The Memphis Business Journal broke a big news story yesterday. A developer has acquired the Royal Furniture building at Main and Gayoso, and is going to build it up into a hotel and restaurant. I kind of had a feeling that was going to happen sooner or later. That parcel of real estate is too valuable to remain a low-volume furniture store. I mean, when you need a new bedroom set, who thinks “let’s go Downtown and find one” anymore?<\/p>\n
That block is ideal for a hotel. If you think about it, that block hosts an array of businesses about as diverse as any in the city. You’ve got a sub shop, an elegant upscale restaurant, an Asian restaurant, an ice cream shop, a museum of Asian and Judaic art, a center for regional arts and culture, a 1930s style speakeasy, a clothing shop, and a post office. It’s a block walk from a grocery store and a hair salon. Piece of advice for whoever becomes the concierge at the new hotel: Partner up with the Center for Southern Folklore. That place is a hidden treasure that many tourists never hear about.<\/p>\n
Explore Bike Share is offering a special through the end of January: Purchase an annual membership to the bike share for only $60. This is perfect for people who want to get fit, but who enjoy the great outdoors more than they do the gym.<\/p>\n
There was a preview of the auto museum in The Edge neighborhood last night, and people posted photo of some beautiful classic cars. The museum will soon open to the public. I hear there will be an auto detail shop as well.<\/p>\n
The Daily Memphian reports that Carolina Watershed is changing its focus and hours of operation<\/a>. The operators of Loflin Yard have entered into a management agreement to run Watershed, the silo bar and restaurant on East Carolina Avenue. Watershed will only be open to the public on Saturdays (4 PM-midnight) and Sundays (11 AM-10 PM). They will focus on building up private event business during the week, and plan to add a covered pavilion that can accommodate 200 people and which can be used even in inclement weather. Bookings for private events at Watershed can be made through PartyMemphis.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Well this is interesting… BLDG Memphis, along with the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, is starting a community development book club and its first meeting<\/a> will be January 18 at the MMDC office, 656 Madison. The book to be discussed with be The Color of Law: Forgotten History of How Government Segregated America<\/em> by Richard Rothstein.<\/p>\n Pontotoc Lounge has rolled out a new January menu. Don’t worry, the Mississippi Pot Roast that everyone loves is not going away. It’s joined by Turkey Roulade, Fish & Chips, Bucarelle Pasta, and homemade Pork & Beans with pork shank. “Dacon” was listed as one of the toppings of the Bucarelle Pasta, and after Google searching “dacon” and coming up empty-handed, I inquired what that was. “Duck bacon,” they replied. Color me intrigued!<\/p>\n That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Memphis Business Journal broke a big news story yesterday. A developer has acquired the Royal Furniture building at Main and Gayoso, and is going to build it up into a hotel and restaurant. I kind of had a feeling that was going to happen sooner or later. That parcel of real estate is too … Continue reading “Wednesday update”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21963"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21964,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21963\/revisions\/21964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}