Elvis's Graceland to be overhauled to the tune of $250 million

[Memphis77]

New info into what's going to happen with the Graceland area, or there lack of. It sounds to me as if Sillerman's planning to controll the entire area and turn it into a new Entertainment district with nightclubs and upscale restaurants and 5 star hotels, all built around Graceland. I could see the Memphis Rock & Soul Museum relocate from downtown at the Forum to the new district for impacting tourism in that area. But first thing's first. The Graceland/Whitehaven area needs to be rezoned from residential to commerical for this to happen. This could turn out to be the future of Memphis tourism and boost the Memphis economy to an all time high.

http://memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=38205

[Clobber]

I think it would be nice to ADD another tourism attraction/district to what we already have. As long as it complements what we already have, and raises the tide for all boats, so to speak, this will be a GREAT thing.

[memp600]

Heard this project mentioned the other day on the radio here. The main guy behind this project has gone into some type of bankruptcy. He still owns all the land and they said it will not affect what is supposed to happen in Memphis. Said he still has two projects online even through all of his bankruptcy problems. One being in Vegas the other being Memphis. Said that he might have to choose between the two, I believe, and said that the Memphis project will probably go foward if it came to that because of the low cost. Don't know what the Vegas Project was but the cost was insane because of the real estate prices over there. Said nothing about the project has changed. It will still be a huge project with hotels, conventions, etc. just that it may have to wait until the economy has leveled off. They seemed pretty optimistic and upbeat about it.

[MtownGuy]

The Vegas project was a proposed Elvis themed resort hotel and casino. It fell though due to the economy. The plans for Graceland are put on hold for now also due to the economy but will begin sooner than later. Now that the economy is looking to pick up to a stable level again, we could see work begin on the redevelopment of the Graceland area within the next 10 months. This is gonna be a 5 or 6 year project that will include both private and public funding. The redevelopment areas are from E.Brooks all the way down to E.Shelby Dr. down Elvis Presley BLVD. But it's definitely gonna happen. The question is when. But when it's all done it will give Memphis in general a whole new outlook globally.

[MtownGuy]

The redevelopment plans for Graceland are back on the table and a meeting is being scheduled for sometime in mid to late January in Memphis to discuss a definitive plan. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/dec/27/graceland-set-for-redesign/