The Walk on Union | $950M mixed-use development proposed for Downtown

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

7 hours ago, VSRJ said:

Here's the story (soft paywall) from the CA:

The Walk developer: We are '110% going forward' with $1 billion Downtown development

 

Good to see it's still in process!

I'm curious if/why funding is a problem, and if it is specific to this particular project for various reasons? Or, if large scale developments like this have funding challenges, in general.

 

 

[MDC26]

12 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Good to see it's still in process!

I'm curious if/why funding is a problem, and if it is specific to this particular project for various reasons? Or, if large scale developments like this have funding challenges, in general.

 

 

This seems to be a problem across the board.  Construction costs are way up, so especially with big projects like this, they have to then get more money and things be re-evaluated and re-examined.  

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:57 AM, MDC26 said:

This seems to be a problem across the board.  Construction costs are way up, so especially with big projects like this, they have to then get more money and things be re-evaluated and re-examined.  

Yeah--true. Plus construction material costs are rapidly rising now, as well. 

I hope the developers can still justify building this and get their money back. Wondering if that is also part of the problem now--rising costs eliminate a lot of their profit. 

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

 

Has anyone heard any news--or rumblings of progress behind the scenes--on this eagerly-anticipated project? 

[VSRJ]

7 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

 

Has anyone heard any news--or rumblings of progress behind the scenes--on this eagerly-anticipated project? 

From what I've heard, it's still moving, albeit very slowly.

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

13 hours ago, VSRJ said:

From what I've heard, it's still moving, albeit very slowly.

Well, that's good at least. I read the news story a couple mos ago where they got an extension of 6-8 months or so to qualify for the tax reduction by the city.

I'm a bit perplexed why this has not started construction yet, since residential downtown seems like a sure thing. 

[The Guardian of Memphis]

On 6/12/2022 at 11:20 AM, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Well, that's good at least. I read the news story a couple mos ago where they got an extension of 6-8 months or so to qualify for the tax reduction by the city.

I'm a bit perplexed why this has not started construction yet, since residential downtown seems like a sure thing. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/07/26/dmc-ceo-paul-young-on-fiscal-year-goals.html

According to Paul Young, Downtown Memphis Commission president, residential downtown is a sure thing and oversaturation is not anything to be worried about. Also, he mentions that they are waiting for the people behind the Walk until October to secure financing (waiting on your questions and concern about this one...LOL). He also expects the Grand Hyatt to eventually move forward.

Edited August 4, 2022 by The Guardian of Memphis

[Memphisborn]

29 minutes ago, The Guardian of Memphis said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/07/26/dmc-ceo-paul-young-on-fiscal-year-goals.html

According to Paul Young, Downtown Memphis Commission president, residential downtown is a sure thing and oversaturation is not anything to be worried about. Also, he mentions that they are waiting for the people behind the Walk until October to secure financing (waiting on your questions and concern about this one...LOL). He also expects the Grand Hyatt to eventually move forward.

Well the walk was supposed to be a done deal they supposedly secured financing a year ago for the first phase, land was purchased, buildings torn down, city agreed to infrastructure improvements and financial support for project Tif if I’m not mistaken. WTH!! Is going on with this project??? The governor came down and praised this project. This is concerning!! 

[JTM1]

On 8/4/2022 at 7:07 PM, Memphisborn said:

Well the walk was supposed to be a done deal they supposedly secured financing a year ago for the first phase, land was purchased, buildings torn down, city agreed to infrastructure improvements and financial support for project Tif if I’m not mistaken. WTH!! Is going on with this project??? The governor came down and praised this project. This is concerning!! 

The developer, of the Walk, has a  $100 million dollar high end senior living campus under construction across from Harding Academy. It's really nice too. 

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

On 8/4/2022 at 7:34 PM, The Guardian of Memphis said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/07/26/dmc-ceo-paul-young-on-fiscal-year-goals.html

According to Paul Young, Downtown Memphis Commission president, residential downtown is a sure thing and oversaturation is not anything to be worried about. Also, he mentions that they are waiting for the people behind the Walk until October to secure financing (waiting on your questions and concern about this one...LOL). He also expects the Grand Hyatt to eventually move forward.

Yeah, that's a good thing about the residential piece. Downtown Memphis and surrounding areas keep redeveloping, gentrifying and growing, so attracting folks to live there is no issue, so it seems.

As for the Walk, there is definitely something going on behind the scenes causing this long pause. The financing piece is head-scratching, because with such a high-profile, energizing brand new development for a largely blighted area of Memphis that is connected  by downtown and the edge district (both growing well), this should be a relatively smoother phase I project to get financial approval for. 

If I had to make a guess, I'd say it has something to do with several factors, combining to make this development drawn out, and start to appear very shaky: 

*the developer is working on a huge project in east Memphis now, and they may be fearful to take on too many projects at once, that are risky and costly

*COVID delayed them initially, and now the swirling recession talk, as well as rising interest rates are creating less options for financing a $100-300 million initial phase

It could just be that the developer bit off more than they should and it's a waiting game.

[dxfret]

There are far too many risks for a developer in today’s economy in a very tepid market like Memphis.  A new billion $ project will only work in hot markets like Nashville and Austin. 

[The Guardian of Memphis]

11 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Yeah, that's a good thing about the residential piece. Downtown Memphis and surrounding areas keep redeveloping, gentrifying and growing, so attracting folks to live there is no issue, so it seems.

As for the Walk, there is definitely something going on behind the scenes causing this long pause. The financing piece is head-scratching, because with such a high-profile, energizing brand new development for a largely blighted area of Memphis that is connected  by downtown and the edge district (both growing well), this should be a relatively smoother phase I project to get financial approval for. 

If I had to make a guess, I'd say it has something to do with several factors, combining to make this development drawn out, and start to appear very shaky: 

*the developer is working on a huge project in east Memphis now, and they may be fearful to take on too many projects at once, that are risky and costly

*COVID delayed them initially, and now the swirling recession talk, as well as rising interest rates are creating less options for financing a $100-300 million initial phase

It could just be that the developer bit off more than they should and it's a waiting game.

Well, I hope you are wrong on all your guesses, but it is concerning somewhat. It should be a no-brainer. Prime real estate location, with the ability to spur more projects. I hope they don't scale down the height of the proposed office tower. Probably will.

9 hours ago, dxfret said:

There are far too many risks for a developer in today’s economy in a very tepid market like Memphis.  A new billion $ project will only work in hot markets like Nashville and Austin. 

Why are there too many risks when residential is a commodity? My opinion is from what Paul Young stated, in that they want downtown to grow smartly, not necessarily quickly. How are Austin and Nashville able to build all of their projects? Is it their economies? From a real estate standpoint, one of the positives of downtown Memphis is the River.

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

23 hours ago, dxfret said:

There are far too many risks for a developer in today’s economy in a very tepid market like Memphis.  A new billion $ project will only work in hot markets like Nashville and Austin. 

This could be the most on point guess. Memphis is unfortunately not a "booming market," like Austin & Nashville, as you mentioned, and that helps them get almost anything and everything built, and quickly, it seems.

Memphis downtown residential is a strong bet though, and the Walk should have already started construction. 

I think it's a combo of a developer who is already in deep with their other project, rising interest rates, and talk of a recession, putting a huge project like this in question. IF Memphis were booming in both population and new development already, this project would've already been well underway, I do think you are right there. 

We will see. Hoping they get this project going, because it would really help that area grow.

[Memphisborn]

2 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

This could be the most on point guess. Memphis is unfortunately not a "booming market," like Austin & Nashville, as you mentioned, and that helps them get almost anything and everything built, and quickly, it seems.

Memphis downtown residential is a strong bet though, and the Walk should have already started construction. 

I think it's a combo of a developer who is already in deep with their other project, rising interest rates, and talk of a recession, putting a huge project like this in question. IF Memphis were booming in both population and new development already, this project would've already been well underway, I do think you are right there. 

We will see. Hoping they get this project going, because it would really help that area grow.

Agreed, we need to address being able to keep and grow our population cities like Austin/Nashville continue to have more and more young professionals moving there and more and more amenities to offer in terms of live/work/play. This crime is a huge reason we can’t grow. Praying that it will change.

[The Guardian of Memphis]

1 hour ago, Memphisborn said:

Agreed, we need to address being able to keep and grow our population cities like Austin/Nashville continue to have more and more young professionals moving there and more and more amenities to offer in terms of live/work/play. This crime is a huge reason we can’t grow. Praying that it will change.

That's our only hope at this point.

I wholeheartedly agree that crime and poverty are the biggest issues (the quality of schools debate is moot), and it contributes to the stagnation of population growth. Unlike other downtowns, unfortunately Memphis is surrounded by low incomes which makes developers uneasy about the profitability of their projects. Maybe it takes an Intrator to stir things up finally and get things moving, even though it's taking him a lot of time to secure financing too. How come no one said anything about the billions of dollars in development that downtown has incurred over the years? Doesn't that speak for itself, that while not booming, there is progress?

What amenities do the other cities have that we do not? Not trying to compare apples to oranges, but can the same be said about the growth of say, Louisville or Birmingham, our peer cities? 

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

16 minutes ago, The Guardian of Memphis said:

 

What amenities do the other cities have that we do not? Not trying to compare apples to oranges, but can the same be said about the growth of say, Louisville or Birmingham, our peer cities? 

Personally, I think Memphis has a much stronger brand and is a much stronger lure for residents and businesses, than either Louisville or Birmingham. Memphis has an iconic, legency, vibrant music industry, and has a fabulous professional sports team with the NBA Grizzlies. 

Louisville or Birmingham have neither advantage. Louisville is very quiet on the development front, and its image has been hurt greatly with the Brianna Taylor issue. Birmingham is growing pretty well, but still is not as dynamic or visionary as Memphis is--at least that is my opinion. 

Memphis has a lot of advantages, and is planning many new and redevelopment projects. I think the city is progressing decently well, despite its slow growth and area that is lower income than a lot of regions.

[The Guardian of Memphis]

4 hours ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

This could be the most on point guess. Memphis is unfortunately not a "booming market," like Austin & Nashville, as you mentioned, and that helps them get almost anything and everything built, and quickly, it seems.

Memphis downtown residential is a strong bet though, and the Walk should have already started construction. 

I think it's a combo of a developer who is already in deep with their other project, rising interest rates, and talk of a recession, putting a huge project like this in question. IF Memphis were booming in both population and new development already, this project would've already been well underway, I do think you are right there. 

We will see. Hoping they get this project going, because it would really help that area grow.

At least the residential market is strong, and we have that in our favor. I honestly think we are still recovering from the mass exodus of downtown that took place back in the 60s. Thing is, most of our growth happened in the 50s and 60s - developers were bold, but we missed out on the building boom of the 80s because of the shift to East Memphis and beyond. Although the office sector is changing because of the pandemic, people may not go into the office as much. The thinking is that office usage has changed for good (albeit not a good thing), and that offices will only be used for meeting space every once and a while for remote workers.

I don't think it's a good thing to compare Memphis with Nashville or Charlotte. Both are different animals with different demographics. We have to find out what works in Memphis.  Hopefully that time will come one day. I hope and pray that it's soon.

[Memphisborn]

47 minutes ago, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Personally, I think Memphis has a much stronger brand and is a much stronger lure for residents and businesses, than either Louisville or Birmingham. Memphis has an iconic, legency, vibrant music industry, and has a fabulous professional sports team with the NBA Grizzlies. 

Louisville or Birmingham have neither advantage. Louisville is very quiet on the development front, and its image has been hurt greatly with the Brianna Taylor issue. Birmingham is growing pretty well, but still is not as dynamic or visionary as Memphis is--at least that is my opinion. 

Memphis has a lot of advantages, and is planning many new and redevelopment projects. I think the city is progressing decently well, despite its slow growth and area that is lower income than a lot of regions.

Our music industry is a huge asset we need to continue to market and grow that. Having a successful NBA Franchise is also a huge plus. Bringing NBA all star weekend to Memphis would be huge we should also look to bring Womens final Four to FedEx Forum and pursue a WNBA franchise. Piggy backing on our Great sports market can also go along way to growing the cities Brand. I would like to see a  moderate organic Growth as opposed to this booming fast overnight growth that some cities have experienced (Nashville) etc that leads to residents heading out the core city to surrounding areas because of the huge traffic congestion and extremely high cost of living. 

[The Guardian of Memphis]

4 hours ago, Memphisborn said:

Our music industry is a huge asset we need to continue to market and grow that. Having a successful NBA Franchise is also a huge plus. Bringing NBA all star weekend to Memphis would be huge we should also look to bring Womens final Four to FedEx Forum and pursue a WNBA franchise. Piggy backing on our Great sports market can also go along way to growing the cities Brand. I would like to see a  moderate organic Growth as opposed to this booming fast overnight growth that some cities have experienced (Nashville) etc that leads to residents heading out the core city to surrounding areas because of the huge traffic congestion and extremely high cost of living. 

The All Star Weekend here should be the goal. 

Can the city support a WNBA franchise? MLS? Is there enough interest?

[James Owen]

28 minutes ago, The Guardian of Memphis said:

The All Star Weekend here should be the goal. 

Can the city support a WNBA franchise? MLS? Is there enough interest?

Probably not a WNBA franchise since women's hoops doesn't have the same level of popularity here as the men's side does. As far as MLS goes, that'll really depend on the continual success and support of the USL club here as well as getting a soccer-specific stadium built down the road that can be expandable if needed.

[dxfret]

Unfortunately, little positive news ever seems to materialize that would put Memphis on a new trajectory.  The city and surrounding region have been plagued by the same well-known problems for decades.  Crime, poverty, a stagnant economy,  a decreasing population base, decades of inept political and business leadership, adversity to change and general attitude of inferiority perpetuate negativity for the city/region. The gap between Memphis and its peer cities is widening with both Louisville and Birmingham successfully avoiding the population decline seen in Memphis. Even the downtown skyline looks pretty much as it did in the 1970s with two of the tallest buildings empty and symbols of urban blight.  The airport has been reduced to about 75 daily passenger flights.  Corporate growth, development, tourism and conventions remain weak.  All of these issues, and the failure to address them, foretell even more of the same tepid growth and development for the Bluff City.  

Edited August 8, 2022 by dxfret

[MDC26]

19 hours ago, James Owen said:

Probably not a WNBA franchise since women's hoops doesn't have the same level of popularity here as the men's side does. As far as MLS goes, that'll really depend on the continual success and support of the USL club here as well as getting a soccer-specific stadium built down the road that can be expandable if needed.

Is there anywhere that women's hoops has the same popularity as men's hoops?  

[MLBrumby]

2 hours ago, dxfret said:

Unfortunately, little positive news ever seems to materialize that would put Memphis on a new trajectory.  The city and surrounding region have been plagued by the same well-known problems for decades.  Crime, poverty, a stagnant economy,  a decreasing population base, decades of inept political and business leadership, adversity to change and general attitude of inferiority perpetuate negativity for the city/region. The gap between Memphis and its peer cities is widening with both Louisville and Birmingham successfully avoiding the population decline seen in Memphis. Even the downtown skyline looks pretty much as it did in the 1970s with two of the tallest buildings empty and symbols of urban blight.  The airport has been reduced to about 75 daily passenger flights.  Corporate growth, development, tourism and conventions remain weak.  All of these issues, and the failure to address them, foretell even more of the same tepid growth and development for the Bluff City.  

Wasn't too long ago when Memphis was the BIG DOG city in the whole Midsouth.  Even now, Memphis MSA is home to 3-4 Fortune 500 headquarters.  This is where failed leadership just sinks deeper and deeper, and an example of how poor civic leadership just becomes a downward spiral.  There should be major efforts from public officials and private community leaders to get the F500 companies to invest in jobs at the core and make Memphis the type of place where new recruits would love to live.  Instead, everything I've seen about the large corporations is they just go to the suburbs.  Plus, they could be getting better air service, and maybe they will now that their very beautiful terminal has been completed.

Your comment reminds me of a former mayor of Nashville, Beverly Briley the first mayor of Metro government. I understand he was quite persuasive (a natural political "boss") despite the fact the Metro Council had the vested political power. Briley was from the east side (the working class side), and I believe that side of the city had been key in electing the city leaders.  The story goes that Briley hosted three executives from National Life at a restaurant sometime in the late 1960s.  He told them in his apparently uniquely colorful style that the "will" start spending their money in Nashville and not out of town (their wives were taking wardrobe excursions out of town 2-3 times a year etc.).  It wasn't long after that when the shopping center on Hillsboro Road became the city's first enclosed mall (although I believe there was another one opened at the same time) and the company started their work to build the first amusement park in the area, Opryland. 

In contrast to Briley 50 years ago are the efforts by Memphis (Jim Dunavant and Mayor Herenton and Steve Cohen) to land an NFL expansion team 30 years ago.  The NFL made it very clear they wanted a team in the middle of the country to replace the Cardinals that had moved to Phoenix a few years before (this was before the league coaxed the Rams to St. Louis).  Everything was teed-up for Memphis to get the team (Charlotte was a shoe-in and Jax was a smaller market in the Eastern Time zone).  The NFL wanted another Central Time zone team.  But two big things, and a lot of little things sunk Memphis' chance. The first was that Jim Dunavant didn't take his consultants' advice (apparently from the NFL) to NOT name the team the Hounddogs, but because he had a tin ear and Elvis Presley enterprises was involved, he didn't budge.  The biggest reason the NFL ran from Memphis was because their mayor at the time (W.W. Herenton) ushered the deals and made promises that he would get state funding and then Steve Cohen who was the state rep from Memphis at the time said he would get state backing for a stadium.  The problem was that both Herenton and Cohen both demanded money 'under the table' to make good on their promises. I'm close friends with one of the attorneys who worked with the consultants for the Memphis team, and he pled with the them to name their proposed team the "Kings" (for MLK, BB King, and ancient Memphis where Egyptian kings lived).  He had even gotten tentative approval from the NBA team of the same name.  It was also in the early days of the NFL's efforts to bring more diversity into the marketing of their league.  To this day it is not known if Herenton and Cohen were working together or individually, but the NFL realized they were dealing with corrupt and unsophisticated politicians. So they picked Jacksonville. 

[The Guardian of Memphis]

3 hours ago, dxfret said:

Unfortunately, little positive news ever seems to materialize that would put Memphis on a new trajectory.  The city and surrounding region have been plagued by the same well-known problems for decades.  Crime, poverty, a stagnant economy,  a decreasing population base, decades of inept political and business leadership, adversity to change and general attitude of inferiority perpetuate negativity for the city/region. The gap between Memphis and its peer cities is widening with both Louisville and Birmingham successfully avoiding the population decline seen in Memphis. Even the downtown skyline looks pretty much as it did in the 1970s with two of the tallest buildings empty and symbols of urban blight.  The airport has been reduced to about 75 daily passenger flights.  Corporate growth, development, tourism and conventions remain weak.  All of these issues, and the failure to address them, foretell even more of the same tepid growth and development for the Bluff City.  

I would have to say the Grizzlies have put Memphis on a new trajectory somewhat. Now more than ever there is civic pride in the city compared to what it used to be. Finally people have accepted the positives of this city. The culture, the music, the food, the language, all are properties we have rallied around. I also think there is more cohesion between African Americans and Caucasians - mostly because of the new generation. There is more intersectionality now than it has ever been.

I know crime is a problem, but it is a problem in other cities too (plus corruption). Memphis isn't the poster child of violence, as people would want it to be, and as our history may suggest. Someone once told me: "Atlanta's best defense is their offense" and they weren't talking about sports. Even though I looked to compare Memphis to other peer cities, which is unfair sometimes, because each city has its own set of unique problems, geography, demographics, etc.  At least people want to live downtown, with the occupancy rate being at 95%. If it was so bad, there would be no one living in South Bluffs or Harbor Town, and I know they probably have their share of incidents too. 

Yes, the skyline could be better for a city that wishes to be more world class, but there are still people that care about Memphis deeply and want positive change. It has been said too many times. Memphis is an asset to the nation, in my opinion. Some things take time to mature and evolve, probably not at the rate of others. Unfortunately we'll have to wait, but the city has come a long way from where it was. LONG way. 

Tourism will pick back up - due to the new convention center. Tom Lee Park is going to be better. Someday Mud Island will too.

23 hours ago, James Owen said:

Probably not a WNBA franchise since women's hoops doesn't have the same level of popularity here as the men's side does. As far as MLS goes, that'll really depend on the continual success and support of the USL club here as well as getting a soccer-specific stadium built down the road that can be expandable if needed.

Got it. Still a fairly young USL franchise. Tim Howard still the manager? Like everything else, may have to play the long game with this - get people interested in soccer. I remember going to Memphis Storm games (indoor soccer) and Showboats games. I just dated myself. LOL.

[The Guardian of Memphis]

2 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Wasn't too long ago when Memphis was the BIG DOG city in the whole Midsouth.  Even now, Memphis MSA is home to 3-4 Fortune 500 headquarters.  This is where failed leadership just sinks deeper and deeper, and an example of how poor civic leadership just becomes a downward spiral.  There should be major efforts from public officials and private community leaders to get the F500 companies to invest in jobs at the core and make Memphis the type of place where new recruits would love to live.  Instead, everything I've seen about the large corporations is they just go to the suburbs.  Plus, they could be getting better air service, and maybe they will now that their very beautiful terminal has been completed.

Your comment reminds me of a former mayor of Nashville, Beverly Briley the first mayor of Metro government. I understand he was quite persuasive (a natural political "boss") despite the fact the Metro Council had the vested political power. Briley was from the east side (the working class side), and I believe that side of the city had been key in electing the city leaders.  The story goes that Briley hosted three executives from National Life at a restaurant sometime in the late 1960s.  He told them in his apparently uniquely colorful style that the "will" start spending their money in Nashville and not out of town (their wives were taking wardrobe excursions out of town 2-3 times a year etc.).  It wasn't long after that when the shopping center on Hillsboro Road became the city's first enclosed mall (although I believe there was another one opened at the same time) and the company started their work to build the first amusement park in the area, Opryland. 

In contrast to Briley 50 years ago are the efforts by Memphis (Jim Dunavant and Mayor Herenton and Steve Cohen) to land an NFL expansion team 30 years ago.  The NFL made it very clear they wanted a team in the middle of the country to replace the Cardinals that had moved to Phoenix a few years before (this was before the league coaxed the Rams to St. Louis).  Everything was teed-up for Memphis to get the team (Charlotte was a shoe-in and Jax was a smaller market in the Eastern Time zone).  The NFL wanted another Central Time zone team.  But two big things, and a lot of little things sunk Memphis' chance. The first was that Jim Dunavant didn't take his consultants' advice (apparently from the NFL) to NOT name the team the Hounddogs, but because he had a tin ear and Elvis Presley enterprises was involved, he didn't budge.  The biggest reason the NFL ran from Memphis was because their mayor at the time (W.W. Herenton) ushered the deals and made promises that he would get state funding and then Steve Cohen who was the state rep from Memphis at the time said he would get state backing for a stadium.  The problem was that both Herenton and Cohen both demanded money 'under the table' to make good on their promises. I'm close friends with one of the attorneys who worked with the consultants for the Memphis team, and he pled with the them to name their proposed team the "Kings" (for MLK, BB King, and ancient Memphis where Egyptian kings lived).  He had even gotten tentative approval from the NBA team of the same name.  It was also in the early days of the NFL's efforts to bring more diversity into the marketing of their league.  To this day it is not known if Herenton and Cohen were working together or individually, but the NFL realized they were dealing with corrupt and unsophisticated politicians. So they picked Jacksonville. 

It's still the big dog of the Mid-South. That title didn't go anywhere. Yes we've had our failures, lots of them, but successes too. I'm glad the Grizzlies are here - the mistake was turned into a positive. They have embedded themselves in the folklore and culture now. Most of my family members enjoy basketball more than football. That's the culture here in Memphis. There are too many Cowboys and Steelers fans (of my generation and the previous) to have a football team. They probably wouldn't be loyal to the hometown team. It would've been nice, and from a financial standpoint, maybe lower income people could've afforded to go because of the games being spaced out, but it is what it is. I'll take my Grizzlies. By the way, they should've proposed the name to be the Showboat or Pharaohs. Grit grind forever.