22 replies to this topic

[Fellowmann20]

Coming back from a trip to Oklahoma today across the HD Bridge and noticed about a 15-20 (give or take) story tower being constructed with 2 cranes behind downtown Memphis today near the medical district. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it. It looks pretty cool.

Oh yeah, I didn't get a picture of it, sorry...

Edited by Fellowmann20, 25 May 2009 - 05:41 PM.

[Fellowmann20]

I figured out what it was, and sadly its not as tall as I thought (I think the med district being on a hill led me to believe that it was taller). Its Le Bonhuer's new building. It's 12 floors with 610,000 square feet of floor space and costs $327 million. Even though its not as tall as I would like, its still a nice addition to the skyline.

Here's a link to its topping out ceremony. It has a goofy video of the last beam being placed.
New Le Bonheur Reaches Tallest Point in Construction

Edited by Fellowmann20, 25 May 2009 - 07:12 PM.

[Fellowmann20]

Here's a couple shots of it, and I threw in some of the Horizon 1.

[paribasomw]

I am totally underwhelmed looking at these pics.  

Really unattractive architecture with the Horizon.....it looks cheap and totally undistinguished.  

Fellowmann20, on Jun 4 2009, 11:33 PM, said:

Here's a couple shots of it, and I threw in some of the Horizon 1.

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[Fellowmann20]

paribasomw, on Jun 5 2009, 09:33 AM, said:

I am totally underwhelmed looking at these pics.  

Really unattractive architecture with the Horizon.....it looks cheap and totally undistinguished.

Yeah, I was kind of taken aback when I saw it up close. Its not quite finished yet...maybe it'll look slightly better when its done. It does look better from far away though.

What do you think of the new Le Bonhuer building?

Edited by Fellowmann20, 08 June 2009 - 10:41 PM.

[paribasomw]

I can't tell much about LeBonheur because it will just blend into the medical center area.  This part of town continues to suffer since the once huge Baptist Memorial Hospital moved way out east and the building that was once the largest private hospital in the US was demolished.  What a shame that Memphis once had a vibrant medical center area that is now just a shadow of its former self.  

The new Horizon tower downtown is embarassing at best.  I think the 45+ year-old Rivermont condo(former Holiday Inn Rivermont) looks better than this new structure.  The Horizon looks prefabricated and cheap -- sort of reminds me of a casino hotel in Tunica.  16 stories is not a major addition to the skyline.

When compared to other cities, the skyline of Memphis is very weak.  I was in Nashville recently and they have an amazing skyline with far more skyscrapers and more density downtown than Memphis.   Nashville just topped off another 30 story office building downtown and will soon start construction of a huge new convention center downtown.  

The truth is no major high-rises have been built in downtown Memphis in decades.  The empty Pyramid is an huge eyesore that is unlikely to go away....perhaps the best thing would be to demolish it because no reasonable use has been found for such a dinosaur.  The same thing applies to the empty and crumbling Sterrick Building downtown.  

Fellowmann20, on Jun 8 2009, 11:34 PM, said:

Yeah, I was kind of taken aback when I saw it up close. Its not quite finished yet...maybe it'll look slightly better when its done. It does look better from far away though.

What do you think of the new Le Bonhuer building?

[Memphis4ever]

Hold on now, first off the biomedical research park is currently being built in the place where baptist was located.  They are only on building 2 of seven.  The Med has built a new addition and lebohneur is adding its tower, as a result a lot of those old housing complexes and neighorhoods have been demolished and are now being replaced with apartments and housing along with retail, in case you have not noticed all the construction on the other side of the new hospital.  The new horizon tower is beautiful even through the garage is not finished its very colorful and does not look cheap they chose to use a mix of building materials instead of the usual glass curtain wall which you find all over nashville and charlotte and many other cities that lack architectural detail.  As far as skylines go memphis has a very nice skyline the buildings aren't quite as shiny and new but they still have a presence.  I go to school in nashville and have watched them build about 8 new highrises but with regards to density memphis is still ten times more dense than nashville have you actually ever walked around their downtown.  But anyway the medical district is actually under going more construction than downtown right now and baptist is being replaced by a much more important facility. Biomedical technology is the newest trend that most cities are trying to get involved in and Memphis is one of about 8 that has a biocontainment lab.  I personally find this construction great especially in the middle of a recession like this.

[Rural King]

^I have to agree Memphis has considerably more dense downtown compared to Nashville and has a much more diverse and vibrant collection of older architectural streetscapes IMO.

[dxfret]

Without a doubt Nashville has a lot more tall buildings than Memphis.  The city's skyline, immortalized in Bob Dylan's classic album "Nashville Skyline" is really striking, especially when approaching downtown on the various interstates that cross the city.  I especially like the AT&T Tower, a.k.a. "Batman Building" which looks especially cool at night.  I also like the new Pinnacle Tower which is nearing completion across from the new symphony hall with its illuminated crown at night.  The new highrise condos in the "Gulch" section are cool too and the architecture is certainly much better than the Horizon in Memphis as shown in the pics here.  What a shame to not have great architecture on such prime Mississippi riverfront property.  It really does look a lot like Tunica, LOL!!

Memphis has a lot of cool older, low-rise buildings and warehouses, especially south of downtown.  I would never term the Memphis' downtown "dense" in terms of skyscrapers and tall buildings.  Downtown Memphis still suffers from the fact that a lot of decrepit housing was cleared around Danny Thomas Blvd and Crump Ave. and hardly appealing.   Something really does need to happen with the Pyramid and the Sterick Building since both are becoming eyesores and embarrassing for the city.

Rural King, on Jun 9 2009, 07:32 PM, said:

^I have to agree Memphis has considerably more dense downtown compared to Nashville and has a much more diverse and vibrant collection of older architectural streetscapes IMO.

[Rural King]

^ Agreed. The Pyramid is iconic enough that it seems like somebody could find a good private, heck public, use for it, but thus far the only decent solution with Bass Pro has turned out to be just delay after delay. The Strerick needs somebody with both the means and vision to rehabilitate it, but until the economy turns around that seems unlikely to occur as that from my understanding will be a very expensive structure to preserve and put back to use.

As far as using the term dense, I use it simply as far as the downtown is not filled with many surface lots, retains a lot of its older early 20th century structures (albeit many in need of redevelopment), and still possesses the feel of being an old large southern urban center.

[Fellowmann20]

For those who are less informed, there is actually a new facility being constructed on top of the old baptist hospital sight, with a main tower about the same height as the last. Also, even though it is vacant, the Pyramid is still a nice looking building (It was built in 1992). Actually, after looking at the Horizon again, I actually like the white trim... But they could have done with out the little curved roofs at the top.     

As far as density, I think Memphis takes the cake. Unlike Nashville, downtown Memphis has many historical skyscrapers and low rises that make the skyline look a lot more natural and developed over time (which it has been). They sort of give it a "stepped" appearance if you will. Where as downtown Nashville and (even a better example) downtown Little Rock look like all the buildings where built in the last 40 years and just sort of shoot out of the ground giving the skyline an unnatural "wall" or "pencil" appearance. The main buildings are all tall (upwards of 200 ft) with no smaller buildings to give it a balanced look. Downtown Memphis is like a time line where Nashville's just poofed out of thin air (being the last 40 years).

This is just my opinion...   Don't blow up...

Edited by Fellowmann20, 27 June 2009 - 03:27 PM.

[Rural King]

^ Agreed. I think your description of the contrast is on the mark.

[dxfret]

Read in the Commercial Appeal today that The Horizon condos was sold in a foreclosure auction for $17,479,000 yesterday on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.  Definitely not good news for downtown Memphis.  Lots of contractors are owed big bucks for their work.  Buyer was apparently Capital One Bank.

It's a pity to have such ugly architecture on a great riverfront site.  This was about the only new high rise (16 floors) construction downtown in recent years.  Hopefully, it won't join the Pyramid and Sterrick Building as another one of the abandoned big buildings downtown.

[James Owen]

dxfret, on Jul 8 2009, 10:35 AM, said:

Read in the Commercial Appeal today that The Horizon condos was sold in a foreclosure auction for $17,479,000 yesterday on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.  Definitely not good news for downtown Memphis.  Lots of contractors are owed big bucks for their work.  Buyer was apparently Capital One Bank.

It's a pity to have such ugly architecture on a great riverfront site.  This was about the only new high rise (16 floors) construction downtown in recent years.  Hopefully, it won't join the Pyramid and Sterrick Building as another one of the abandoned big buildings downtown.

The tower will be finished, but it's only a matter of when. According to MBJ, project managers have been trying to talk with the subcontractors involved with The Horizon Apartments in getting construction back up and running in about a couple of weeks.

http://memphis.bizjo...o...fn&ana=test

Either way you look at it, the economy kinda ruined things for everyone involved (from the developer on down).

[Rural King]

I'm sure this will get done, but how timely and with what quality of workmanship after all this turmoil will be interesting. On another note it wasn't an excitement generating project really to begin with, wonder how this will tarnish it ability to be marketable.

[East Side Urbanite]

Memphis Friends,

I live in downtown Nashville but was born in Memphis and make the trek west once a year to immerse myself in the Bluff City's built environment.

A few points:

1. Downtown/Midtown Memphis has significantly greater building density and a vastly better stock of vintage/pedestrian-oriented buildings than Downtown/Midtown Nashville. I love the grit and authenticity of Memphis' building stock, with that vibe derived (in large part) from the oldness of the buildings and the fact that many of them are within close proximity of each other.

2. The Sterrick Building needs to be saved.

3. Downtown Nashville is dominated by what I call "signature buildings," that is very large, free-standing and often civic structures. Many are quite impressive. For its population, Nashville has a very strong collection of these buildings. Sadly, Downtown and Midtown Nashville have seen since the 1950s much of their  "fine-grained, vintage building stock" demolished and replaced by very large buildings, small generic stuff or surface parking lots.

William Williams

Edited by East Side Urbanite, 19 July 2009 - 10:32 AM.

[Luv04God]

Its probably the New LeBonheur Hospital Tower. Yes it looks really neat.
I heard its going to be a great facility for the kids to help get their minds off of their treatments.
I heard its going to have a small movie theater! The Hospital Tower reminds me of an extruded
version of the Brister Library Tower on the Southwest corner of the University of Memphis campus
at the corner of Patterson and Walker.

[James Owen]

Luv04God, on 26 April 2010 - 12:55 PM, said:

Its probably the New LeBonheur Hospital Tower. Yes it looks really neat.
I heard its going to be a great facility for the kids to help get their minds off of their treatments.
I heard its going to have a small movie theater! The Hospital Tower reminds me of an extruded
version of the Brister Library Tower on the Southwest corner of the University of Memphis campus
at the corner of Patterson and Walker.

Welcome to the forums.

BTW, the library tower you're speaking of is now called John Wilder Tower.

[bluff2085]

This building (Le Bonheur Children's Hospital) is almost finished.  At 251 feet, it might be the tallest 12 story building in Memphis

[Memphis4ever]

The new hotel to be built by the Fed Ex forum will be a hilton hotel.  It received funding money today.

A new rendering of the building is due to be released later.