Last night I attended the SMA meeting at Sole, and CCC president Jeff Sanford gave his “state of Downtown” address to a crowd of about 100 people. Here’s a summary.
Jeff believes that “Downtown is uniquely equipped to ride out the economic storm,” and he went through ongoing projects neighborhood by neighborhood to explain why. He said that St. Jude is completing a $1 billion expansion that will double its workforce from 2,000 to 4,000. He also said that there’s a new facility for elderly care under construction in Uptown.
He said he absolutely supports Bass Pro in the Pyramid. “There’s not a better bet on the table. Take my word for it, Bass Pro has the money and the interest. We will be lucky to get them.” I have to say, such a strong personal endorsement from Jeff Sanford, whom I have always known to shoot straight from the hip, means a lot. I was lukewarm to the Bass Pro deal before, associating it with corporate largesse and King Willie, but I feel better about it after hearing Jeff’s words.
In the Medical Center district, a UT/Baptist Research Park is under development. It’s happening in phases that will take years, but when completed, the facility will employ 5,000 and the med center district will be stronger than it was before Baptist Hospital was demolished. Once that happens, the Madison trolley line will no longer be viewed as a trolley to nowhere.
Then Jeff covered projects in the core – the Court Square Center, with one building already occupied and another nearly finished; the Marriott Courtyard at Main and Jefferson; market-rate apartments at 67 Madison near completion, across Front from the new law school; a parking garage with 400 spaces going in across Madison from that building.
There was a misunderstanding, Jeff said, that retail didn’t do well in Peabody Place. That isn’t true, he said. Businesses didn’t close due to lack of sales; they close because leases were not renewed, because Belz wants to do what they do best and turn Peabody Place into 150 Ritz-Carlton-level suites of 900 SF each. 40% of Peabody Place will remain retail after the reconfiguration.
Muvico wanted to stay, he said. Maybe a 22-screen theater was overkill, but they wanted to have a presence in Peabody Place. It just wasn’t possible under the reconfig. However, he said, “there will be a movie theater in the Downtown area, and if I say more at this time, people in this room will probably have to kill me.” Well, that’s interesting news. Can’t wait to hear more about that project.
The Chisca Hotel has suffered the loss of financing for its renovations due to the economy. Its developers are working with local lenders to try and get the project moving again.
Construction is finally happening at the big hole at Main and Gayoso. A parking garage with 200 public spaces will be the first to go in. Then, they’ve sold the air rights above the garage to developers who will add 96 new apartments to the Downtown core.
Jeff applauded the block of Main between Peabody Place and Gayoso and the enormous progress it has made over the past few years. Yes, part of the progress is because of the Belz family, he said, but more importantly because of people like Tom and Christine (owners of Shelton Clothiers) and Patrick and Deni (owners of the Majestic Grille).
Jeff called the Farmers Market an “icon” of our life in Downtown Memphis.
While Jeff was talking, I was standing next to Sole’s glass doors overlooking the FedExForum. Outside the cops were arresting a guy. Couldn’t tell whether he was a panhandler or a scalper. There were about 6 scalpers outside the Forum, on the sidewalk. I thought they were supposed stay at least 300 feet away?
Jeff said the CCC is “hard at work” for “interesting retail categories” that he couldn’t comment on yet. “What’s the one retail business everyone down here wants to see?” he asked, and the crowd mostly yelled “GROCERY STORE!” (A few said “bookstore,” and Bicycle Bobby said “scooter shop.”) “I don’t want to make any promises, but I’m working on it in South Main.”
Someone asked about opening the Main Street Mall to traffic. Jeff said an 18-member task force is studying it, but right now the infrastructure falls so far short right now that opening Main to traffic is just one of many problems. He said a report is coming in the spring.
Jeff complimented the Downtown holiday light program (and I extend huge compliments too). “We asked the city for some lights Downtown, like they put up on Poplar. They wouldn’t do it, so we said ‘let’s do it ourselves’ and we turned to our neighbors. Private donations bought the lights.” He said more such partnerships will be needed in the future, and the CCC will be turning to the SMA and our Downtown neighbors to pitch in.
Audience question: Any chance of the trolley being extended further south than GE Patterson? Jeff: Honestly, probably no. However, if the project can be deemed “shovel ready,” there may be money for it under Obama’s stimulus package.
Followup audience comment: “I’d love to see the trolley extended, but first I’d like to see it run on a regular schedule.” This drew applause from the audience. Jeff agreed there are problems within MATA. He told a story he’d heard of a trolley headed north on Main with 4 passengers. A friend of the trolley driver’s got on. Then the trolley abruptly stopped at Jack’s and waited while the friend went inside to pop a bag of microwave popcorn. But Jack’s microwave wasn’t working, so the trolley stopped again so the friend could go to another business to pop his popcorn. The passengers eventually got disgusted that they weren’t getting anywhere, and got off the trolley and walked. That’s why I like Jeff; he has the candor to tell stories like that. He’s not one to tell you that Downtown is perfect when it isn’t. After the panhandlers I’d rate MATA as the number two reason Downtown looks bad to visitors.
More conventions are booked for ’09 than there were in ’08. Jeff cited the Westin as a big reason for this, with its addition of many first-class hotel rooms.
A comment was made that the Downtown safety patrol does not extend to the Westin/FedExForum area. Panhandlers have been observed moving into the Beale Entertainment District, actually going into bars to hit up tourists for money. Also, there are complaints that the Downtown safety patrol (whose southern boundary is approximately Linden) has pushed panhandling into South Main. Jeff: “We don’t have funds to increase the coverage area, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to get together to figure out how to improve.” Jeff then said, “We want to get together with whoever SMA suggests.” Attn Jeff, SMA, and CCC safety directory Larry Bloom: I have an HOA president you should talk to, someone who is very concerned about changes he’s seen to his South Main neighborhood.
At that point Jeff sat down, and SMA president Brandon Herrington took the mic to talk about a neighborhood art project in the parking lot south of the Arcade. Boards featuring song lyrics about trains will be installed to beautify the area. The UrbanArt Commission and private donors are funding the project, and MCA students will do the lyrics, but SMA volunteers are needed to hang the boards and paint them a solid color. Project will take place on an upcoming weekend, to be determined based on volunteers’ schedule.
The SMA’s holiday Food Bank drive turned in 88 boxes of food, and $2045 in donations.
Jay Sieleman, president of the Blues Foundation, came up to talk about the International Blues Challenge Feb. 4-7. 100 bands, 64 solo/duo acts, and for the first time 23 youth acts under 21. 36 states, 10 countries represented. The IBC will be held in 16 clubs on Beale, with the finals in the Orpheum.
Because people come early for IBC, Jay said, there will be a Wed. night meet & greet at the New Daisy, followed by four IBC acts performing at the Grizzlies game that night. Following that there will be a kickoff concert at the New Daisy featuring 5 past winners.
A very informative meeting, and thanks to Sole for the great food including mussels, shrimp lollipops, and beef skewers. Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating at the SMA meeting:
After the presentation part of the meeting, members were invited to stay and mingle as Di Anne Price played piano for another hour. I decided to dart out and head to the Saucer, where the trivia team was already halfway through the second round. We won, bringing our total winnings to $250 for the next party, and we got some BBQ team business discussed too. An excellent night. Thanks to Jeff, the SMA, and Sole.
By the way, you can e-mail membership@southmainmemphis.org if you’re interested in joining. $25 individuals, $35 couples, $80 businesses. Their website appears to be down currently, but someone should get back to you if you e-mail that address.