The Walk on Union | $950M mixed-use development proposed for Downtown

[VSRJ]

HUGE NEWS for Downtown Memphis!

Grand entrance: $950M Union Row proposed for Downtown

Download the full presentation: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q66uh8myvwf3kvt/Union Row_DMC Presentation_110718_updated.pdf?dl=0

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The largest mixed-use development in Memphis history goes public this week, promising to transform a haggard Downtown gateway with apartments, stores, restaurants, a hotel, office towers, parking structures, green spaces, even a half-acre park perched over a roadway like a rooftop.

Union Row is a proposed $950 million planned development that targets 29 acres, generally between Union Avenue on the north, Beale on the south, Danny Thomas on the east and Fourth on the west.

While a few businesses operate there – including Lit kitchen supply, Vista Inn, Extra Space Storage, U-Haul and a law firm – much of that area is now a no-man’s land of empty lots, boarded-up buildings, storage and surface parking lots that tourists endure while walking between The Peabody hotel and Sun Studio.

“The comprehensiveness of it and the transformational nature of this, it’s something we don’t have in Memphis, East Memphis, anywhere,’’ said Kevin Adams, managing partner of the developer, Big River Partners. He likens Union Row to the Atlanta area’s Avalon, an 86-acre mixed-use development that opened four years ago.

Union Row – four times the investment of Crosstown Concourse – is already teed up in some ways. It borders entertainment like Beale Street, AutoZone Park and FedExForum, with the Orpheum, restaurants and Mississippi River nearby. Major roads like Union and Danny Thomas crisscross at its boundaries.

The development is designed to be a densely populated, urban area where walking is a pleasure and cars are parked in garages hidden behind buildings.

 

Full story: https://www.dailymemphian.com/section/businessreal-estate/article/1219/Grand-entrance-950M-Union-Row-proposed-for-Downtown

Edited December 21, 2020 by VSRJ

[bnacincy]

Yes! Memphis forever!

Now let see Madison ave transformed into a Memphis version of Louisville's Bardstown rd and Memphis will be on a roll!

Edited November 13, 2018 by bnacincy
adding on

[Tennessine]

[East Side Urbanite]

strong. I like it!

[smeagolsfree]

Awesome looking projects. 

[VSRJ]

This is a good sign!

Union Row developers buy corner of Union & Fourth

https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoodsdowntown/article/4488/Union-Row-developers-buy-corner-of-Union-Fourth

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Union Row developers on Monday bought Downtown’s southeast corner of Union and Fourth, where Powerhouse Motors has repaired cars for nearly a generation.

The 6,293-square-foot building – which is to be demolished – and its 0.4-acre parcel are across Union Avenue from AutoZone Park's right field side.

Property owners Sally G. Means and Alice M. Ruthven sold the site for $1.4 million to Union Row LB LLC, Shelby County property records show.

 

 

[James Owen]

Union Row continues to evolve as the latest renderings shows two hotels, an office tower, and what is being called an "innovation lab" for startup companies in addition to the apartments and retail being developed in Phase 1 of the project.

Union Row: New renderings and site map sharpen vision for Downtown Memphis development

Desiree Stennett, Memphis Commercial Appeal

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/development/2019/09/26/union-row-downtown-memphis-development-renderings/2421730001/

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The first phase of the project represents just over half the $950 million budget. That will bring 310 hotel rooms between two hotels, 711 apartments between several buildings, 250,000 square feet of Class A office space plus another 120,000 square feet of lab office space.

Start Co., an entrepreneurial incubator has partnered with Union Row to attract small start up companies into the lab space which will have have technology and flexible space needed by business looking to grow in Memphis.

Image courtesy of Looney Ricks Kiss

Image courtesy of Looney Ricks Kiss

Edited September 27, 2019 by James Owen

[VSRJ]

Great to see it's progressing! I'm a little concerned about the office space, but the hotel and residential seem viable.

Here are a couple of other (I think) new renderings:

Edited September 27, 2019 by VSRJ

[VSRJ]

Good to see this moving forward and growing!

Union Row gets bigger; developers ask for more TIF funds, would waive parking loan

Full story: https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2019/11/13/union-row-gets-bigger-developers-ask-for-more-tif.html

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Union Row’s first phase is now set to cost $239 million more than originally announced and receive $35 million more in incentives.

Developer Kevin Adams appeared before the Shelby County Commission’s economic development committee on Wednesday, Nov. 13, to ask for an alteration to his group’s TIF (tax-increment-financing) district. The change would add about 10 acres to the project’s first phase and allow Adams' group to receive up to $185 million of the tax increment the project creates.

Previously, the project had received city, county, and state approvals for the group to receive up to $100 million from the TIF, as well as a $50 million loan for parking garages. As part of the $85 million TIF increase, the developers would waive their $50 million loan.

“Parking money is a finite resource that we need in the core of downtown,” Downtown Memphis Commission president Jennifer Oswalt told the County Commissioners. “This shift takes risk off of the city and county and places it solely on the project.”

At a pre-development celebration in September, developers said the $511 million first phase would include 710 apartments, 310 hotel rooms, and about 365,000 square feet of office space, along with retail.

 

 

[PianoKing03]

Congrats to our city in the west! Great to see Memphis getting something this large-scale... Keep up the good work! 

[Greenville Paladin]

I read in the Daily Memphian from 2018 a 30,000-square-foot grocer/market was in consideration for Union Row.  I do not see supermarket Kroger opening 30,000-square-foot stores.   Supermarket Publix has a 28,000-square-foot prototype for its Publix supermarkets and a 22,000-square-foot prototype for its GreenWise Market specialty organic/gourmet grocery stores.  It has been in speculation to enter the Memphis area for years.

[DRG901]

Well I figured things would be delayed/paused/downsized.   Info from the MBJ (behind the paywall) about Union Row basically on a pause/redesign due to Covid.  This seems all so familiar to 2008 when we had a few big projects set before the recession hit.   Hopefully things work out better this time.

Union Row has spent much of pandemic "on pause," in "redesign" 

"The Union Row development team has been spending recent weeks value-engineering and redesigning the project, developer Kevin Adams told a Shelby County Board of Commissioners committee Wednesday.

Pre-pandemic, the project had been getting close to construction, but the coronavirus has brought "uncharted waters" and unsettled capital markets to the project, he said July 8.

"The last four months have been a time of reflection on the project, and … of taking a deeper thought process on the overall site plan," Adams said. "The capital markets … remain cautiously optimistic about Union Row."

"In a conversation later Wednesday, Downtown Memphis Commission president Jennifer Oswalt said the pandemic forced the Union Row team to put the project "on pause" in April, but she's hopeful the construction of apartments on the eastern half of the site can start by the end of 2020.

The western part of the site was slated for hotel and office buildings, which are more difficult to pull off in the COVID-19 age."

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2020/07/09/oswalt-adams-give-union-row-update.html?iana=hpmvp_memp_news_headline

Edited July 9, 2020 by DRG901

[dxfret]

It’s no surprise this project is “on pause” and in “redesign”.  Similar to  numerous other projects planned over the years for downtown.  A large scale development like this is a huge financial risk in any city, especially in Memphis and during a pandemic and recession. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by dxfret

[DRG901]

Well..new name and new renderings.

'There's no stopping': Union Row gets new name, lays out plan for continuing amid pandemic

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/development/2020/08/03/a-walk-union-union-row-shares-new-name-plan-forward/5573027002/

 

"Kevin Adams, the developer behind the Union Row project — which has been renamed The Walk on Union as a nod to the creation of a walkable Downtown, said his project is back on track, though a bit delayed.

Adams initially planned to begin construction in the final quarter of 2020. The pandemic has pushed the start of construction to the first quarter of 2021, he said."

 

"He partnered with New York-based firm Turner Construction to crunch numbers to make sure the project could still happen on budget. He met with architects, designers and engineers to consider small changes — contactless doors, small office nooks in the apartments, more powerful air filtration systems — to create spaces built for a pandemic that is still far from over.

"I think we have a better project today than where we were when we were getting ready to go out to pricing before," Adams said. "The project has not shrunk at all. If anything it may have gotten a little bit bigger. ... There's no stopping."

 

"The Walk will bring apartments, two hotels, office space, retail and at least one grocery store to Downtown.

Another change brought on by the pandemic will be a reworking of the public funding of the project."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2020 by DRG901

[James Owen]

I could be wrong about this, but it looks like some parts of the overall planned development have gone a bit more vertical compared to the last set of designs.

[VSRJ]

Well this is a good sign. However I'm not holding my breath until construction starts. I try to avoid being a pessimist, but we've been burned so many times.

[MDC26]

9 hours ago, James Owen said:

I could be wrong about this, but it looks like some parts of the overall planned development have gone a bit more vertical compared to the last set of designs.

Possibly, or maybe the new renderings just show us more.  He did say that the project has not shrunk any, if anything it has grown.  

It is interesting they are planning 4 hotels.  One is The Inn at Beale Street, two are on Union, and there is also one planned for the Hunt-Phelan House Property.  There is also new residential planned at Hunt-Phelan.  

[James Owen]

On 8/4/2020 at 8:38 AM, MDC26 said:

Possibly, or maybe the new renderings just show us more.  He did say that the project has not shrunk any, if anything it has grown.  

It is interesting they are planning 4 hotels.  One is The Inn at Beale Street, two are on Union, and there is also one planned for the Hunt-Phelan House Property.  There is also new residential planned at Hunt-Phelan.  

Considering the Hunt-Phelan House at one time operated as a bed-and-breakfast across two buildings, my guess is the developers wanted to enhance the historic property by adding a boutique-style hotel to those plans.

Looking at LRK's website and the entry they have for The Walk On Union, it appears the two hotels fronting Union near AutoZone Park could potentially be Hilton-branded developments although there's no actual confirmation of such at the moment: https://www.lrk.com/projects/union-row/

 

[DRG901]

16 hours ago, James Owen said:

Considering the Hunt-Phelan House at one time operated as a bed-and-breakfast across two buildings, my guess is the developers wanted to enhance the historic property by adding a boutique-style hotel to those plans.

Looking at LRK's website and the entry they have for The Walk On Union, it appears the two hotels fronting Union near AutoZone Park could potentially be Hilton-branded developments although there's no actual confirmation of such at the moment: https://www.lrk.com/projects/union-row/

 

I see a Tempo as well as an Embassy Suites?

[MDC26]

2 hours ago, DRG901 said:

I see a Tempo as well as an Embassy Suites?

Definitely Embassy Suites.  

The Lid on top of Danny Thomas should look really nice.  

[MLBrumby]

Any updates for this one?

[VSRJ]

9 hours ago, MLBrumby said:

Any updates for this one?

Not recently. It was renamed "The Walk on Union" in August, but I believe this was the most recent story: https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2020/09/09/developers-walk-formerly-union-row-respond-covid-challenges/

[VSRJ]

A few larger renderings from the architect: https://www.lrk.com/projects/union-row/

Edited December 21, 2020 by VSRJ

[MDC26]

Agreement has been signed.  Nice to see things keep moving forward.

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2021/02/02/dmc-the-walk-team-sign-development-agreement.html

 

[TheExtraEastKid]

‘The Walk’ steps up with first design submission

LINK: https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoodsdowntown/article/21045/the-walk-steps-up-with-first-design-submission

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Building G will house up to seven floors filled with 400 apartments, 27,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a five-story parking garage.

One part of the application asks the applicant to give the project’s status. The response from the development team that first unveiled the project plans in fall 2018: “The project is currently in construction documentation.”