Chisca Hotel renovation

[bluff2085]

I haven't heard much lately of GOGIC's intentions to redevelop the Chisca Hotel into a 110-room Hilton Homewood Suites and a 150-room Hilton Garden Inn. The project has also been removed from the projects list at downtownmemphis.com. Is this project on hold, or has it been scrapped? Anyone with some new information about this project?

[sleepy]

Haven't heard a word.

[sleepy]

Maybe it's been removed from the site because it's being upgraded with more project details. Let's hope so. That's such a perfect spot for something, I have a hard time believing it will sit idle too much longer. COGIC may well be sitting out waiting for more money, and I certainly wouldn't blame them.

[jmduke]

Looks like the proposed Hotel Chisca renovation has been scrapped for now. Can't say I'm really surprised COGIC's plans fell through as they don't seem to be able to follow through on their plans (remember the proposed 5-star hotel on the site from several years ago?). There may be some hope, but there is a large tax bill looming for the property. A reputable developer with a good plan and deep pockets needs to buy this property and redevelop it into a condo/hotel complex while removing the ugly 1960's-style addition on the south side of it.

Memphis Daily News - Hotel Chisca Faces Possible Demolition

[tombarnes]

I'd really hate to see the Chisca destroyed. Losing it would be a real blow to downtown Memphis. I'm sad to think that a plastic hotel is going up right beside a solid, historic building.

[Bears]

Memphis needs many more hotel rooms. We have a brand new convention center but conventions refuse to come because of the lack of rooms nearby.

[Clobber]

Memphis needs many more hotel rooms. We have a brand new convention center but conventions refuse to come because of the lack of rooms nearby.

Is that still the case given the recent additions and conversions of existing properties into hotels? Any word on vacancies? Hopefully the demand is there for more hotels, and we can then push forward to fulfill that demand.

[northernbizzkit1]

Is that still the case given the recent additions and conversions of existing properties into hotels? Any word on vacancies? Hopefully the demand is there for more hotels, and we can then push forward to fulfill that demand.

I'm sure it is...sure you have a few 90-room or 120-room boutique/small scale hotels popping up, but to get an impact, Memphis needs to announce the arrival of a new 500-1000 room hotel that can accomodate a larger convention crowd.

[ricky_the_great]

I'm sure it is...sure you have a few 90-room or 120-room boutique/small scale hotels popping up, but to get an impact, Memphis needs to announce the arrival of a new 500-1000 room hotel that can accomodate a larger convention crowd.

well how many hotel rooms is one beale supposed to have??

and does anyone know why Adams mark/Park vista/ Hilton tower keep changing?? its changed like 5 times in the past 10 years do you know what im talking about, the tower in east memphis that looks like a short version of the peachtree tower in atlanta

[Bears]

well how many hotel rooms is one beale supposed to have??

168 hotel rooms in One Beale. As of right now, Memphis has 2544 rooms downtown. Add in the 220 Westin and 32 room GenXInn under construction. How many rooms do we need to host the All-star game? For comparison, downtown Houston has 5000 hotel rooms.

[tombarnes]

To answer the question about the Adam's Mark, the hotel was sold by the Adam's Mark company as part of an effort to downsize its holdings. The Park Vista was merely a temporary name chosen by the Davidson Hotel. Co. until the renovation work was complete, at which time the Hilton flag was unfurled. I'm unaware of any additional ownership changes. Having stayed there when it was the Adam's Mark, I was singularly unimpressed with the place, but I think the Hilton flag has served it better.

[northernbizzkit1]

To answer the question about the Adam's Mark, the hotel was sold by the Adam's Mark company as part of an effort to downsize its holdings. The Park Vista was merely a temporary name chosen by the Davidson Hotel. Co. until the renovation work was complete, at which time the Hilton flag was unfurled. I'm unaware of any additional ownership changes. Having stayed there when it was the Adam's Mark, I was singularly unimpressed with the place, but I think the Hilton flag has served it better.

I'm told that when it was the Hyatt and then the Omni (may have that order flipped), the hotel was wonderful and even in the early days of the Adam's Mark years it was pretty nice. However, once Adam's Mark as a chain started to go under, so did the hotel. The Park Vista was a transition, but I've been in since it changed to the Hilton...MUCH nicer!!!! The whole hotel is revamped and a lot better than before.

[cdarr]

I'm told that when it was the Hyatt and then the Omni (may have that order flipped), the hotel was wonderful and even in the early days of the Adam's Mark years it was pretty nice. However, once Adam's Mark as a chain started to go under, so did the hotel. The Park Vista was a transition, but I've been in since it changed to the Hilton...MUCH nicer!!!! The whole hotel is revamped and a lot better than before.

You've got it right. It opened as the Hyat Regency Ridgeway around 1976. I don't know exactly when it became the Omni...sometime in the mid 1980s I believe. Then it was the Adams Mark about 1989. I had a boss who commuted into Memphis from Atlanta every week and stayed at the Adams Mark every week. This was around 1998-99. She always talked about how dreadful the service was.

I don't know what the service is like now, but the new lobby Hilton put in is classy.

[bluff2085]

I don't know what the service is like now, but the new lobby Hilton put in is classy.

No doubt, cdarr. I applied for jobs last summer at every East Memphis hotel. Only Embassy Suites on Shady

Grove rivaled the Hilton. Maybe the "for-sale" plot of land north of the Poplar/Ridgeway intersection is due for a 4-star hotel. Anyway, the E. Memphis Hilton is quite classy. Too bad they were only hiring chefs and housekeepers...

[jmduke]

I could have posted this one here or in the Union Planters building thread, so this is where the coin flip landed.

The June 16th Memphis Business Journal had an interesting editorial concerning the price of downtown redevelopment. Looks like success might be pricing some potential redevelopers out of the market.

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/sto...editorial1.html

[bluff2085]

Looks like the Chisca Hotel renovation project has been re-added to the list of current projects on www.downtownmemphis.com. Don't quite understand why the project has resurfaced virtually unchanged from the plans that were supposedly scrapped earlier this year.

[idlewild]

with govts having more options for eminent domain, couldn't city/county govt just take this land over and give it to hilton or someone else to actually do something with it?

[DoctorGonzo]

with govts having more options for eminent domain, couldn't city/county govt just take this land over and give it to hilton or someone else to actually do something with it?

[Clobber]

While COGIC seemingly prides itself on purchasing historically valuable property and letting it decay or simply flattening it (Chisca, Stax) Memphis is too afraid of loosing their yearly meeting to pull the eminent domain card. As it is, COGIC complains about how horrible it is for them to meet in the city, which is half in their head and half the fault of their almost uniformly terrible manners and extreme dislike of tipping.

I know more than a few downtown restaurant owners and managers who would rather lose the business than deal with COGIC.