in downtown Memphis, and as I admitted earlier, do not know much about the hotel business in downtown Memphis. One large office building that was converted to hotel rooms that I cannot think of its name is across the street from One Commerce Square, but I have rarely seen it fully occupied. This hotel has the benefit of being a few feet from the trolley. I hope I am not sounding like a broken record, but I think the Sterick investment would amortize more quickly with large condos, some of which could be multiple floors than renting out individual hotel rooms and then having to pay a franchise fee to a hotel corporation. Also, maybe I am wrong, but my take on the Memphis employment market is there is a shortage of people with clean records willing to do low wage hotel work. What I do know about the hotel industry is that it is hard to find a good night auditor.

It is a 3 to 5 block walk from the Sterick to the convention center. This is a pretty dangerous walk at night in Memphis. I am still hoping the building goes condo.

I admittedly know next to nothing about the hotel business. But the Hotel Indigo is next door to the Sterick, and I would recommend that the Sterick principals' study how that property has performed over the past few years, plus the other hotels in downtown Memphis. I have a suspicion that most hotel dwellers in downtown Memphis are tourists, since the real business district in Memphis is on Poplar between east Memphis and Germantown. If we could get a better handle on the crime problem in Memphis, which is one of the worst in the nation, I believe Memphis could become another Atlanta, and it hurts me to say this, another Nashville. This is just my opinion, but I would like to see residences, medical and other professional offices (not everyone can work from home), a high quality grocery store and a bank or two.

I hope Stewart Hicks and his property firm start a YouTube channel ASAP documenting the rehab of the Sterick.

I am pretty sure the underground parking ramp was on the north side of the building.

Harris and Company appear to be squared away. They brought the Hickman Building to fruition fairly quickly. Which I was glad to see since this city has a history of contracting with those that can talk the talk, but never been able to walk the walk. Another positive I see is how well Concourse was done. Hopefully, some of those folks are available and can help with the Sterick.

Maybe they could use sprayed on concreate over foam like is used for A/C condenser support. If not that, maybe plastic or wood. Of course it is none of my business, but I wonder if AXA gave a cash settlement to get out of the headache of holding onto the Sterick Building? This, the tax credits and multiple investors could fund the rehab. Also, Crosstown Concourse appeared to get down quickly after the pieces came together.

I was told the spires and trim had to be removed because of multiple lighting strikes.

My son and I drove by the Sterick Building last week and the American flag was flying on the slanted flag pole. Good to see the ole gal coming back to life.

Forgive the above misspelling, I meant to write Plus instead of please.

There is already the Hotel Indigo right next to the Sterick. Please another hotel a couple of blocks away. I am no expert, but I think we have enough hotel rooms in the area.

Sure would be cool if all of us Sterick fans could have a walk through before the work begins in ernest.

Grocery stores are a tough and competitive business to operate and from an operational standpoint, I can see why there are many food deserts and so few grocery companies in Memphis. Fresh food is highly time sensitive and requires a mass amount of labor to prepare and display. I know, I used to work in a supermarket. Back then, grocery labor was dirt cheap. More expensive labor only adds to the difficulty. Plus, this is Memphis, and the higher-than-average crime rate must be factored into the equation. I can see how it could be tough to run a grocery in the Sterick. I do not know where trucks could back end. I knew several people who worked at Easy Way downtown, and it was hard enough for them to keep stocked. I do not know the status of the low-rise buildings across the street, but maybe one of them could be converted into a grocery.

I am familiar with those stores, but to me, a grocery store must have fresh fruit and veggies. South Main is quite a walk from the downtown core and the downtown core has never been able to replace the Easy Way store. Maybe, the Sterick could have a grocery in one of the upper floors like the John Hancock in Chicago if the pharmacy could be put to better use. Heck, I would be overjoyed it someone bought the Easy Way store downtown and reopened it as a green grocery. I doubt this would happen since the demise of Easy Way is a pretty complicated story. On another note, I promised my son I would take him to the new car show this weekend, and hopefully someone can let me in the Sterick after the show. I did get a chance to walk in during the Pressbox building right before they started demo, and I thought I walked back into 1976.

I mentioned earlier that I feel it would be good to immediately fly an American flag on the pole that hangs over BB King Street. Also, if allowed, I would like to see some of the offices lit up at night to let everyone know the Sterick is coming back to life.

As I mentioned earlier, I worked in the Dermon Building in the mid to late 1990s. The building's owner bought the building "for a song and a dance" (really, a direct quote) but cheaped out on the rehab. On cold days, we would plug in our space heaters, since the HVAC was faulty which usually caused a fuse to flip. Whoever was up would have to flip the fuse back. I hope the Harris team will restore the Sterick in a quality way, although I did like the way the Dermon Building owner restored the building from the bottom up. I have good memories of eating breakfast at George's Coffee Shop and occasionally lunch at the restaurant which was located on the first floor of the Derman. I do not know if it is feasible to get the ground floor done and maybe some of the lower floors up and running in the Sterick and build the upper floors to client specs later on. From being a long-time downtown worker, I can attest there is no grocery option in this part of downtown ever since Easyway closed about 10 years ago. The nearest option, Miss Cordellia's (sic) is on Mud Island, but last I heard they shut down their restaurant. (ashame, they made a damn good Rueben). I still think a high-quality grocery/grill where the pharmacy was located could have a real chance of success and build interest for future businesses and tenants. I continue to have high hopes for the Sterick and think it will be massively successful. I can envision several out-of-town businesses and tenants owning condos in the building. There are some top and near top floor residences in the Chrysler Building in NYC. I am not a architectural expert, but I do see some similarities between the Chrysler and Sterick and if I was a designer, I would shamefully copy some of the residential layouts of the Chrysler Building. Some multi-floor suites on the upper floors would be way cool for NBA players, brain surgeons, or Master of the Universe types that are still working for Raymond James. Some of you got distracted by mentioning the need for a new federal building. I have read that the FBI used to lease space in the Sterick. It was either Pretty Boy Floyd, or Machine Gun Kelly that was pinched by the G Men in Memphis. I wonder if the special agent in charge told his guys to quit messing with the space heaters and go pick up a gangster.

I agree. If I was in the shoes of the new owners, I would want to sell condos, maybe rent apartments or some office space so I could amortize as quickly as possible. I would not want the headache of contracting with a hotel chain and/or trying to hire a bunch of hotel employees in this tight labor market. Maybe I am wrong, and I have been frequently wrong on many (most) of my posts on the Sterick on Urban Planet, but there appears to be a shortage of dentists and other health professionals in downtown Memphis. My dentist moved to east Memphis when 1st Tennessee made their downtown building their main ops center. I am hoping the Sterick will be as self-contained as the Crosstown Concourse. The Sterick will have a better YMCA since it will encompass an outside walking path. I don't think Visible Music College is going anywhere. They just built some additional space behind their main building. I personally hope they stay where they are since they have become part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Also, I think the Visible Building is architecturally significant. I think there is adequate parking for the Sterick at this time. There is of course the Indigo Hotel parking garage, which I still want to call the Sterick parking garage, the garage at 44 N. Second Street, and maybe the garage at 1st TN Bank has some extra spaces, some street parking as well as the Avis Lot. There are also some empty lots nearby where parking garages could be built. I think it is a little disconcerting that we have become so car dependent that we have to worry so much about parking, especially after about 20 years of Gulf oil wars. Maybe the Sterick can be self-contained enough so many of the residents will not need cars. Also, the new owners may decide to have multi-floor units instead of smaller units, especially on the higher floors which would decrease the need for additional parking spots. Now, about the hotel thing. I think the Sterick is to far away from the convention center for a viable hotel and there is a hotel already close by across the trolley tracks. If the 100th N. Main building indeed becomes a hotel that will probably fulfill all the immediate future needs of any additional hotel space. I can only see a couple of alternatives for a strong hotel argument: One, the Redbirds become a MLB team and keep the same field, or Memphis becomes a much larger tourist destination.

I agree. If I was in the shoes of the new owners, I would want to sell condos, maybe rent apartments or some office space so I could amortize as quickly as possible. I would not want the headache of contracting with a hotel chain and/or trying to hire a bunch of hotel employees in this tight labor market. Maybe I am wrong, and I have been frequently wrong on many (most) of my posts on the Sterick on Urban Planet, but there appears to be a shortage of dentists and other health professionals in downtown Memphis. My dentist moved to east Memphis when 1st Tennessee made their downtown building their main ops center. I am hoping the Sterick will be as self-contained as the Crosstown Concourse. The Sterick will have a better YMCA since it will encompass an outside walking path.

Darn, I forgot about the Lincoln American Building having a flag on the top. I have had the experience of being allowed on the tops of both the Lincoln American Tower and Clark Tower. The flag atop the Clark Tower is very loud on a windy day.

I was reading a recent post on the Sterick and the building did have a roof observation deck at one time. Much like the Empire State Building. At one time, the Sterick and Empire State Building had the same owners. The Sterick has had so many owners, I am tempted to look at my old tax records and see if I was once a owner of the Sterick.

Glad to hear the windows in N. Main open. I have spent much time in 100 N. Main and have never seen an open window. I stand corrected. I would like to see Morgan Keegan converted to residential units, but I have never forgiven the architects, and builders for tearing down the King Cotton Hotel.

Something I learned today while watching the Stewart Hicks channel on YouTube concerning converting underutilized office buildings into residential units. After all the tragedy that happened in New York City during the pack 'em in tenement era is the residential buildings must have windows that can be opened. The Sterick does have opening windows, while 100 N. Main does not. Up until today, I believed the 100th N. Main would be an easier project since that building had only been abandoned for a few years and was much newer than the Sterick, among other factors such as the HVAC on 100 N. Main is probably much better than the Sterick, but converting sealed windows into opening windows would probably be very difficult and costly. How do I know the windows in the Sterick can be opened? Just so happened during the mid to late 1980's while I was exploring the Sterick visiting a friend that might have opened the last business in the Sterick I believe some time in 1985, nature called when I was on the top floor. I went to the men's room, and the bathroom window was open. If I recall correctly, my friend's business was named the Professional Writers Group and he specialized in writing resumes. He rented the space that housed the pharmacy for about $300 a month, which he negotiated down from $1200 a month. I cannot remember his name, but I believe his first name was Michael and he was previously a reporter/writer for the Commercial Appeal. One more Sterick story I remember is relatively recent. About 10 years ago, there was some sort of inspection crew examing the top exterior of the building. The scaffolding platform broke, and a couple of guys were left dangling. Several Memphis firefighters ran up over 20 floors to rescue the men. Now here is the funny part, at least to me: After they performed the rescue, they then learned the building had a working elevator that went up to the top floors.

There is a flag mast that hangs at about a 35 degree angle over BB King, formerly 3rd street. The only tall building I am aware of that has a flag on the roof is the Clark Tower.