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East Memphis


northernbizzkit1

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I was at a Lausanne Writer's Symposium this week, and was about ready to swerve of the road...apart from being amazed at Temple Israel, some of the BIGGEST HOUSES I've ever seen in Memphis are back in there...they all were on estate lots and just amazing...I'm going to try to go back and snap some pics;however, I began to wonder...I was driving down Shady Grove/Quail Hollow and noticed the Grandview sign and the site for the condo tower...could East Memphis become like a Buckhead to Memphis? Land is running out, and all that you can do for residential is infill or go up. Will the condo tower boom also make a presence in East Memphis? While the Grandview (see below for a pic) is only 12 stories or so, I could see the East Memphis/Poplar coridoor around International Paper/Hilton E. Memphis/Clark Tower see the rise of a few more mid-rise or high-rise condo towers...if only that would have been the case on the site of the old Ridgeway Inn rather than Belz opening another strip mall. Ack.

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That area in East Memphis you could probably define by Kirby to the east, Perkins to the west, Park/Poplar Pike to the South, and Walnut Grove/Humphreys area to the north. This is a primetime residential,business, and retail sector in Memphis and I don't think several midrise condo/apartment buildings are at all out of the question. I would think that the market for those kinds of buildings will come within the next 5-10 years, if it is not already there. The Lexington condominiums/apartments (3-4 stories) at the corner of White Station and Sanderlin along with this midrise condo development just down the road from the Crescent Center are definitely steps in that direction.

Also, the Shady Grove area is ridiculously wealthy. You really have to devote an hour or two of your day and drive around the Shady Grove area to appreciate just how many amazing estates are tucked away in that pocket of town. There are some houses here that put many of the nicer G-town houses to shame. The CEO's of FedEx, Autozone, and First Tennessee Bank all live in the area.

As far as tall condo towers going up (15 stories and up) in the area, my only worry would be residents' complaints that get any towers like this from getting built. If all developers had their way, East Memphis would already have a skyline much bigger than what it is now. My girlfriend from Baton Rouge told me how the Clark Tower looked so out of place. She's pretty much right, but you gotta think some guys back in the 70s were foreseeing the construction of a few more comparably-sized buildings. But still, aside from residents' voices of opposition I dont see many obstacles.

There are a few particular areas of undeveloped real estate that I could see as potential sites for this type of development--1) Briarcrest--Quail Hollow intersection: right next to the grandview site and still primarily undeveloped, also its proximity to Poplar is a big bonus. 2) the field between Quail Hollow and Poplar next to the JCC. This lot is between the three 12 story IP buildings to the west and the 9 story Renaissance office building to the east, and would also be good because of its proximity to Poplar. I think this of all places has the best potential since residents' dissent would not be as much of an issue. I'm no real-estate expert but I could defintely see 10, 15, and possibly even 20 floor residential towers going up in this area of town--but its tough to say because I am not "in the know' and now I realize how long this post is.

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I was at a Lausanne Writer's Symposium this week, and was about ready to swerve of the road...apart from being amazed at Temple Israel, some of the BIGGEST HOUSES I've ever seen in Memphis are back in there...they all were on estate lots and just amazing...I'm going to try to go back and snap some pics;however, I began to wonder...I was driving down Shady Grove/Quail Hollow and noticed the Grandview sign and the site for the condo tower...could East Memphis become like a Buckhead to Memphis? Land is running out, and all that you can do for residential is infill or go up. Will the condo tower boom also make a presence in East Memphis? While the Grandview (see below for a pic) is only 12 stories or so, I could see the East Memphis/Poplar coridoor around International Paper/Hilton E. Memphis/Clark Tower see the rise of a few more mid-rise or high-rise condo towers...if only that would have been the case on the site of the old Ridgeway Inn rather than Belz opening another strip mall. Ack.

index_04.jpg

That virtual tour is pretty impressive--http://www.grandviewmemphis.com/virtual.html

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Until Saturday, I had to idea how much land there was that was undeveloped along Quail Hollow around IP...this is the prime condo tower area...as well as in that office park area around the Hilton Memphis...I would have loved to have seen a third major tower go in where the Paradiso is to complement White Station Tower and Clark Tower...o well, the Paradiso is pretty nice too.

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Until Saturday, I had to idea how much land there was that was undeveloped along Quail Hollow around IP...this is the prime condo tower area...as well as in that office park area around the Hilton Memphis...I would have loved to have seen a third major tower go in where the Paradiso is to complement White Station Tower and Clark Tower...o well, the Paradiso is pretty nice too.

I may have mentioned this before, but did you know that the original plans called for twin Clark Towers? Another 34-story building identical to the existing Clark Tower was planned on the north side of the big parking garage. Another garage would have been built to the north of that, and then a 15 story hotel that would have looked similar to Clark Tower.

On to the subject at hand...I agree that there's a future for mid-rise and possible high-rise residential developments in East Memphis. In reality, the business center of Memphis is Poplar and Ridgeway, and the most fashionable retail establishments are found along Poplar between Laurelwood (at Perkins) and The Regalia (at Ridgeway).

I've always thought that one spot for future high-rise development could be the land where the Ridgeway Trace Apartments is located. It is wedged in between I-240, Cresent Center, Poplar and the Southern RR. There have been ongoing plans on the boards to turn the Poplar-Sweetbriar intersection into a grade-separated interchange and extend Sweeetbriar accross the RR to Park. That would mean some of the apartments would have to be demolished anyway. A couple of 15-20 story towers would look nice there, right off the expressway.

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Intresting article from the MBJ about the banking mecca that is East Memphis. Never really thought about it but it really doesn't suprise me that the office vacancy rate in this area is only 6%. Maybe its time for another Clark Tower?

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/sto...ry3.html?page=1

I think a mixed use tower would work to achieve a size like that . . .

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I may have mentioned this before, but did you know that the original plans called for twin Clark Towers? Another 34-story building identical to the existing Clark Tower was planned on the north side of the big parking garage. Another garage would have been built to the north of that, and then a 15 story hotel that would have looked similar to Clark Tower.

On to the subject at hand...I agree that there's a future for mid-rise and possible high-rise residential developments in East Memphis. In reality, the business center of Memphis is Poplar and Ridgeway, and the most fashionable retail establishments are found along Poplar between Laurelwood (at Perkins) and The Regalia (at Ridgeway).

I've always thought that one spot for future high-rise development could be the land where the Ridgeway Trace Apartments is located. It is wedged in between I-240, Cresent Center, Poplar and the Southern RR. There have been ongoing plans on the boards to turn the Poplar-Sweetbriar intersection into a grade-separated interchange and extend Sweeetbriar accross the RR to Park. That would mean some of the apartments would have to be demolished anyway. A couple of 15-20 story towers would look nice there, right off the expressway.

well there ya go... http://commercialappeal.com/mca/business/a...4470367,00.html

A tower would fit in well here, sandwiched b/t St. Francis Hospital, the Crescent Center, and the Hilton.

Don't know the chances of that happening but it is possible

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well there ya go... http://commercialappeal.com/mca/business/a...4470367,00.html

A tower would fit in well here, sandwiched b/t St. Francis Hospital, the Crescent Center, and the Hilton.

Don't know the chances of that happening but it is possible

mmmm cheesecake factory. we got one in Indianapolis.... mmmmmmmmm.

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Thats a terrific plan. Although, I am a little surprised that Target seems interested in the area. They already have a store just down poplar.

Wow. I promise, I didn't know about this when I mentioned the site in the earlier post. Really!

Maybe Target wants to put a SuperTarget here. The Target at Colonial gets very high traffic - probably more than the SuperTarget they built on Germantown Parkway.

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Wow. I promise, I didn't know about this when I mentioned the site in the earlier post. Really!

Maybe Target wants to put a SuperTarget here. The Target at Colonial gets very high traffic - probably more than the SuperTarget they built on Germantown Parkway.

True, that colonial store is always packed. Its serves Downtown, Midtown, University Area, and East Memphis. And its not even a super target.

Its seems like rumor mongers (including me) love target rumors. Over the past 2 years I've heard talks of Targets being built in Overton Sqare, Sears Crosstown, Piggly Wiggly on Madison, and the old Coach and Four location on Lamar. The only one that stands a chance is the Sears building...it would be awesome, but I don't see it likely either.

I would love to see Piggly Wiggly on Madison clean up or move out. That store is in terrible shape and the parking lot is always littered. But they do too much business at that location, so they don't really care.

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I would love to see Piggly Wiggly on Madison clean up or move out. That store is in terrible shape and the parking lot is always littered. But they do too much business at that location, so they don't really care.

So true. The restrooms are equally horrible. :sick:

Something definitely needs to be done.

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Wouldn't it be something to have Target and a Cheesecake factory with a 30-story tower growing out of them...beautiful! That section of East Memphis really needs to market itself as a destination for upscale Memphians...this could keep such a train rolling!

I think the proposed LRT out to Collierville would do wonders for that area. I've always thought that getting the middle/upper class involved in mass transit was a key to making it successful.

Just think--an LRT line running along the RR tracks from Collierville to Laurelwood, then following the tracks down Southern to the UM (great for the new proposals for the Highland area) to Parkway through Cooper-Young and Madison to downtown.

Yeah, I realize that those tracks aren't for sale by the RR, but it makes perfect sense. Express trains could make it from Collierville to downtown in an easy 35 minutes, and as long as they were clean and safe, business would boom imho. And I understand too, that the LRT projects have been put on hold pending the city's review of capital projects.

But no, we get the dumb downtown-airport link first. And that link doesn't even go the FedEx hub building.

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I think the proposed LRT out to Collierville would do wonders for that area. I've always thought that getting the middle/upper class involved in mass transit was a key to making it successful.

Just think--an LRT line running along the RR tracks from Collierville to Laurelwood, then following the tracks down Southern to the UM (great for the new proposals for the Highland area) to Parkway through Cooper-Young and Madison to downtown.

Yeah, I realize that those tracks aren't for sale by the RR, but it makes perfect sense. Express trains could make it from Collierville to downtown in an easy 35 minutes, and as long as they were clean and safe, business would boom imho. And I understand too, that the LRT projects have been put on hold pending the city's review of capital projects.

But no, we get the dumb downtown-airport link first. And that link doesn't even go the FedEx hub building.

Yeah, I checked on Mapquest and that Fairgrounds-Collierville line is owned by Norfolk Southern and is the only direct RR from Memphis-Huntsville. It gets quite a bit of freight so sharing a ROW might be unfeasible. But traffic may go down once I-22 to Birmingham or that Memphis-Huntsville-Chattanooga interstate is built.

It was said that the RR company might move to SW Memphis but that line only goes toward Jackson Mississippi.

The only route I saw that went SE was the one that connects to that huge rail yard near Lamar and Shelby Dr and that line goes down to Birmingham. I thought it was owned by Burlington Santa Fe but Mapquest says its Illinois Central.

If that Fairgrounds-Collierville line was abandoned or not so heavily used, it would be a no-brainer. That line is connected to another Railroad right next to the Libertybowl which connects to the beginning of the donated CSX line so the fairgrounds would be a great place for a Central Station. The airport route goes right over the Norfolk-Southern (Fairgrounds-Collierville) so if that line is abandoned, that line would be easy to have a train. All they have to do is build to Southern Avenue.

Also, I wonder how people will get to the intermodal terminal from the airport. Would they have to take a bus then drop them off at the station for the train to DT? They should build it closer to the loading zone at the airport. Then maybe a subway for Fedex employees?

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