Downtown Memphis News & Developments (CBD, South Main, Riverfront, Medical District, The Edge, Uptown)

[MLBrumby]

I hope this gets built!  Go Mempho!

[dxfret]

Without a doubt, downtown Memphis will soon see a lot more empty downtown office space due to the buyout of First Horizon Bank by TD Bank.  As with any merger-acquisition, there will be a lot of layoffs.   Coupled with the Raymond James-Morgan Keegan empty offices, this could mean severe difficulties for proposed new projects starting.  

[MDC26]

There was also an article about the progress on the Intrator 107 S Main project.

https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoods/article/27377/tom-intrator-pinch-district-107-s-main-downtown-memphis

 

Here's an excerpt with a couple interesting observations:

He said he’s noticing more Downtown residents are beginning to commute East. There’s less foot traffic along Main Street and Downtown than he believes there should be. 

“Downtown has become a bedroom community,” he said. 

Intrator has been involved in the Tennessee market for quite some time, having invested in more than a hundred properties in Nashville. He sold those properties in 2018.

His attention has been shifting towards Memphis. It’s a city, he said, that is moving in a better direction, albeit he says the Bluff City remains 10 years behind. 

He compares Memphis to Indianapolis in 2008.

“It wasn’t welcoming then,” he said. “You went to St. Elmo’s Steakhouse or a Pacers game. That was it.”

Over the last 14 years, the city has begun to redefine itself and reestablish its downtown corridor. Something, he said, Memphis is finally poised to do. 

“There’s a fabric here you don’t find in other places,” he said, adding that its Middle Tennessee counterpart has little of the character Memphis has because, in large part, of the onslaught of development over the years and attracting a more transient culture. 

“We had been saying for years now that Nashville has been overdeveloped,” he said. “It needs to scale down a bit in order to grow.”

While Memphis’ commercial real estate market has been growing fast, overdevelopment is a symptom the market hasn’t had. It’s a notion that Intrator said positions the city for more organic growth than Nashville or other cities that grew too fast, too quickly. 

“I believe in the long-term growth of Memphis,” he said. “I can’t just come in and ride a wave of development.”

 

It does sound slightly concerning in regards to what he says regarding bedroom community and less traffic, but I think things are just slowly rebounding from COVID.  I know as of recently, some businesses weren't fully back in the office like Autozone/Terminix/FedEx Logistics, so if this is the case, things should pick up downtown when they do.  It may not be fully back to the levels pre-COVID because there are some that may work remotely permanently.  I think overtime, I don't think working remotely will dominate because I think the need to personally interact and getting out will win over convenience of staying at home.  When all these new developments become complete and active, I would think there would be more traffic than ever before.  I also agree with what he says regarding Nashville and Memphis.  Not knocking on Nashville, but I think the character of the Memphis urban fabric is very unique and that the city and developers should preserve as much of this as  possible.  

 

[VSRJ]

I try to avoid comparing Memphis and Nashville because the two are so drastically different, but I will say that Memphis absolutely wins in the historic fabric department. That's one of the things I miss most about Memphis. Having lived in Nashville for 6+ years has made me appreciate it even more. Parts of Nashville feel so sterile, and much of that is because it has been overdeveloped. I do wish that Memphis had some of the shiny new developments that are sprouting across Nashville, but not at the price of the fabric that makes the city so unique.

[TheKernel91]

34 minutes ago, MDC26 said:

There was also an article about the progress on the Intrator 107 S Main project.

https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoods/article/27377/tom-intrator-pinch-district-107-s-main-downtown-memphis

 

Here's an excerpt with a couple interesting observations:

He said he’s noticing more Downtown residents are beginning to commute East. There’s less foot traffic along Main Street and Downtown than he believes there should be. 

“Downtown has become a bedroom community,” he said. 

Intrator has been involved in the Tennessee market for quite some time, having invested in more than a hundred properties in Nashville. He sold those properties in 2018.

His attention has been shifting towards Memphis. It’s a city, he said, that is moving in a better direction, albeit he says the Bluff City remains 10 years behind. 

He compares Memphis to Indianapolis in 2008.

“It wasn’t welcoming then,” he said. “You went to St. Elmo’s Steakhouse or a Pacers game. That was it.”

Over the last 14 years, the city has begun to redefine itself and reestablish its downtown corridor. Something, he said, Memphis is finally poised to do. 

“There’s a fabric here you don’t find in other places,” he said, adding that its Middle Tennessee counterpart has little of the character Memphis has because, in large part, of the onslaught of development over the years and attracting a more transient culture. 

“We had been saying for years now that Nashville has been overdeveloped,” he said. “It needs to scale down a bit in order to grow.”

While Memphis’ commercial real estate market has been growing fast, overdevelopment is a symptom the market hasn’t had. It’s a notion that Intrator said positions the city for more organic growth than Nashville or other cities that grew too fast, too quickly. 

“I believe in the long-term growth of Memphis,” he said. “I can’t just come in and ride a wave of development.”

 

It does sound slightly concerning in regards to what he says regarding bedroom community and less traffic, but I think things are just slowly rebounding from COVID.  I know as of recently, some businesses weren't fully back in the office like Autozone/Terminix/FedEx Logistics, so if this is the case, things should pick up downtown when they do.  It may not be fully back to the levels pre-COVID because there are some that may work remotely permanently.  I think overtime, I don't think working remotely will dominate because I think the need to personally interact and getting out will win over convenience of staying at home.  When all these new developments become complete and active, I would think there would be more traffic than ever before.  I also agree with what he says regarding Nashville and Memphis.  Not knocking on Nashville, but I think the character of the Memphis urban fabric is very unique and that the city and developers should preserve as much of this as  possible.  

 

Somewhat speaking on my last post about Memphis hosting a All-Star weekend. We have the potiental have a more active Downtown than just on weekends and the warmer months. I've seen it very active in 2019 before covid. Downtown was active on weekdays during the day, like you see on weekends, or if an event was happening.

Bringing in more high quality hotels, brings in more high quality restaurants, eventually it brings more things to do and more people to stay and explore. 

We have the same components for a even more active downtown like New Orleans, Nashville, & Austin. We are more chilled. (Which I kinda like). We all share Entertainment districts with live music reputation, and food. 

During events, spring/summer weekends, Grizz, Redbirds, and Soccor games, we are just as active downtown as any of those cities. My only thing is, I've seen that same energy during the weekdays and nights in those cities that we're lagging behing in.

Edited March 3, 2022 by TheKernel91

[MDC26]

What are everyone's thoughts about the First Horizon acquisition by TD Bank?  Will it be a major regional Hub and stay staffed the same, or will there be a lot of redundancy that will lead to a large reduction in employment numbers?  Hate to see the last major financial institution based in Memphis to be bought out.  With Regions taking over Union Planters, Sun Trust taking over NBC, and now this, is it now just Independent Bank left?  

[VSRJ]

There are certainly areas of downtown that can seem dead at times (Civic Plaza), but for the most part I would consider downtown to be a fairly lively place, especially when the weather is nice.

[MDC26]

12 minutes ago, VSRJ said:

There are certainly areas of downtown that can seem dead at times (Civic Plaza), but for the most part I would consider downtown to be a fairly lively place, especially when the weather is nice.

Yes, after work hours, holidays, and weekends Civic Plaza can be dead.  The Loew's project would have been a big boost.  Hopefully when the entire 100 N Main block project is complete and more conventions are happening, those will add more activity there and then maybe someone will go forward with developing the old police station.  

[DRG901]

41 minutes ago, VSRJ said:

I try to avoid comparing Memphis and Nashville because the two are so drastically different, but I will say that Memphis absolutely wins in the historic fabric department. That's one of the things I miss most about Memphis. Having lived in Nashville for 6+ years has made me appreciate it even more. Parts of Nashville feel so sterile, and much of that is because it has been overdeveloped. I do wish that Memphis had some of the shiny new developments that are sprouting across Nashville, but not at the price of the fabric that makes the city so unique.

Totally agree with this, both are great cities and it's dumb in my opinion to compare them but that's going to happen... I have lots of family in Nashville and spent a lot of time there as a child, it's crazy how different it is now.  Glad Memphis is saving so many old structures-  and also love the old housing stock of Midtown and all the old neighborhoods.  You see some tear downs happening here now being replaced with brand new houses but hopefully does not get to the level of Nashville.

But also yes I am jealous of a lot of the shiny new developments but our time will come

40 minutes ago, MDC26 said:

What are everyone's thoughts about the First Horizon acquisition by TD Bank?  Will it be a major regional Hub and stay staffed the same, or will there be a lot of redundancy that will lead to a large reduction in employment numbers?  Hate to see the last major financial institution based in Memphis to be bought out.  With Regions taking over Union Planters, Sun Trust taking over NBC, and now this, is it now just Independent Bank left?  

They say they are commited but you know how these corporations operate so I would not be surprised to see long term reductions in Memphis.   Regions and Sun Trust still have pretty big operations here but obviously not at the levels when they were locally owned.

[dxfret]

It’s a given there will be many redundancies and First Horizon will see many positions eliminated as is expected with any corporate takeover.  I would expect downtown Memphis to see a lot of empty offices and vacant floors at 165 Madison Ave. by later this year. 

TD Bank is headquartered just outside NYC in New Jersey. They are chartered as a US bank, but owned by Toronto Dominion Bank. In recent years TD have made some regional bank purchases and have operations centers in Orlando, Greenville, SC, Lewiston, ME as well as the New Jersey operations center.  TD Bank is a major player in large US cities including New York, Boston, Washington, DC. and Florida.  

[JTM1]

11 hours ago, MDC26 said:

What are everyone's thoughts about the First Horizon acquisition by TD Bank?  Will it be a major regional Hub and stay staffed the same, or will there be a lot of redundancy that will lead to a large reduction in employment numbers?  Hate to see the last major financial institution based in Memphis to be bought out.  With Regions taking over Union Planters, Sun Trust taking over NBC, and now this, is it now just Independent Bank left?  

I have a family member that works at FH, and he informed me, the jobs that will be lost to redundancy will be in NJ., because they're going to beef up the Memphis presence with people from NJ.  There are  still several locally owned banks in Memphis, they're just not as large as FH. 

[TheExtraEastKid]

7 hours ago, JTM1 said:

I have a family member that works at FH, and he informed me, the jobs that will be lost to redundancy will be in NJ., because they're going to beef up the Memphis presence with people from NJ.  There are  still several locally owned banks in Memphis, they're just not as large as FH. 

That's good news for now, thought it would've been the other way around, so they'll be looking for more office space soon.

[MDC26]

11 hours ago, JTM1 said:

I have a family member that works at FH, and he informed me, the jobs that will be lost to redundancy will be in NJ., because they're going to beef up the Memphis presence with people from NJ.  There are  still several locally owned banks in Memphis, they're just not as large as FH. 

That's awesome if true.  FHN renovated their downtown HQ as well as their Ops center near the airport so they have some nice assets and expansion and operating expenses may be much more desirable than they are in NJ.  

[JTM1]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:58 AM, MDC26 said:

That's awesome if true.  FHN renovated their downtown HQ as well as their Ops center near the airport so they have some nice assets and expansion and operating expenses may be much more desirable than they are in NJ.  

That's why Bryan Jordan is remaining in Memphis.  The Daily Memphian just published an article, this morning, on this very subject.  TD has made a 40 million dollar contribution to the FH Foundation and they're committed to making Memphis a key banking hub in the Southeast.  There is a ton of foreign money coming into Memphis, and I expect we will be hearing more banking and finance news in the next few years. 

[JTM1]

On 3/4/2022 at 6:43 AM, TheExtraEastKid said:

That's good news for now, thought it would've been the other way around, so they'll be looking for more office space soon.

You can bet the Chamber is pursuing other office jobs and company headquarters to consider Memphis as their home.  With TD having a presence in Memphis, it will make that pursuit easier. 

[MDC26]

The Peanut Shoppe is about to re-open at its new location on Main St.  Glad it didn't close down.

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/entertainment/2022/03/08/downtown-memphis-the-peanut-shoppe-new-location-hours-opening/9429164002/

[VSRJ]

Great to see this building will have a new tenant:

Local startup Connect Music buys Downtown property for $2.5M, gears up for $15M-$20M funding round

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/inno/stories/news/2022/03/10/connect-music-buys-downtown-property.html

Quote

Connect Music CEO George Monger appreciates Memphis’ storied musical past, and the local institutions that help bring it to life. He also, however, wants to make sure the city is looking forward — and not just back.

“We have a great musical history; we should keep our museums open,” Monger said. “But we’ve got to be focused on building the music city of today.”

So, to work toward this, Connect Music has made a major move. For about $2.5 million, the local startup has purchased the 31,000-square-foot building at 158 Vance Ave. in Downtown, where it’s placing its headquarters.

Edited March 10, 2022 by VSRJ

[MDC26]

23 hours ago, VSRJ said:

Great to see this building will have a new tenant:

Local startup Connect Music buys Downtown property for $2.5M, gears up for $15M-$20M funding round

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/inno/stories/news/2022/03/10/connect-music-buys-downtown-property.html

Always nice to get a big building filled downtown.  Looks like they are going to do significant remodeling too.  

[MDC26]

Construction on the new I-55/Crump Blvd interchange will begin this Spring

https://dailymemphian.com/article/27526/interstate-55-crump-boulevard-interchange

[VSRJ]

6 hours ago, MDC26 said:

Construction on the new I-55/Crump Blvd interchange will begin this Spring

https://dailymemphian.com/article/27526/interstate-55-crump-boulevard-interchange

Thankfully this didn't coincide with the bridge repair - what a nightmare that would have been...

[JTM1]

22 hours ago, MDC26 said:

Construction on the new I-55/Crump Blvd interchange will begin this Spring

https://dailymemphian.com/article/27526/interstate-55-crump-boulevard-interchange

So TDOT is finally going to redo the interchange?  Its shameful that it's taken this long and the delay, in the reconstruction of the interchange, caused Lauren Crews to miss out on redeveloping  an area near the Marine Hospital. He finally went forth with the Marine Hospital, but the other part was shelved, because his investors didn't want to wait. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2014/07/22/first-look-at-renderings-of-138m-french-fort.html

[VSRJ]

Some nice infill coming to Uptown and College Park:

Memphis Housing Authority and developer BGC Advantage partner on $70M affordable housing in Uptown and College Park

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/03/14/mha-developer-partner-housing-uptown-college-park.html

Quote

The Memphis Housing Authority (MHA) will partner with a developer to rehabilitate 472 affordable housing units in Uptown and College Park.

Louisiana-based affordable housing developer BGC Advantage will spend $70 million to redevelop the housing units, with the expectation that over 1,000 construction jobs will be needed to complete the project.

Of the close to 500 units, 131 will be homes in Uptown. Over $20 million will be spent to renovate Uptown rental homes and the Askew Place apartment complex.

The remaining $50 million will be spent to update 431 apartment units at the College Park I, College Park II, and College Park senior apartments.

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by VSRJ

[TheKernel91]

18 hours ago, VSRJ said:

Some nice infill coming to Uptown and College Park:

Memphis Housing Authority and developer BGC Advantage partner on $70M affordable housing in Uptown and College Park

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/03/14/mha-developer-partner-housing-uptown-college-park.html

 

Will added units be apart of this? I'm only seeing renovations to the already existing units in those areas.

[James Owen]

27 minutes ago, TheKernel91 said:

Will added units be apart of this? I'm only seeing renovations to the already existing units in those areas.

That's all it really is as the main purpose of the renovations is to provide more affordable housing options for families as opposed to the mixed-income model that had been used in these earlier developments.

[VSRJ]

5 hours ago, TheKernel91 said:

Will added units be apart of this? I'm only seeing renovations to the already existing units in those areas.

You're right - I misread the article.