in this issue:
Bridge Builders FindsNew Home Downtown
Project Moves Forward on Main Street
Jeweler and Restaurant Head to The Pinch
Downtown Searches for Answers to Panhandling
Development Briefs April MeetingSchedule
CCC ContactInformation
The Downtown Developer
is a monthly publication
produced by the
Memphis Center
City Commission
114 North Main Street
Memphis, TN 38103
phone 901.575.0540
toll free 888.303.0002
fax 901.575-0541
downtownmemphis.com
All rights reserved.
Bridge Builders Finds New Home in Downtown
The Memphis chapter of Bridges USA, a national youth services organization designed to help high school students become future leaders, is building a new $9.5 million complex in Downtown just north of St. Jude. The building will house administrative offices, a 1,000 student gathering center, computer labs, and an adventure education facility.
The development, entitled Bridges Center, will include construction of two new buildings totaling over 52,000 square feet on a city block bounded by Auction, North Fourth, Sycamore and North Fifth. To play on the name and mission of Bridge Builders, the building will incorporate a unique design that resembles a bridge. Two groups will share the space - Bridges and The Work Place, an adult job readiness and training facility. The combined complex will have an open plaza between the buildings that will double as an informal amphitheatre and also serve as an outdoor program space. The flat top roof will provide 106 parking spaces.
The project received a 12-year PILOT from the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation in early April.
Click here to learn more about Bridge Builders.
For more information on financial incentives for developments in Downtown, contact the CCC Development Project Manager Jaske Goff at (901) 575-0582.
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First Project Moves Forward on
Main Street Demo Block
The first redevelopment project on the Center City Commission's Main Street Demonstration Block (Main Street between Union and Gayoso) will soon be underway.
A 16-year PILOT was approved by the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation for renovations to the historic Omni Building in early April, marking the first project to receive a PILOT on the Demonstration Block.
The renovation of the Omni Building (95 South Main) will include three apartments and 3,700 square feet of first-floor commercial space. Plans call for incorporating this project with two adjacent properties on the north: one property is vacant and the other is the Perez Building which is scheduled for demolition in May. The total project will have 7,900 square feet of commercial space, 15 apartments and two penthouses. Total project costs will exceed $3 million.
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Jewelry Manufacturer and Restaurant Head to the Pinch
Jewelry manufacturer Yuval Babajanov received a 13-year PILOT from the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation in early April to open a restaurant and jewelry-making facility in a one-story building at 396 N. Main.
The 8,200 square foot one-story building is located next to Cafe Francisco on the trolley line. Half of the property will be an open viewing jewelry manufacturing facility that will distribute wholesale to over 600 stores in the US. The remaining portion of the building will be a homestyle restaurant run by his wife. Total projects costs are estimated at approximately $730,000.
For more information on financial incentives for developments in Downtown, contact CCC Development Project Manager, Jaske Goff at (901) 575-0582.
Downtown Searches for Answers to Panhandling
The Center City Commission (CCC) in cooperation with the Partners for the Homeless, a non-profit that coordinates resources to address homelessness in Memphis, has created a brochure “The Answer to Panhandling…A Hand Up, Not a Handout” to offer an understanding of how to respond to people soliciting money in Downtown. The brochure emphasizes that cash handouts usually perpetuate the individuals’ addictions and encourages more panhandling rather than providing real help. Food, shelter and other assistance providers are listed in the brochure.
The brochure has been very well received by downtowners and is being distributed by the Downtown Churches Association to all church members. Copies can be obtained from the Center City Commission by calling (901) 575-0540.
In addition, the Memphis Police Department has launched a collaborative effort with the MPD command staff, the CCC, homelessness service providers and coordinators, and the court system to provide help to the truly needy while discouraging those looking for handouts. The goal of the MPD initiative is to make seeking help for addictions or other underlying causes of homelessness more attractive than legal consequences for chronic panhandlers.
An analysis of three months of MPD citations determined that 73% of those cited had not sought food, shelter, or other assistance during the previous year and, therefore, were not likely to be homeless. The MPD is working diligently to put the program in place but obstacles like civil rights issues and burdens on an already overloaded court system are making it challenging to enact the program.
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Development Briefs
After two months of construction on the trolley line expansion to the Medical District, the Main Street and Riverfront Loop trolley lines have re-opened. The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the trolly the weekend of April 26. To commemorate this event, trolley rides from April 25-27 will be 10 cents.
SAVE THE DATE! The Center City Commission's Annual Meeting and Luncheon will be held on Thursday, June 26 from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts Ballroom. For more information, contact Dena Owens at (901) 575-0562.
The International Downtown Association's 2003 Spring Conference will be held in Downtown Memphis April 26 - 28. This conference will showcase Memphis as a "best practices urban laboratory" to hundreds of downtown delegates from around the world. For more information, click here.
The Henry Turley Company is constructing 17 new condos at the William Farrington Building (413 South Main across from Zanzibar). Pricing for the units will be $95,000-$213,000. Contact Cindi James at (901) 525-6387 for more information.
The owners of the restaurant "On Teur" in midtown plan to open Cafe 61 in Downtown at 85 S. Second Street. This restaurant will be located in Union Commons in the strip of restaurants that includes Automatic Slim's, Pancho's and Amber Palace.
Construction is underway on the $14 million, 200-room expansion to the Downtown Marriott Hotel. The expansion will make the Downtown Marriott the largest hotel in Memphis.
Light It Up! has announced plans to throw the switch on a new lighting design for the First Tennessee Building during the 7th inning stretch at the Memphis Redbirds game on Friday, April 25.
In an effort to enable the creation of a directional sign system for Downtown, Center City Commission board members Sen. Steve Cohen and Rep. Barbara Cooper have submitted legislation for statewide wayfinding guidelines.
The new Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering, a charter high school sponsored by the Memphis BioTech Foundation, has selected Tommie Henderson as its principal. Henderson was the former director of the optional engineering program at East High School. Henderson announced that a site for the school has been selected in the Medical District's Dudley Building at Dudley and Madison.
Due to Memphis in May festivities, southbound lanes on Riverside Drive will close beginning Monday, April 28 throughout the entire month of May. Northbound lanes will serve two-way traffic except during main weekend events. Riverside Drive will be closed to traffic on weekends through the end of May.
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April Meeting Schedule
Center City Development Corporation: April meeting cancelled
Center City Commission Board: Fri, April 25 at noon
Design Review Board: Wed, May 7 at 5 pm
The above meetings will be held at the Center City Commission, 114 North Main Street. For more information, call (901) 575-0540.
Police Director James Bolden is holding a press conference on Wednesday, April 16 at 10 am in the Peabody Hotel Skyway to announce plans for an Entertainment District Policing Unit.
The Pinch Business Association will meet on Tuesday, April 22 at 5:30pm at The North End. For more information, contact President Julie Ray at 578-8002.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association will meet on Thursday, April 17 at 6:30 pm at Joe's Crab Shack (formerly Landry's) 263 Wagner Place. Sherriff Mark Luttrell will be the guest speaker and Maestro David Loebel from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra will also make some brief remarks. For more information, call (901) 527-1DNA.
The Center City Commission offices will be closed on Friday, April 18.
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Center City Commission Staff
Executive
Jeff Sanford, President
Nicole Hernandez, Assistant to the President
Development
Myron Hughes, VP of Development and Planning
Brad Elmer, Business Development Analyst
Jaske Goff, Development Project Manager
Laura Morgan, Director of Planning & Development
Leigh Ann Simmons, Existing Business Specialist
Financial
Jim Street, Chief Financial Officer
Marketing
Lee Warren, Senior VP of Marketing
Leslie Gower, Director of Communications and Editor
Dena Owens, Marketing Manager
Sridhar Sunkara, Director of Information Systems
Operations
Janet Pfaff, Senior VP of Operations
Dave Rice, Parking Manager/Environmental Coordinator
Christine Taylor, Office Manager/Administrative Assistant
Gaston Davis, Blue Suede Brigade Manager
Blue Suede Brigadiers:
Derrick Burnett
Eugene Brassel
Fannie Garner
Kay Jennings
Leonell Klank
Bobby Parker
Don Rubin
Michael Williams
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