MEMPHIS | Projects & Construction

[Johnny Ryall]

Here's the new under-construction Masjid Ar-Rahman mosque in southeast Memphis. Follow the "Rendering" link to their website and their is a youtube video posted which shows a lot more design & dimension.

Rendering: http://www.masjid-arrahman.org/Default.aspx

[Johnny Ryall]

(2) New Holiday Inns set for airport area, Graceland
Memphis Business Journal

Memphis will be the home of at least two new Holiday Inn hotels in the next two years. The first is a conversion of a former Hilton near Memphis International Airport into a 374-room Holiday Inn, possibly opening late this year. There are also plans by the brand’s owner, InterContinental Hotels Group, to build an 85-room Holiday Inn Express near Graceland at the corner of Elvis Presley Boulevard and Hernando Road, which could be open by mid-2014.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...port-area.html

ALAN HOWELL | MBJ

[Johnny Ryall]

Updated Plans Unveiled for Overton-Broad Connector
Memphis Flyer

The path will begin in Overton Park with a paved trail connecting the existing Old Forest trails to Sam Cooper, but that part of the project is being undertaken by the Overton Park Conservancy. The rest of the project is spearheaded by Livable Memphis.

http://www.memphisflyer.com/NewsBlog...road-connector

Memphis Flyer

[Johnny Ryall]

Apartments head to Schilling Farms
$48 million investment includes office, retail space
Memphis Business Journal

Boyle Investment Co.’s Schilling Farms development in Collierville is launching three new projects representing a total investment of $48 million that will bring 365 multifamily units, an office headquarters and additional retail space to the 443-acre mixed-use property. The projects fit in with the overall development’s New Urbanism philosophy that encourages a variety of property types and a pedestrian-friendly community.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...ing-farms.html

Courtesy Paradigm Marketing

Rendering of The Carrington, a mixed-use development planned at Schilling Farms

[Johnny Ryall]

On the heels of the announcement that the Chisca on South Main will finally be redeveloped and spared the wrecking ball comes this. A project so huge it will dwarf the Chisca and completely transform the Crosstown area. Absolutely incredible.

'Founding partners' commit to lease most of Memphis' Sears Crosstown Building
The Commercial Appeal

Developers on a mission to revive the long vacant Sears Crosstown Building have commitments from nine prospective tenants called "founding partners" to fill 600,000 square feet of the iconic building with a mix of uses. Chief among those uses is health care, led by the Church Health Center's pledge to move everything it has into the 14-story story tower located at 495 N. Watkins. Four other major Memphis health care firms — Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, ALSAC and The West Clinic — have also committed, executives of the firms told The Commercial Appeal. Those commitments, and several others, mean most of the historic building is spoken for since as much as a one-third of its 1.5 million square feet of total space will be removed during the renovation to create light wells and atriums.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...most-of-sears/

Photo by CA Archives

[Johnny Ryall]

Construction activity is really starting to pickup around Overton Square.

New projects turn Overton Square into an oasis of construction
The Commercial Appeal

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...verton-square/

[Johnny Ryall]

New University of Memphis residence hall approved; will replace Richardson Towers
The Commercial Appeal

The state has awarded a contract for a new $53 million, 754-bed residence hall at the University of Memphis that will replace the 40-year-old Richardson Towers when it opens in 2015. Construction of the five-story dormitory is scheduled to start next summer, on the site of an existing parking lot just south of Richardson Towers, U of M spokesman Curt Guenther said Tuesday. After the new, yet unnamed structure opens, the 10-story Richardson Towers will be torn down, he said. Richardson is the largest dorm on the campus, housing just over 1,000 students.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...artner=popular

[Johnny Ryall]

The Med seeks approval to add long-term acute care hospital on its campus
The Commercial Appeal

The Regional Medical Center at Memphis plans to acquire a shell company for $350,000 to gain access to its certificate of need. The move, if successful, will allow The Med to build a long-term acute care hospital on its campus... Getting the certificate to build on the hospital's Medical Center campus is important because there is currently a federal moratorium on new long-term acute care hospitals, which is set to expire at the end of this year, and that The Med could use one, said Dr. Reginald Coopwood, chief executive officer of The Med.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...term-acute-on/

[Johnny Ryall]

Legal barriers keep 16-story Horizon at ground level
Memphis Business Journal

The 16-story, 155-unit tower at 717 Riverside Drive is unfinished, a gleaming edifice that watches the Mississippi River flow by. It could remain that way for some time as a protracted legal battle drags on between four banks and various construction firms. In mid-2009, Ridgeland, Miss-based The Bryan Co., doing business locally as Riverside Bluffs LLC, defaulted on a $58.6 million loan from four banks:

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...y-horizon.html

ALAN HOWELL | MBJ

[Johnny Ryall]

The Orpheum picks The Crump Firm to design new performing arts center
The Commercial Appeal

The planned three-story, 50,000-square-foot building will include a rehearsal hall, commercial kitchen, dressing rooms, classrooms, offices and meeting areas, and a black box theater. The estimated cost of the building is $10.7 million. Of that amount, $4.2 million has been committed to date, Halloran said.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...erforming-art/

[Johnny Ryall]

Campbell Clinic in expansion mode
Plans to triple size of surgery center, add employees
Memphis Business Journal

The clinic has filed a $13 million Certificate of Need with the Tennessee Health Services Development Agency to almost triple the space of Campbell Surgery Center, the clinic’s ambulatory surgery center off Brierbrook Road.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...sion-mode.html

[Johnny Ryall]

More coverage of the recent announcement concerning the Sears Crosstown building. Also, an aerial pic that really shows the size of this massive building.

Sears Crosstown takes early steps to rebirth
Memphis Business Journal

Crosstown LLC has signed individual memorandums of understanding with nine partners to collectively occupy 600,000 square feet of the long-shuttered Sears Crosstown building. ALSAC, Church Health Center, Crosstown Arts, Gestalt Community Schools, Methodist Healthcare, Memphis Teacher Residency, Rhodes College, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and West Clinic will be part of redeveloping the 1.5 million-square-foot building at North Watkins and North Parkway.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/n....html?page=all

MBJ

[Johnny Ryall]

I was wondering about this building just weeks ago as I saw its' exterior being updated. Great article.

Venson Center Work Kicks Off Heritage Trail
Memphis Daily News

The ambitious $1 billion, 10-year redevelopment project called Triangle Noir during former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton’s administration is now called Heritage Trail. And the first move beyond the demolition of the Cleaborn Homes public housing development is the exterior renovation of the R.Q. Venson Center high rise at Beale Street and Danny Thomas Boulevard.

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news...eritage-trail/

Other quotes concerning future development from this comprehensive, quality article by Bill Dries:

Beyond that, (Robert) Lipscomb said future plans include an upgrade of nearby Church Park and a walking trail that connects the large group of historical sites in the area around and south of FedExForum. “It’s going to be well lit. It’s going to be a beautiful area. We’re going to redo Church Park. We’re going to redo Clayborn Temple,” Lipscomb said. “We’re going to have a walking trail from the National Civil Rights Museum all the way down here with monuments and points to recognize African-American history.”

As Triangle Noir, the effort had more ambitious goals including two proposals for luxury hotels on the south side of Linden Avenue between Fourth and Danny Thomas. The buildings there have been cleared, but private financing for the projects has been more difficult.

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news...eritage-trail/
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Also, here's a before pic & after rendering I found at the Pickering Firm's website:

http://www.pickeringfirm.com/news/20...his-high-rise/

Pickering Firm

[Johnny Ryall]

Church near Graceland razed, freeing 6 acres for development
The Commercial Appeal

The property's value should be enhanced in coming years as the city and state carry out a $43 million project to improve Elvis Presley Boulevard, from Shelby Drive to Brooks Road. Plans are to widen the road, put overhead utilities underground, build landscaped medians, improve or add sidewalks, and add bike lanes, all in an effort to make the three-mile section more appealing and boost economic development. Elvis Presley Enterprises also has plans to add attractions, but they've been put on hold because of the weakened economy. About 31,000 cars a day travel by Graceland, which has averaged 600,000 visitors a year.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...g-6-acres-for/

[Johnny Ryall]

Plans for Memphis Fairgrounds slowly moving forward
Memphis Business Journal

The current cost of the project is estimated to be around $148.4 million, with a portion of the $20 million redevelopment of Overton Square being folded into it. That was done, Lipscomb said, in order to have both projects funded by TDZ funds.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/n....html?page=all

COURTESY O.T. MARSHALL ARCHITECTS P.C.

[Johnny Ryall]

Electrolux moves closer to hiring
First product testing expected in September
Memphis Business Journal

Electrolux Home Products Inc. plans to hire nearly 200 people in the next nine months and begin producing test products in its new Memphis facility by December. The initial phase of the company’s $190 million Memphis manufacturing facility is nearing completion, and executives and management employees anticipate being in offices by the end of October, says Jacob Burroughs, director of the Memphis project.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...to-hiring.html

COURTESY ELECTROLUX NORTH AMERICA

[Johnny Ryall]

MCR safety facility to be sustainable
Memphis Business Journal

MCR Safety’s new $8 million, 45,000-square-foot corporate headquarters won’t officially be LEED-certified, but it will be a model of sustainability. The building will be located at Schilling Farms in Collierville.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/p...stainable.html

COURTESY RENAISSANCE GROUP INC.

[Johnny Ryall]

Work Moves Forward on Midtown’s Chiwawa
Memphis Daily News

Plans are moving forward for Chiwawa, a Southern-inspired Mexican restaurant near Overton Square in Midtown that hopes to open this fall. A $347,257 permit was recently filed for Chiwawa’s renovations of the two-story, 3,196-square-foot building at 2059 Madison Ave. The space housed Chicago Pizza Factory in the 1980s and has been vacant since.

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news...towns-chiwawa/

Photo Courtesy of brg3s architects

[Johnny Ryall]

Victory University students fill Flats at Cotton Council
University leases building
The Commercial Appeal

Last winter, developers announced a $5 million plan to transform the former National Cotton Council office building into upscale apartments and to market them particularly to students at Midtown colleges. But even as hammers flew, the fast-growing Victory University claimed all the building's 40 rooms and 120 beds for its students, leasing them for three years with an option to renew... In just the past year, Victory University has more than doubled its enrollment, from 906 students to 1,970. That beats the previous record high of 1,200 students in 2006 when the institution was called Crichton College, said Kenneth Kinney, Victory's director of marketing... The 60-year-old neoclassical building has just been listed on the National Register of Historic Places... He and Yandell still plan to build another 60 apartment units behind the existing building. "We wanted to catch our breath and let Victory move in and get settled," Glassell said. "We may crank into that the latter part of this year."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...ats-at-cotton/

Photo by Alan Spearman

[Johnny Ryall]

South Main district to get boost from Harahan Bridge project
Memphis Daily News

The attention Downtown Memphis’ South Main Historic Arts District and its surrounding areas has received this year has far-reaching implications for future development. Recent high-profile deals the community has seen get the green light include the Chisca Hotel redevelopment, Storefront Improvement Grant Program, branding efforts with North Star Destination Strategies, growth at The Orpheum Theatre Memphis and Memphis Central Station, a flurry of apartment and loft rehabs, and retail activity with a new athletic club and restaurants.

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news...ain-connector/

(Daily News File Photos: Lance Murphey)