jr, sorry about my mistyped lebonheur, which, as you corrected, was st. jude. i actually went back to your previous post of a year ago to get the answer to my question. lol, sometimes i would be completely confused, if it weren't for your compilations and rundowns. they really are helpful and well done. i love the one that i reviewed last night, and several times before, dealing w/ memphis' urban fabric and your provision of photos and explanations. that is a great post. i would like to see something from the three mile stretch in north memphis along the river down to at least the airport and "airport city." that area, even though some of it is a mess, has a plan, and even though it is slowly coming about, until now, it is going to happen. the bad publicity a few months ago probably helped get things cohesively rolling.
back to st. jude, i am glad to see that it is a 9 story buiding. word is that there is another huge building project coming w/in a year or two. too, that price tag seemed up there for a relatively small building---192 million. i was also confused w/ the buiding shapes, colors, and floor count that appeared on the cam. they are completely different. it would seem that a campus that large would need a 16-22 story building, w/ all of the coming research and research staff.
i think jr's wording is accurate. the first proposals are "dead". i simply don't remember that second presentation, but it is much nicer in concept than the first. according to the company, the project is "shelved" until the economy picks up. of course, as is the case w/ every major u.s. city, most city governments end their statements concerning city projects and future progress w/ the statement, "these projects have been "killed" or "shelved" "put on hold" or "abandoned" until if or when the economy picks up." interestingly, memphis seems to have done pretty well w/ combined public/private construction, as of yesterday, i counted up 62 under construction projects in memphis-shelby county. i did not count any that are planned, but are awaiting funding or partial funding, such as the hilton, etc. if any one in the current administration in washington wanted to know what most americans already know about the economy---w/ the exception of chicago and possibly new york city, all one has to do is read business journals, construction magazines, and newspapers, and all will state the obvious "...due to a sluggish economy, recovery, or stalled economy..."
the carlisle movement happened, as jr said, because of the move from peabody place, and the need for a new headquarters. from beginning to end, it was to serve about a seven year purpose. afterwards, the building would be razed to make way for the beale street project. of course, he knows his business better than i, however, i would see this as an odd way to do business. tearing down a virtually new building to build a skyscraper might be much more profitable, but he got some tax breaks, along w/ a bunch of others. again, however, he insists that one beale will rise. we'll see. finally, one last point, i think we have gone a bit overboard w/ the parks, greenspaces, etc. on the riverfront. i have mixed feelings about the memphis sign. why store it? put it up in the beale street entertainment district, put it out by the airport, or put it in midtown. the bins i don't have so much to complain about. they aren't very attractive, as they don't come off like the 240 ho , but another greenspace, really? and, i promise, my last gripe. while i am very much about adaptive reuse of buildings, while i like the sight of new skyscrapers (and i would like to see the vue, trinity place, blauff haus, one beale, st. mary tower, and the marriott add the proposed 10 stories to the main hotel, and see a serious look at expanding buildings vertically, instead of taking up huge acres of ground) i fail to see why public money is paying to purchase stainless kitchen amenities, flat screen tv's, and some of the other things for students in college. this kind of thing is what really upsets many of us who are paying for it.
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