The FedEx Forum Tower

[mempho]

I believe that FedEx could pull off building a tower in the 800-1000 ft range, or two towers in the 400-500 foot range in downtown. Here's my rationale: FedEx still has headquarters in other states. Ground is in Pittsburgh. You also have Kinko

[sleepy]

I guess it would all depend on the financial savings of that sort of consolidation. Upfront, it would cost an awful lot of money to consolidate regardless of where in the city they locate--downtown or East Memphis.

It's a nice idea though.

[mempho]

I guess it would all depend on the financial savings of that sort of consolidation. Upfront, it would cost an awful lot of money to consolidate regardless of where in the city they locate--downtown or East Memphis.

It's a nice idea though.

[Rural King]

Autozone has a nice fairly new HQ buildind downtown. In fact its one of the few buildings downtown built to stand up to a major earthquake in the CBD.

Nike I think could be a company that might take up office space downtown, but their presence in the city wouldn't warrant their own building at this point. It would be great if at some point Nike had that sort of corporate presence in Memphis.

[jmduke]

From a square footage standpoint, it makes sense. The current combined HQ space of the non-Express divisions is almost 1.2 million square feet. Add Express into the mix and you're talking over 2 million square feet of office space. A more practical move would bring the highest level functions of each division to Memphis and consolidate the space currently leased around town such as Trade Networks at Forest Hill/Crescent Center, Freight at Renaissance Center, and some Express ops at The Forum bldg. Either way, there's more than enough office demand within the company to move the HQ functions of the corporation and each division downtown to one or two large buildings and still keep the Hacks Cross and Collierville campuses full.

[mempho]

From a square footage standpoint, it makes sense. The current combined HQ space of the non-Express divisions is almost 1.2 million square feet. Add Express into the mix and you're talking over 2 million square feet of office space. A more practical move would bring the highest level functions of each division to Memphis and consolidate the space currently leased around town such as Trade Networks at Forest Hill/Crescent Center, Freight at Renaissance Center, and some Express ops at The Forum bldg. Either way, there's more than enough office demand within the company to move the HQ functions of the corporation and each division downtown to one or two large buildings and still keep the Hacks Cross and Collierville campuses full.

[hgupta]

I don't know... that's awfully speculative. I can't see their shareholders being happy with that.

They already have prominence downtown with the FedexForum so there isn't much reason to move.

What does make sense is consolidating their operations: building near the airport.

[mempho]

I don't know... that's awfully speculative. I can't see their shareholders being happy with that.

They already have prominence downtown with the FedexForum so there isn't much reason to move.

What does make sense is consolidating their operations: building near the airport.

[tnse]

FedEx seems unlikely to invest in the downtown office market much less in any new buildings in the downtown area. they are consolidating in Southwind closer to their WHQ and to some extent their WTC in Collierville.

FedEx moves outlying operations closer to headquarters with flurry of leases

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

It is a shame because FedEx is a global brand which has its headquarters in Memphis. But Memphis' skyline or downtown does not get to benefit. If FedEx were to invest in downtown by bringing a fraction of their employees downtown, it would boost the downtown economy, culture, and residential market significantly. Companies that deal with FedEx would likely also relocate office near their customers downtown like they do now in the 385 corridor and in the Southwind area. In addition, companies that fly into meetings with FedEx would bring those out of town people downtown to spend money for meals and hotels.

It is a shame FedEx does not invest in Memphis' downtown. It would be nice to have a FedEx Tower with an impact on the skyline and a recognized name in the same way that Chicago has the Sears Tower, San Francisco has the Trans America Pyramid, and New York has the GE Building; MetLife Building; and Chrysler Building.