553 replies to this topic

[Bears]

Was Beale Street Landing canceled? The Memphis Airport area does need renovation though. Its a terrible front door to our city and I think they recognize this. Lets just see if they can get this aerotropolis thing off the ground

Edited by Bears, 26 November 2009 - 05:40 PM.

[Memphis4ever]

Bears, on 26 November 2009 - 05:37 PM, said:

Was Beale Street Landing canceled? The Memphis Airport area does need renovation though. Its a terrible front door to our city and I think they recognize this. Lets just see if they can get this aerotropolis thing off the ground

No Beale street landing is currently under construction they are approaching phase 3 which will be the more visible structures.  There has been a lot of foundation work but it is definintly under construction go to memphisriverfront.com to view the live construction cam,  playhouse on the square is almost finished, the new airport tower is almost done, the parking structure is about to begin, lebohneur is almost complete on the outside,  and phase 1 of the UT Baptist research park is topped out.  There are a lot of major projects being completed now some people actually just dont drive around the city to really see whats happening.  Oh yea the new courtyard marriott downtown on main is finished and the barbaro alley flats are about on the 4th floor check out some of these places.

[James Owen]

Memphis4ever, on 02 December 2009 - 12:41 AM, said:

No Beale street landing is currently under construction they are approaching phase 3 which will be the more visible structures. There has been a lot of foundation work but it is definitely under construction go to memphisriverfront.com to view the live construction cam, playhouse on the square is almost finished, the new airport tower is almost done, the parking structure is about to begin, lebohneur is almost complete on the outside, and phase 1 of the UT Baptist research park is topped out. There are a lot of major projects being completed now some people actually just dont drive around the city to really see whats happening. Oh yea the new courtyard marriott downtown on main is finished and the barbaro alley flats are about on the 4th floor check out some of these places.

All of these things are true, but with the economy as weak as it is right now, don't expect any other new things to take shape until the banks start financing again. But then again, it's better to have some construction going on than none at all.

Hopefully, we'll see more improvements done in and around the airport area once these major projects are done, though I'm still waiting to see if the proposed South Intermodal Terminal (MATA/Greyhound/Future light rail station) is still going to be built next year.

[paribasomw]

I found an interesting statistic about Memphis Intl Airport in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

Memphis has the highest percentage of regional jet service of any major airport in the US. 75.4% of all passenger service to/from MEM is on a regional jet. Mainline service (larger jets) is only a small percentage. Most travelers, especially business people, vastly prefer mainline jets as opposed to the puddle jumpers and RJs.

This stat does not bode well for passenger service at MEM.

[jmduke]

Today, Flintco was named the general contractor for the airport parking garage expansion. I think this project is far better than having an off-airport transportation center for buses, shuttles, and car rental agencies. This puts the car rentals much closer to the arriving passengers and leaves space for a potential 4th parallel runway on the west side of the airport should the extra capacity ever be needed.
MBJ: http://memphis.bizjo...14/daily19.html
Daily News from earlier but with extra background: http://www.memphisda...e.aspx?id=46735

[James Owen]

jmduke, on 17 December 2009 - 04:46 PM, said:

Today, Flintco was named the general contractor for the airport parking garage expansion. I think this project is far better than having an off-airport transportation center for buses, shuttles, and car rental agencies. This puts the car rentals much closer to the arriving passengers and leaves space for a potential 4th parallel runway on the west side of the airport should the extra capacity ever be needed.
MBJ: http://memphis.bizjo...14/daily19.html
Daily News from earlier but with extra background: http://www.memphisda...e.aspx?id=46735

A fourth north-south runway would not be feasibly possible to build on the west side. The only place I could see an additional runway be added would be on the airport's south side (McKellar Park) running east to west, but that's not likely to happen either unless they decide to build a new terminal building adjacent to it that would supplement the existing terminal.

[jmduke]

A 4th parallel on the west side has already been discussed. It would involve a lot of dirt moving and the relocation of Airways, but there's room. They also have an extension of Twy. M northward across Plough Blvd. in the works as well. They have a lot of future plans in their back pocket should the need to greatly expand ever arise.

[James Owen]

jmduke, on 18 December 2009 - 06:28 AM, said:

A 4th parallel on the west side has already been discussed. It would involve a lot of dirt moving and the relocation of Airways, but there's room. They also have an extension of Twy. M northward across Plough Blvd. in the works as well. They have a lot of future plans in their back pocket should the need to greatly expand ever arise.

The only thing I'm concerned about with that is the amount of properties that would have to be bought, moved or torn down should they need more room to the west. They did a lot of that during the 90s (I remember because my family lived right next to the airport during that time) and I would expect a lot of criticism from people who live in those neighborhoods should that time come (and people can argue about eminent domain until they're blue in the face). There was similar criticism when the airport wanted to build a consolidated rental car facility along the west side of Airways near Winchester, IIRC (their basic argument was that it would be too close to a neighborhood school).

[jmduke]

A 4th parallel would be in the approximate location of the current Airways Blvd. which would be a tremendous dirt-fill job for the base of the concrete. The airport already bought the houses between Boeingshire and Airways north of the FedEx training center. They also bought the houses between Hancock Dr. and Airways south of the training center. There are a couple of apartment complexes south of Raines which would be very close to a relocated Airways and less than 1500' from the new runway...certainly an issue. The Mapco at Airways/Raines and the gas stations at Airways/Shelby would have to be relocated. The other tricky part is would be shoehorning the new Airways between the FedEx training center and the new airport western boundary. There is not much room, and two landscaped ponds at the FedEx center would have to be filled in. The new runway would also be very close to Winchester Elementary on the north side. Not sure what the ramifications would be, whether relocation or noise-proofing.

[jmduke]

Air Canada will begin operating two non-stops to Toronto in the spring to fill the void left by Delta's elimination of the route. Twice-daily service on a larger CRJ900 actually expands the number of seats available compared with the previous service.
http://www.commercia...-daily-toronto/

[jmduke]

Mayor of Atlanta is a bit envious of Memphis' position as a top cargo hub and wants in on the action. http://www.ajc.com/s...cargo03281.html

[shekelman]

jmduke, on 29 March 2010 - 07:00 AM, said:

Mayor of Atlanta is a bit envious of Memphis' position as a top cargo hub and wants in on the action. http://www.ajc.com/s...cargo03281.html

Envious ??  that's rich...Atlanta attracts PEOPLE, thus commerce which has a multiplier effect throughout the MSA.....CARGO is CARGO, packages and freight don't compete in economic development ...specifically JOBS and the flow of money

screw being a 'cargo hub'.........so is West Memphis AR, and that place is still a piece of crap

[Johnny Ryall]

shekelman, on 10 May 2010 - 11:52 AM, said:

screw being a 'cargo hub'.........so is West Memphis AR, and that place is still a piece of crap

Memphis Int'l Airport's economic impact dwarfs Alanta-Hartsfield, nearly $30,000,000,000.00 annually. So, screw your opinion. Oh, and West Memphis? Yeah, it still has some rough inner-city neighborhoods because it's... inner city and Marion is experiencing double digit growth now. Thanks for checking in, douche.

Edited by Johnny Ryall, 29 May 2010 - 02:58 PM.

[James Owen]

This hasn't been mentioned here, but construction of the new South Intermodal Terminal, which will house both MATA and Greyhound bus operations, is already underway as much of the structural framing for the new building is already up, with hopes of completing the project by next year.

MDN makes a mention of this in tomorrow's edition:
http://www.memphisda...?id=50760#50760

Edited by James Owen, 16 June 2010 - 09:06 PM.