Jump to content

Suntrust to Leave Downtown


bluff2085

Recommended Posts

Suntrust will move into one of the new 6-story office buildings slated for the Ridgeway Center at Poplar/Shady Grove, vacating 17O,OOO sq. ft of office space in what will soon be the former Suntrust tower downtown... CA article

F-- Suntrust! Just kidding, I'm sure most people saw this coming. But with 1OO N. Main only half occupied and Suntrust soon to be over 1/3 vacant, the DT office market needs a rebound. Downtown cannot sustain itself on residential growth alone..being close to your job is one of the biggest perks of living downtown. Are there any big players who can commit to Downtown and get some sort of office momentum going? Are there comparable downtowns witnessing the same phenomenon we are--explosive residential growth on top of lagging office growth? DT New Orleans is similar with regards to its 'destination/entertainment' status but it also has [or at least had] a substantial office presence. Nothing against Suntrust but for the sake of DT Memphis I hope they regret their decision down the road!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 40
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Suntrust will move into one of the new 6-story office buildings slated for the Ridgeway Center at Poplar/Shady Grove, vacating 17O,OOO sq. ft of office space in what will soon be the former Suntrust tower downtown... CA article

F-- Suntrust! Just kidding, I'm sure most people saw this coming. But with 1OO N. Main only half occupied and Suntrust soon to be over 1/3 vacant, the DT office market needs a rebound. Downtown cannot sustain itself on residential growth alone..being close to your job is one of the biggest perks of living downtown. Are there any big players who can commit to Downtown and get some sort of office momentum going? Are there comparable downtowns witnessing the same phenomenon we are--explosive residential growth on top of lagging office growth? DT New Orleans is similar with regards to its 'destination/entertainment' status but it also has [or at least had] a substantial office presence. Nothing against Suntrust but for the sake of DT Memphis I hope they regret their decision down the road!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

damn it.

this worrys me, because 100 north main essentially looks abandoned now without a sign... and now one commerce center is going to look abandoned. sterick is abandoned and the pyramid is essentially abandoned.Whats next, Morgan stanley? i really think this is going to hurt our image

How are buildings like one beale goign to survive with 70,000 sq feet of office space... is there even a demand??

so screw Suntrust. I almost want to write them a letter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that it should be noted that One Beale is going to have class A office space. I could be wrong, but I feel like I have read some articles talking about how there is a lack of class A office space in downtown memphis. It seemed like the court square project has done well and that companies were ready to jump in to that space. I am not sure about the suntrust building but I know that the 100 north main building is horrible inside and out. Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like the building is in need of a lot of work before a high profile company would move in there.

Is the suntrust building class A, if so I feel like firms will move in and all won't be completely lost. We will not have the corporate presence down there, which we desperately need, but I bet the office space will be used.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This announcement is aggravating, but I can see both sides of the story. At first glance, it seems most of the corporate citizens of Memphis outside of AutoZone aren't interested in a strong downtown or preventing urban sprawl. I'll give IP a pass since they were already established out east, but FedEx, Union Planters (pre-Regions), and now ServiceMaster have all passed on relocating or staying (in UP's case) downtown. It's rather strange how when it comes to attracting new businesses, government and the C of C show off downtown and all it has to offer, and established companies say they need a viable downtown to attract new talent to the Memphis area, but when it comes time to establish a base of operations, the choice is inevitably east of the I-240 loop. Not many people will want to commute from downtown to SE Memphis (thus hurting the DT real estate market), and when these new employees relocate out east or in DeSoto, there's not as much incentive to come downtown to eat, party, or see the Redbirds or Grizzlies. Finally, with decisions like this, you can forget light rail as there will not be enough density anywhere in the county to justify the paltry ridership. I hope this is only a minor setback, but if it's not, you know 5-10 years from now, there will be people high up in the corporate world here wondering what went wrong and complaining about downtown being a drag on Memphis.

On the other hand, it's tough to ask a corporation to maintain a HQ or large regional operation in a Class B building such as One Commerce Square or 100 N. Main. First Horizon's HQ (165 Madison) is still listed as investment grade B, although their intent was to renovate it up to Class A. The very few Class A properties (namely Peabody Place Tower) downtown are doing well with over 90% occupancy. I think the problem is twofold: 1) there is an unwillingness by developers to build speculative Class A office space downtown and 2) existing corporate property owners downtown seem to be unwilling to maintain or renovate their properties to a Class A level. I don't know how corporate relocation specialists think, but I personally wouldn't be opposed to working in an older building that had been renovated to include all the modern amenities on the inside. Maybe the future of downtown corporate real estate success is in mixed-use developments, but I still want to see an effort to get companies into 500K+ sq. ft. Class A properties because that's where the big money is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really think though that if Arkansas weren't so devoid of well essentially anything besides what is essentially the trucker's Vegas, then we wouldn't be having as much trouble. What we need is for downtown to become the center of the metro. What that requires is movement of population and attractive developments on the Arkansas side. Then maybe attracting regional/state offices to east Ark. High-paying technical and white collar stuff. Have a biomedical focus over there for agriculture, etc. And have a regional plan to incorporate that portion into the metro community, so service providers such as lawyers, doctors, financial planners, look at the region as a whole, and see the potential customer base, and then decide hey, I have customers in both east Memphis, Bartlett, some in Desoto County, and some in Marion. My best location for an office would be downtown or midtown. Until I make enough money to open offices in each of those communities... Meanwhile, continue to build up the downtown/midtown population.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suntrust will move into one of the new 6-story office buildings slated for the Ridgeway Center at Poplar/Shady Grove, vacating 17O,OOO sq. ft of office space in what will soon be the former Suntrust tower downtown... CA article

The article mentions a Downtown Works Intitative. THis topic on this forum had been started.

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...mp;#entry697558

My question is what has anyone heard about what that initiative is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SunTrust is an enemy of Memphis. They just sent me a very nice brochure for their wealth management services that probably cost $10 to print. If it would have been First Tennessee, I would have called them. Instead, I threw it in the trash. I'd write a letter to the editor, but I'm too lazy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Most of our problems could be solved by replacing our city governement. I do not blame any companyy for leaving the city core, or city limits as long as we have continual drama in local government.

If any of these companies ran their business like our city is being run.... they'd be SOL. I'd be willing to say that most of the workforce for Suntrust already lives outside of the city limits. My guess is that this will be a welcomed change for most people's commutes. JMO

I do fear a downward spiral here though. There must be a reason companies keep moving out, be it a politically correct reason or not. I don't feel like building class is the entire issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of our problems could be solved by replacing our city governement. I do not blame any companyy for leaving the city core, or city limits as long as we have continual drama in local government.

If any of these companies ran their business like our city is being run.... they'd be SOL. I'd be willing to say that most of the workforce for Suntrust already lives outside of the city limits. My guess is that this will be a welcomed change for most people's commutes. JMO

I do fear a downward spiral here though. There must be a reason companies keep moving out, be it a politically correct reason or not. I don't feel like building class is the entire issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I were head of a company, I would move/build a campus style HQ. I would be located closer to my employees and the cost would be cheaper to build a campus style HQ out east than building a skyscraper. I think if One Beale takes off then others will follow.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a look at the FedEx headquarters on Winchester. That area is already turning into a ghetto and will be bordered by Hickory Hood in 10 years. The Southwind side will stay nice, but the Winchester side is going to be in the middle of a dump. Even the building manager told MBJ that they regret building there. If they would have built a skyscraper downtown, they would have a beautiful building that would spur new apartments, restaurants, and condos all around it. Employees could have a two minute walk to a huge selection of great restaurants. They could attend a Grizzlie's game or Redbirds game after work. Twenty years from now, the neighborhood will be even better and more in demand. The value of the building would steadily increase, while the value of its Hickory Hood campus will steadily decrease. Not only that, they could rent space to a ton of companies that would love to be in the same building as FedEx. They could have a very innovate and architectually distinctive building that would be an image for the company the world over. Whenever people saw an image of that cutting edge building, the idea that FedEx is one of the most innovative companies in the world would resonate in their mind. That especially applies to stockholders. What a mistake.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't agree with your characterizations of Hickory Hill turning into a ghetto. Although I wouldn't want to live out there, I know people who have beautiful homes in the area. Hopefully our leaders can stop the crime thats going on out there. I don't think the powers that be will let the area around Memphis' strongest company become a ghetto. I agree with everything else you mentioned if they would've built downtown though. That would've been a major milestone for Memphis. I read somewhere that the FedEx HQ cost $200 million to build, but if they would have stacked those buildings up to build a tower downtown it would've added $100 million or so to the construction cost (land acquisition was in this figure also). I would have loved to see the city donate the land for them to build a 50 story tower.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree Memphis does have a reputation of creating new suburbs that usually only last 15-20 years. Hickory Hill is a ghetto and there really is no debate on that. Sure, there are some nice homes in the area but I bet the value of it has decreased exponentially instead of increasing.

Also, I have no faith that our local government can turn the tides. If they could - they would have already done so. but instead, the mayor is determined to build a football stadium in one of the most direlect areas of town. LOL

I just laugh every time I think about Herenton. Then I end up shaking my head in disbelief as to how he's been elected so many times.

On a side note... Suntrust is building a new headquarters in Downtown Nashville. Companies go where they want to go/be. If Downtown Memphis were more attractive to business maybe they would have stayed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most (all?) of Memphis' suburbs, whether politically distinct or not, are the result of white-flight. They last forever, but only as white-majority for 10-25 years before racial integration pushes the flighters to whiter pastures. In the process, people abandon friends, neighborhoods, schools, churches, businesses, etc. And just as your family, house, car or dog would probably decline if you were to abandon them, so do these neighborhoods. The difference here is that when you abandon your wife, you don't move next door and marvel publicly and frequently at how much she's declined since you abandoned her (unless you're a sociopath).

Suntrust may have made the right business decision for itself or its employees by moving out of Downtown. But if it was flight, they just pushed the problem off on the future, because it will happen again and again and again. We'll leave "ghettos" -- underdeveloped suburbs abandoned by the white middle class -- from here to Tupelo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree Memphis does have a reputation of creating new suburbs that usually only last 15-20 years. Hickory Hill is a ghetto and there really is no debate on that. Sure, there are some nice homes in the area but I bet the value of it has decreased exponentially instead of increasing.

Also, I have no faith that our local government can turn the tides. If they could - they would have already done so. but instead, the mayor is determined to build a football stadium in one of the most direlect areas of town. LOL

I just laugh every time I think about Herenton. Then I end up shaking my head in disbelief as to how he's been elected so many times.

On a side note... Suntrust is building a new headquarters in Downtown Nashville. Companies go where they want to go/be. If Downtown Memphis were more attractive to business maybe they would have stayed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Name one middle class Memphis suburb that has survived 20 years without turning into a ghetto. Memphis is littered with suburb graveyards: South Memphis, North Memphis, Orange Mound, Whitehaven, Frayser, Hickory Hood, and so on. The only areas that have survived are those that have wealthy fully integrated into the middle class areas or those areas that have a seperate government. This includes Midtown and East Memphis. Cordova is next to see the graveyard. The northern part of Cordova already has one foot in the door.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cordova and Hickory Hill are far from being a ghetto. North and South Memphis & Orange Mound, I'll agree with you there. Just because there are pockets of low income housing and crime in a particular area of town doesn't make it a ghetto. You guys are being too hard on these areas.

(ghet - to) a section of a city, esp. a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships

You cannot honestly call an area with a shopping mall, office parks,nice homes, and parks a ghetto. The area has declined from what it once was, but it definitely isn't a ghetto. You guys are feeding into the white flight stereotypes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.