MEMPHIS | Development News

[Wayward Memphian]

Looking for pics I found a couple I had to share
The airstrip on Mud Island


The Zippin Pippin and Horse Track

[Chris Warren]

More Convention Center News.

Hotel tax, fee proposals would fund $50-60M convention center upgrade

The Commercial Appeal:

The city of Memphis may spend $50 million to $60 million over the next couple of years as part of a larger, long-term overhaul of the Memphis Cook Convention Center in Downtown.The Memphis City Council will discuss two ordinances Tuesday to fund the improvements, one to raise hotel and motel occupancy taxes 1.8 percent to 3.5 percent and the other to create a $2 per room and per night surcharge on stays of up to 30 days.Kevin Kane, president and chief executive officer of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the first phase of the project would “re-skin” the building with a new exterior, update the interior to give a ‘hotel-quality feel,” and upgrade its technology.
“We think this is the first step of a multi-step process that would create a long-term project that would give us something as compelling as the Music City Center in Nashville,” he said.Kane added: “It’ll look like a new building and it’ll feel like a new building.”The improvements would be the largest makeover of the center since a six-year, $90 million refurbishing that finished in 2003. Most of those funds went to demolish the old Ellis Auditorium and build the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.Spending $50 million on the center would create 1,500 temporary and permanent jobs, including 100 permanent, local tourism industry jobs, according to BCI+network, a Seattle­-based management consulting firm specializing in the hospitality industry. The long-term goal, he said, is to add onto the center and revamp the rest. The details of future phases — and the cost — will be determined later.Kane said he’ll present details of the project — which could take 10 to 12 years to complete, all phases included — when the ordinances are discussed in the Economic Development & Tourism Committee at 11:30 a.m. on the fifth floor of City Hall. The ordinances, sponsored by council members Edmund Ford Jr., Kemp Conrad and Wanda Halbert, could be approved on third reading as early as Sept. 15.
The tax increase would generate an additional $4.5 million to $4.8 million per year, bringing tax collections up to between $8.7 million and $9 million per year, Kane said. The fee would generate $3 million to $4 million per year, basically replacing the revenue from the current 1.7 percent occupancy tax that will be used solely to pay off FedExForum debt beginning in July 2016.The only hotel in Memphis that gets an exception from the tax increase is the new hotel at Graceland, which will pay into a Tourism Development Zone for the area.Ford proposed a similar tax increase to fund the convention center’s operations that failed two years ago in a 9-4 vote. Ford said a number of other cities around the nation inspired the ordinance, including Nashville, which has a $2.50 overnight hotel stay fee.“Count the number of buildings being built (along Interstate 40 in Nashville), the number of cranes present,” he said.
“ ... They’re being brought because Nashville has started this mechanism to fund its tourism center. And it’s time for Memphis to do the same.”Best of all, Kane said, the taxes and fees would mostly come from out-of-town tourists’ pockets. “We’re not proposing anything crazy that would break the bank.”
One thing large cities with booming tourism industries have in common, Ford said, are newer convention centers. Cook Convention Center was built 41 years ago.
“If Memphis wants to be part of that activity and not behind the eight ball, now is the time to refurbish our convention center,” he said.
Conrad said the tax and fee would help Memphis “rocket forward” in growth of its convention and tourism business.
“Tourism is a competitive advantage for our city, and we should build on it,” he said. “And that is why all the major stakeholders support this approach.”
Asked how hotels and motels outside of Downtown feel about subsidizing the convention center, he said they recognize that a rising tide “raises all boats.”
“The $2 fee will benefit them too as it goes to marketing Memphis — money that goes away if we do nothing,” he said.

I like everything I'm hearing except "The details of future phases — and the cost — will be determined later.Kane said he’ll present details of the project — which could take 10 to 12 years to complete, all phases included''. Even though Music City Center has been in the works since 2004, I feel as though 10 - 12 years is way too long and whenever this is finished it may not even matter. By then Nashville may be what Atlanta is today and people/conventions will rather head to a big cities for conventions or maybe convention centers will be out of date and there will be a new concept. Or even worse we will have a careless mayor in the future who would rather collect his/her checks and not even think about convention centers, hotels or tourism. I feel as though if one of the most vital projects that will help Memphis see the construction of 20-30 story hotels is going to take that long they should've started this process at the start of the century.

[KingWestMemphis]

Originally Posted by Chris Warren

More Convention Center News.
I like everything I'm hearing except "The details of future phases — and the cost — will be determined later.Kane said he’ll present details of the project — which could take 10 to 12 years to complete, all phases included''. Even though Music City Center has been in the works since 2004, I feel as though 10 - 12 years is way too long and whenever this is finished it may not even matter. By then Nashville may be what Atlanta is today and people/conventions will rather head to a big cities for conventions or maybe convention centers will be out of date and there will be a new concept. Or even worse we will have a careless mayor in the future who would rather collect his/her checks and not even think about convention centers, hotels or tourism. I feel as though if one of the most vital projects that will help Memphis see the construction of 20-30 story hotels is going to take that long they should've started this process at the start of the century.

10-12 years is way too long. Memphis will always be behind when it comes to development if all of its major projects take that long.

[VSRJ]

Originally Posted by KingWestMemphis

10-12 years is way too long. Memphis will always be behind when it comes to development if all of its major projects take that long.

QFT. I love Memphis, but one of my biggest gripes with the city is the slow-moving nature of projects.

[Johnny Ryall]

Methodist (South) to expand emergency room
Michelle Corbet, Reporter/ Memphis Business Journal

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare filed a certificate of need with the state of Tennessee in April to invest more than $8.7 million for the expansion and renovation project. The project will add more than 12,700 square feet to the 35,000-square-foot emergency department and another 9,900 square feet will be renovated.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/n...ency-room.html

COURTESY OF JEFFREY JACOBS PHOTOGRAPHY

[Johnny Ryall]

Mississippi saying goodbye to Highway 78
Ed Arnold/ Memphis Biz Journal

“As expansion and growth continue in North Mississippi, I-22 will play a vital role in promoting safety and economic development throughout the region,” said Mississippi transportation commissioner Mike Tagert, in a news release. “I-22 will connect local communities in Northeast Mississippi to the future I-269 corridor located in Marshall and DeSoto counties.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/n...ighway-78.html

[James Owen]

Some big news today on revamping the Cook Convention Center (both in the short and long terms):

Officials unveil $900M convention center vision
By Wayne Risher
The Commercial Appeal

http://www.commercialappeal.com/busi...evamp-outlined (Subscription required)

Most of the mammoth price tag would come 10 to 15 years down the road, long after the completion of a proposed $50 million to $60 million update of the 41-year-old Memphis Cook Convention Center.

Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau officials said short-term improvements would include updating the interior to the look and feel of a high-quality hotel and recasting the 1974 building's exterior to unify it with the 12-year-old Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.

The ambitious part of the plan comes in a second phase, estimated to cost $500 million, that could include an expansion of the convention center west to the Wolf River Harbor, spanning roads, parking and rail lines. Bureau president Kevin Kane said private development of a couple convention center hotels could represent another $400 million in investment.

Kane said a study has indicated the city could put together funding for the bigger phase from public sources that will become available as debts on major projects such as FedExForum are paid off. "We think if it's done very strategically, we can accomplish this with hospitality dollars," and without any general fund revenues, he said.

Here's how a revamped Cook would look like after the renovations are done on the outside:


(Source: Fleming Architects)


(Source: Fleming Architects)

The long term vision calls for an expansion to the existing convention center space over what is currently a parking deck for Mud Island, and extends towards the Wolf River Harbor to where the former Lonestar plant was located.


(Source: Fleming Architects)

I'm not exactly sold on the latter part. Expanding just for the sake of expanding in order to compete with other cities can be a hit-or-miss.

[MEMFLY]

Originally Posted by James Owen

Some big news today on revamping the Cook Convention Center (both in the short and long terms):

Officials unveil $900M convention center vision
By Wayne Risher
The Commercial Appeal

This is great but where is the 30 story Omni going to go.

[Trevor Birchett]

Stunning! Beautiful design.

[NikkiB]

Ugh...I hate that generic sheet metal facade over the original concrete. That look is dime a dozen these days.
It may be old, but I think the original concrete building looks way better. Clean it up, maybe install some new led lighting and stuff, but keep the original style in my opinion.

[Wayward Memphian]

I don't like cannibalizing Mud Island's parking deck for future growth. That handicaps any potential Mud Island reinvention outside of a Yurt village.

[Wayward Memphian]

Here's a gripe of mine.the City of Memphis owns a prime piece of land at the NE corner of the I 40/Danny Thomas interchange. How in the hell has this stayed a physical plant for the garbage and sewer divisions and those places relocated to a more appropriate centralized location. What glorious view from those hotel windows across the interstate. Considering the city's financial woes, that seems prime revenue potential. This is a gateway interchange for the city with St. Jude next door.

[James Owen]

Originally Posted by MEMFLY

This is great but where is the 30 story Omni going to go.

Wishful thinking, but it would probably be somewhere along the expansion footprint for the convention center in the long term.

Here is the full PowerPoint presentation for those who wish to read it:
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Edit...ages/22952.pdf

[KingWestMemphis]

I like the designs for the convention center, but I still want to know how the overall project will showcase Memphis' identity. I think it should be more than just an attractive building; it should say, "My name is Memphis, and this is who I am." Everytime Memphis makes a move, it is compared to Nashville, which I think has caused Memphis to have sort of an identity crisis. Nashville declared itself "music city," but both cities are known for music. It's almost like Memphis is shying away from its musical heritage in major projects to avoid the Nashville comparisons.

[Wayward Memphian]

Memphis doesn't use it's music background?

[KingWestMemphis]

Originally Posted by Wayward Memphian

Memphis doesn't use it's music background?

No, I didn't say Memphis didn't use music at all. I was saying that it seems like mention of Memphis' musical heritage is becoming more subtle. I just don't think that Memphis gets the recognition it deserves when it comes to its music. It should be reflected more in developmental projects.

[arkitekte]

Originally Posted by James Owen

[/I]I'm not exactly sold on the latter part. Expanding just for the sake of expanding in order to compete with other cities can be a hit-or-miss.

This. There's absolutely no precedent for an expansion other than "This city has [enter amount of square footage] so we need that as well". I've gone back and forth on the rehab of the Cook vs. construction of a new. Both leave you with a problem...the Cook. I think an appropriate rehab with a modestly sized addition is fine, but this plan I'm not too hot on.

One thing that already has me in doubt is the selection of Fleming. There's much better design firms in Memphis to chose from, IMO. Not going to name any names, but y'all know who they are.

Maybe ULI can drop the hammer and provide some thoughtful, proactive advice similar to what they did with the nonsense proposed over at the Fairgrounds. I don't want to continue to sound negative, but I've seen too many projects come and go that the City has had financial control over that have been duds. Of course the City can't just sit back and let a private developer redevelop the convention center, but they can certainly leave the majority of the work to a consulting firm that does this on the regular like they should have done with Beale Street Landing, EP Blvd, the Fairgrounds, etc. Keeping it local is good at times, but not for something like this.

[TheKernel91]

I like the new designs of the convention center. It reminds me of FedEx Forum. I was all for building a new one until I saw the design. There's others I saw that wasn't posted. I favor having the convention center right off the interstate coming off the bridge,because this will be a good welcome with the signage that'll come. In the PowerPoint on the memphis daily news site, there's two proposals for convention hotels right near the bridge. That'll most definitely stretch the skyline in coming years with One Beale on the far south coming in.

As far as Memphis having identity crisis, I don't think we do. We know our history and culture, and market ourselves with those things that sometime have people say we're stuck in the past because of that. We should stick to using music as one of our main attractions because we have been home and birth of genres. Soul, Rock n Roll, and Blues.

In times past I used to think Memphis should have marketed itself as "Music City because of that history until I saw how Nashville capitalize it's music scene with country music that opened other doors that made it what it is today in the music industry with other things in music. Just to think that the music industry was one of the top employment industries in Memphis a few decades ago *50s-70s) before Fedex J

[TheKernel91]

New river condo tower offers units for sale
Formerly The Horizon tower, now The Artesian tower has its first units for sale. http://www.commercialappeal.com/busi...fered-for-sale

• Video Link

[Wayward Memphian]

Originally Posted by arkitekte

This. There's absolutely no precedent for an expansion other than "This city has [enter amount of square footage] so we need that as well". I've gone back and forth on the rehab of the Cook vs. construction of a new. Both leave you with a problem...the Cook. I think an appropriate rehab with a modestly sized addition is fine, but this plan I'm not too hot on.

One thing that already has me in doubt is the selection of Fleming. There's much better design firms in Memphis to chose from, IMO. Not going to name any names, but y'all know who they are.

Maybe ULI can drop the hammer and provide some thoughtful, proactive advice similar to what they did with the nonsense proposed over at the Fairgrounds. I don't want to continue to sound negative, but I've seen too many projects come and go that the City has had financial control over that have been duds. Of course the City can't just sit back and let a private developer redevelop the convention center, but they can certainly leave the majority of the work to a consulting firm that does this on the regular like they should have done with Beale Street Landing, EP Blvd, the Fairgrounds, etc. Keeping it local is good at times, but not for something like this.

Interesting you mention design standards and the so so nature of this. It's got the attention of folks up in my neck of the woods. It just so happens that the process of a New Performing Arts Center is about to get underway that wI'll be largely funded by the same foundation. It will be interesting to see how much they dole out for this. The joke is whether Walmart stores will qualify.

http://philanthropynewsdigest.org/ne...ampaign=buffer


The Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program will work to promote the highest level of design in the development of future public buildings and spaces in the two counties. Through the program, the foundation will provide financial support to school districts; county, state, or local municipalities; and nonprofit organizations planning to develop spaces for public purposes. The first phase of the program will involve the selection of world-class designers who would be considered for future projects as they are announced.