Dream Hotel on South Main, 19 stories

[Memphisborn]

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

Memphis would be an ideal spot for a Hard Rock Hotel, although I wonder how much they are focusing on hotel projects that wouldn't have an added casino.  Still irks me that casino gambling hasn't been legalized in Tennessee.  The state is losing so much potential revenue to neighboring states it's crazy.  But I suppose that's another issue altogether.

One more random tangent... it still blows my mind that they haven't put a House of Blues in the friggin' HOME OF THE BLUES.   But I digress.  

The former site of plush club would make a great site for hard rock hotel

[James Owen]

8 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Memphis would be an ideal spot for a Hard Rock Hotel, although I wonder how much they are focusing on hotel projects that wouldn't have an added casino.  Still irks me that casino gambling hasn't been legalized in Tennessee.  The state is losing so much potential revenue to neighboring states it's crazy.  But I suppose that's another issue altogether.

One more random tangent... it still blows my mind that they haven't put a House of Blues in the friggin' HOME OF THE BLUES.   But I digress.  

There have been on and off conversations about Hard Rock building one of their City Hotels (non-casino) along Beale over the last couple of years, but with the Cafe ending its lease inside the Lansky Bros. building later this month, there's uncertainty about what their future plans might be.

I don't know too much about the House of Blues franchise, but I doubt the space HRC is vacating would be big enough for their needs.

7 hours ago, Memphisborn said:

The former site of plush club would make a great site for hard rock hotel

That's what I said initially when plans for a boutique hotel on that end of Beale were coming together. If not a City Hotel, then a Reverb (like the one in Atlanta) would do well in that spot.

[MDC26]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:01 PM, BnaBreaker said:

Memphis would be an ideal spot for a Hard Rock Hotel, although I wonder how much they are focusing on hotel projects that wouldn't have an added casino.  Still irks me that casino gambling hasn't been legalized in Tennessee.  The state is losing so much potential revenue to neighboring states it's crazy.  But I suppose that's another issue altogether.

One more random tangent... it still blows my mind that they haven't put a House of Blues in the friggin' HOME OF THE BLUES.   But I digress.  

I think there are plenty that don’t have a casino. The new one in NYC does not have a casino. I believe the one that was being built in NOLA & collapsed did not have a casino. 

Isaac Tigrett, founder of both Hard Rock Cafe & House of Blues was born & raised in Jackson, TN. 

20 hours ago, James Owen said:

There have been on and off conversations about Hard Rock building one of their City Hotels (non-casino) along Beale over the last couple of years, but with the Cafe ending its lease inside the Lansky Bros. building later this month, there's uncertainty about what their future plans might be.

I don't know too much about the House of Blues franchise, but I doubt the space HRC is vacating would be big enough for their needs.

That's what I said initially when plans for a boutique hotel on that end of Beale were coming together. If not a City Hotel, then a Reverb (like the one in Atlanta) would do well in that spot.

I believe Hard Rock Hotel and Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos are separate entities. 

[TheKernel91]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:01 PM, BnaBreaker said:

Memphis would be an ideal spot for a Hard Rock Hotel, although I wonder how much they are focusing on hotel projects that wouldn't have an added casino.  Still irks me that casino gambling hasn't been legalized in Tennessee.  The state is losing so much potential revenue to neighboring states it's crazy.  But I suppose that's another issue altogether.

One more random tangent... it still blows my mind that they haven't put a House of Blues in the friggin' HOME OF THE BLUES.   But I digress.  

I agree! House of Blues should be considering Memphis. With Hard Rock Cafe recently closing downtown, we have the perfect place for them to fill a void.

[MDC26]

Dream Hotel has filed for construction permit and plans on breaking ground in the coming months. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2023/08/23/dream-hotel-files-for-75m-construction-permit.html

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

On 8/23/2023 at 10:04 PM, MDC26 said:

Dream Hotel has filed for construction permit and plans on breaking ground in the coming months. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2023/08/23/dream-hotel-files-for-75m-construction-permit.html

This is so great to see!

This will fill the void that the One Beale Street Hyatt Hotel falling through, left Memphis with.

And good to see that this hotel is almost 20 stories, as well.

Memphis could use several more mid range, high-rise hotels built. 

[MLBrumby]

I have a bit of insight into the NFL expansion bid by Memphis back in the early 90s. Back in 1993 I was interning at a law firm in Atlanta back that had been engaged (through their Miami office) by the NFL to evaluate the various bids... Baltimore, Charlotte, Jacksonville, & Memphis. Baltimore was universally viewed as a shoe-in as the Irsay's had moved their Colts to Indianapolis. It was also likely that the league would expand by only 2 cities (turned out to be 3, but to the point), I recall grapevine speculation that the NFL didn't want all of them to go to the Eastern Time Zone, and Charlotte looks like a solid second place for its proximity to growing markets and financial institutions. Jacksonville was viewed as weakest b/c it was close to two other in-state teams as well as Atlanta.

As far as the time zone, NFL thought Memphis looked good on that count. They also knew there were issues in St. Louis (the Cardinals had moved out 5 years before) and thought the city might be a good stand-in for that region (Rams moved from LA to StL two years later). Tennessee was a stronger fit for TV and growth than Missouri. Anyway, one of the consultants recommended that Dunavent propose the team's name as "the Kings" and I don't know why he didn't go with it (anything from the tie-in to Elvis Presley Enterprises or copyright conflicts with the NBA team). That would almost have cinched the deal, except the thing that killed the whole deal was that the city's mayor and two powerful Councilmen (I believe individually) approached the league for bribes to get money for the stadium. The NFL left furious and the franchise was awarded to Jacksonville. There were even rumors at the time that the NFL gave the expansion to Jax just to make a point to Memphis. All this is to the point that Memphis could have been what Nashville became, as it's clear now what happened after the Titans moved there. 

[MDC26]

14 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

I have a bit of insight into the NFL expansion bid by Memphis back in the early 90s. Back in 1993 I was interning at a law firm in Atlanta back that had been engaged (through their Miami office) by the NFL to evaluate the various bids... Baltimore, Charlotte, Jacksonville, & Memphis. Baltimore was universally viewed as a shoe-in as the Irsay's had moved their Colts to Indianapolis. It was also likely that the league would expand by only 2 cities (turned out to be 3, but to the point), I recall grapevine speculation that the NFL didn't want all of them to go to the Eastern Time Zone, and Charlotte looks like a solid second place for its proximity to growing markets and financial institutions. Jacksonville was viewed as weakest b/c it was close to two other in-state teams as well as Atlanta.

As far as the time zone, NFL thought Memphis looked good on that count. They also knew there were issues in St. Louis (the Cardinals had moved out 5 years before) and thought the city might be a good stand-in for that region (Rams moved from LA to StL two years later). Tennessee was a stronger fit for TV and growth than Missouri. Anyway, one of the consultants recommended that Dunavent propose the team's name as "the Kings" and I don't know why he didn't go with it (anything from the tie-in to Elvis Presley Enterprises or copyright conflicts with the NBA team). That would almost have cinched the deal, except the thing that killed the whole deal was that the city's mayor and two powerful Councilmen (I believe individually) approached the league for bribes to get money for the stadium. The NFL left furious and the franchise was awarded to Jacksonville. There were even rumors at the time that the NFL gave the expansion to Jax just to make a point to Memphis. All this is to the point that Memphis could have been what Nashville became, as it's clear now what happened after the Titans moved there. 

That's interesting.  What were the bribes?  

[Memphisborn]

2 hours ago, MDC26 said:

That's interesting.  What were the bribes?  

I’m curious about that too, doesn’t surprise me tho to be honest.

[The Guardian of Memphis]

On 8/30/2023 at 6:04 PM, MLBrumby said:

I have a bit of insight into the NFL expansion bid by Memphis back in the early 90s. Back in 1993 I was interning at a law firm in Atlanta back that had been engaged (through their Miami office) by the NFL to evaluate the various bids... Baltimore, Charlotte, Jacksonville, & Memphis. Baltimore was universally viewed as a shoe-in as the Irsay's had moved their Colts to Indianapolis. It was also likely that the league would expand by only 2 cities (turned out to be 3, but to the point), I recall grapevine speculation that the NFL didn't want all of them to go to the Eastern Time Zone, and Charlotte looks like a solid second place for its proximity to growing markets and financial institutions. Jacksonville was viewed as weakest b/c it was close to two other in-state teams as well as Atlanta.

As far as the time zone, NFL thought Memphis looked good on that count. They also knew there were issues in St. Louis (the Cardinals had moved out 5 years before) and thought the city might be a good stand-in for that region (Rams moved from LA to StL two years later). Tennessee was a stronger fit for TV and growth than Missouri. Anyway, one of the consultants recommended that Dunavent propose the team's name as "the Kings" and I don't know why he didn't go with it (anything from the tie-in to Elvis Presley Enterprises or copyright conflicts with the NBA team). That would almost have cinched the deal, except the thing that killed the whole deal was that the city's mayor and two powerful Councilmen (I believe individually) approached the league for bribes to get money for the stadium. The NFL left furious and the franchise was awarded to Jacksonville. There were even rumors at the time that the NFL gave the expansion to Jax just to make a point to Memphis. All this is to the point that Memphis could have been what Nashville became, as it's clear now what happened after the Titans moved there. 

Heresay. Conjecture. Speculation. Where’s the evidence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt? Some of us grew up watching Perry Mason. LOL. 

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

On 8/30/2023 at 7:04 PM, MLBrumby said:

I have a bit of insight into the NFL expansion bid by Memphis back in the early 90s. Back in 1993 I was interning at a law firm in Atlanta back that had been engaged (through their Miami office) by the NFL to evaluate the various bids... Baltimore, Charlotte, Jacksonville, & Memphis. Baltimore was universally viewed as a shoe-in as the Irsay's had moved their Colts to Indianapolis. It was also likely that the league would expand by only 2 cities (turned out to be 3, but to the point), I recall grapevine speculation that the NFL didn't want all of them to go to the Eastern Time Zone, and Charlotte looks like a solid second place for its proximity to growing markets and financial institutions. Jacksonville was viewed as weakest b/c it was close to two other in-state teams as well as Atlanta.

As far as the time zone, NFL thought Memphis looked good on that count. They also knew there were issues in St. Louis (the Cardinals had moved out 5 years before) and thought the city might be a good stand-in for that region (Rams moved from LA to StL two years later). Tennessee was a stronger fit for TV and growth than Missouri. Anyway, one of the consultants recommended that Dunavent propose the team's name as "the Kings" and I don't know why he didn't go with it (anything from the tie-in to Elvis Presley Enterprises or copyright conflicts with the NBA team). That would almost have cinched the deal, except the thing that killed the whole deal was that the city's mayor and two powerful Councilmen (I believe individually) approached the league for bribes to get money for the stadium. The NFL left furious and the franchise was awarded to Jacksonville. There were even rumors at the time that the NFL gave the expansion to Jax just to make a point to Memphis. All this is to the point that Memphis could have been what Nashville became, as it's clear now what happened after the Titans moved there. 

Wow! Such a shame, dang.

I feel like things like this have sort of happened in cities like Memphis with development opportunities. Poor leadership and folks out for themselves, rather than doing the right thing and the good business thing for the city.

Maybe a pattern in Memphis? Dunno, but the city certainly has a record of things falling through time and again, unfortunately.

 

[The Guardian of Memphis]

On 9/2/2023 at 4:39 PM, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

Wow! Such a shame, dang.

I feel like things like this have sort of happened in cities like Memphis with development opportunities. Poor leadership and folks out for themselves, rather than doing the right thing and the good business thing for the city.

Maybe a pattern in Memphis? Dunno, but the city certainly has a record of things falling through time and again, unfortunately.

 

There's no concrete proof of this (I hope, LOL), so before we go jumping to conclusions maybe we should leave it alone, as it continues more of the same narrative that people inevitably fall into time and time again while ignoring what the city has done so far. Memphis is no different than any other city in America. Our stuff gets aired out a lot more than other cities. Maybe we've had more than our fair share. There's no telling what has gone down in other cities that we didn't know about. I definitely don't have a skewed view of any other city in America because I know how much people have verbally trashed Memphis over and over. I have a relative that's from New Orleans - he told me about the corruption they endured, but I not dare make comments that are negative, even though it may true. I like New Orleans, warts and all.  Aside to downtown Memphis.  It was basically a ghost town after 1968 and hit a low in the 80s. Did poor leadership stall its development to bring it back to its renaissance? It was the downtown Memphis commission's goal to refurbish all of the vacant structures, and for the most part, they've been successful.