Downtown Memphis sees $5 billion in development. What's next for the 5 biggest projects?

DESIREE STENNETT | THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL

As 2020 kicks off, more than $5 billion in projects are underway in Downtown Memphis, according to the Downtown Memphis Commission.

The projects range from dozens of small business expansions for a few hundred thousand dollars each to massive, multi-block mixed-use projects that promise to bring apartments, hotels, office space and retail with price tags near $1 billion.

These Downtown projects are just a fraction of the $19 billion in development planned, underway or completed across Shelby County since 2014, according to the Greater Memphis Chamber.

Leading the list of the largest projects are Union Row, a nearly $1 billion project announced in late 2018 bound roughly by Union Avenue, Beale Street, Fourth Street and Danny Thomas Boulevard, and the Pinch District development, a $1.1 billion project announced in November taking up nearly three blocks of land between the Pyramid and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"We have a lot of work to do to get all of them that received initial approval under construction and completed," said DMC President Jennifer Oswalt, adding that the projects show signs of a healthy year for the area. 

Here's what's next for Downtown's biggest projects.

Push for incentives ongoing in Pinch

Led by New York developer Tom Intrator, the $1.1 billion plan for the Pinch District is still in its early stages. Before any changes are visible in the area roughly bordered by Front Street, Second Street, Jackson Avenue and Shadyac Avenue, incentives granted by local officials need to be approved at the state level.The State Building Commission will need to sign off on a 30-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes incentive that will save Intrator about 75% of his property tax obligation. State approval will also be needed for two other tax incentives to support this project.

Intrator plans to build about 1,500 apartments, two hotels with a total of 406 rooms, nearly 200,000 square feet of office space and an additional 250,000 square feet of retail space in two phases.

St. Jude is leading another $1 billion in construction nearby. Included in the plan is a $400 million research center, housing for the families of St. Jude patients and other medical facilities. The majority of that work will happen on its private campus.

Construction to begin on Union Row

For the first time, the view of the FedExForum is unobstructed to drivers headed west into Downtown Memphis on Union Avenue. 

That's because the building where Elvis Presley was known to have bought Cadillacs for himself and others is gone. So is the building that was home to Lit Restaurant Supply for decades. So is the long-vacant Marine Supply building.

Rubble from the demolition that started just after Thanksgiving is the first sign of what will eventually be a transformed Union Avenue.

Demolition is still underway, and site work on Union Row will follow. Downtowners could see construction begin as early as this summer.

When the $750 million phase one is complete, Union Row will include more than 1,100 apartment units, 550 hotel rooms across two hotels, retail space, office space and the possibility of two grocery stores.

Convention center hotel project to begin infrastructure work

The past year was plagued by now-dismissed lawsuits over incentives for the planned Loews convention center hotel. But even as the cases progressed, the project kept moving forward.

Now a $240 million project, Loews Hotels, in partnership with the city, will begin to move utility lines and complete other infrastructure work needed on the new site at 140 N. Main St.

Oswalt said construction on the hotel is expected to begin in 2021.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has long argued that a convention center hotel with at least 500 rooms would help make the city more appealing to large conferences.

The Renasant Convention Center is also undergoing a $200 million renovation to modernize it and make it more attractive to guests. That project is expected to wrap up in 2021.

Snuff District readies for phase one

Memphis developer Billy Orgel plans to redevelop what is known as the Snuff District in Uptown, a project announced in summer 2019. The historic 55-acre area is named after the American Snuff Factory that once manufactured tobacco in the neighborhood.

Since the project was announced, Orgel has been approved for two tax incentives and negotiated an agreement for cheerleading and dance apparel company Varsity Spirit to lease about 80,000 square feet in one of his buildings.

Orgel said he plans to request additional funding from the Community Redevelopment Agency, which has the authority to approve financial incentives for projects in Uptown. 

"We’re asking for funding to clean up about 20 acres on the western part of the flood wall that’s blighted and overgrown," Orgel said. "We want to make that attractive to the residents of Uptown. ... It would clean up a lot of blight for the neighborhood and make that area accessible where you could walk your dog and go see the Wolf River. It’s pretty much inaccessible as we know it today."

The first phase of Orgel's nearly $200 million project is expected to cost about $48 million. It includes apartments, office space and an event space for weddings and corporate events for up to 1,000 guests.

Site prep is expected to begin in the early part of this year, with construction set to start in June. The second phase of the project will include a parking garage with apartments built above it. Phase two construction could begin as soon as the end of this year.

One Beale expects to complete first hotel in 2020

Construction is already underway on a 227-room Hyatt Centric hotel and a 232-unit luxury apartment building on the site of the One Beale project on Beale Street near the riverfront. 

The apartment building will also include about 16,000 square feet of office space and 7,500 square feet of retail, while the hotel will include 18,000 square feet of meeting space and an additional 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, developer Chance Carlisle said.

Construction on the $72 million hotel is expected to finish by the end of the year, while the $76 million apartment building is expected to wrap up construction in the first quarter of 2021.

Carlisle announced a second 125-room hotel would be added to the project in November. The hotel partner is expected to be announced in late February or early March, with construction beginning shortly after.

Work on that $32 million hotel is expected to be complete by May 2021. 

"We're on time and on budget," Carlisle said.

While Carlisle would not give any hints about what might be included in a fourth phase on what was the original site of the project that started as his father's vision, he said a "substantial" announcement is expected in the spring or summer with more detail on the future of One Beale.