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in this issue:
Breaking Ground
in the Medical Center
Downtown Hotel Boom
Skilled Nursing FacilityHas a Harbor View
New MarketsTax Credits
Downtown Home Show Development
Briefs New
DowntownBusinesses
Available PropertySpotlight
Upcoming
MeetingSchedule
CCC
ContactInformation
The Downtown Developer
is a bi-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.
Breaking Ground in the Medical Center
Work has begun on two key projects that will have a significant impact on the Memphis Medical Center: the UT-Baptist Research Park and Legends Park, the Dixie Homes Hope VI Redevelopment Project.
UT-Baptist Research Park
The Memphis Bioworks Foundation recently broke ground on the site of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) - the first building to be constructed as part of the UT-Baptist Research Park. The two-story, 25,000sf building will include laboratory modules (biosafety level 3 containment for contagious materials), training and office space, and a vivarium for laboratory mice. Research conducted at the RBL will be focused on developing new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics to protect the general population from infectious diseases and bioterrorism. The Memphis site is one of 13 regional biocontainment labs across the country.Construction of the $25 million facility will be completed by late 2008. The entire research park development will contain a total of six buildings - including a new facility that will house the UT College of Pharmacy - and will take approximately 10 years to complete.
Legends Park
With more than $42 million in projects planned or under construction in the area, the Medical Center is poised to expand into one of the foremost centers for biotechnology and bioscience in the nation. UT-Baptist Research Park, along with other projects such as LeBonheur's $327 million expansion and the addition of five new buildings on the St. Jude campus, will bring thousands of additional scientists, health care professionals, supporting staff, and students into the Medical District. Legends Park, the $20 million Hope VI Dixie Homes Redevelopment project, will provide housing options for the area.
Memphis Housing Authority recently began demolition of Dixie Homes - work that will be completed within the next 90 days. The 69-year-old public housing project site will be transformed into a mixed income housing development that will include 404 market rate, tax credit, and public housing multifamily units. The development will also include approximately 12,000sf of commercial space along Poplar Avenue and offers the potential for additional commercial space along Ayers.Phase I of the redevelopment plan will consist of an offsite home ownership program for families with a household income of less than 80% of the area's median income. This component will be located at Georgia and McKinley, the site of the former Clayborne Homes. Construction at the Dixie Homes site is expected to begin by summer of 2008. Urban Design Associates and Looney Ricks Kiss Architects make up the design team for the project; McCormack Baron Salazar is the contractor.
For more information about development projects in the Medical District, click here to view the CCC's Current Projects list.
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Downtown Hotel Boom
The Downtown hotel market continues to thrive. Downtown has a healthy hotel occupancy rate of approximately 65 percent; the national average is 63.5 percent.
There are currently more than 3,000 hotel rooms within the CBID, with several hundred more soon to come:
- Construction on the 9-story Westin Hotel near FedExForum is near completion. This $30 million project will add 220 rooms to the heart of the Sports & Entertainment district. The hotel is scheduled to open in April.
- Developers Henry Turley and Lewis Holland have started construction on River Inn of Harbor Town, a 28-room, 35,000-sf boutique hotel that will include such amenities as two restaurants and a luxury spa. The $9.3 million project is scheduled to open for business this fall.
- Construction of a $3.9 million, 86-room Microtel Inn & Suites is underway in the South Forum area. The 4-story building will be completed by 2008.
- Plans for Chisca Plaza include a 120-room Hilton Garden Inn. Area Hotels, Inc. will develop this portion of the estimated $80 million project.
- Carlisle Corporation's $175 million One Beale project will include a 4-star hotel component with 250 rooms and meeting space.
- Hilton Hotels Corporation has approved the development of an Embassy Suites at Front and Court (between Morgan Keegan Tower and Sleep Inn). Although plans have not yet been finalized, the site could accommodate a 140-room hotel with meeting/event space and multiple levels of parking spaces.
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Skilled Nursing Facility Has a Harbor View
American Health Companies, Inc. (AHC) will be bringing three decades of experience in the development of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities to Downtown Memphis. Harbor View Properties, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AHC, will develop a 82,862-sf, 120-unit facility on 10 acres of land at North Second Street and Pear. This will be the first non-industrial project to be developed on the east side of Wolf River Harbor in many years.
Harbor View Manor will provide long-term, skilled nursing care and life services for its resident patients. Approximately 80 to 90 percent of the residents will rely on Medicaid or Medicare. Construction is scheduled to begin in May and will be completed by May of 2008.
The $13 million project received a 15-year PILOT term from the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation. Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects is the project architect and Askew Hargraves Harcourt is the structural engineer. The contractor is Inman Construction Corporation.
Harbor View Manor is the latest addition to the diverse housing inventory that makes Downtown living a possibility for people in all stages of life. A 69-unit senior facility is currently under construction in the Uptown district at Third and Looney.
For more information on new development in Downtown Memphis, visit the Center City Commission's online downtown projects listing.
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Developer Resource Spotlight: New Markets Tax Credits
The City of Memphis' New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program permits taxpayers to receive a credit against Federal income taxes for making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities (CDEs). Substantially all of the qualified equity investment must in turn be used by the CDE to provide investments in low-income communities. The credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year credit allowance period. In each of the first three years, the investor receives a credit equal to five percent of the total amount paid for the stock or capital interest at the time of purchase. For the final four years, the value of the credit is six percent annually. Investors may not redeem their investments in CDEs prior to the conclusion of the seven-year period.
NMTCs are allocated annually by the Fund to CDEs under a competitive application process. These CDEs then offer the credits to taxable investors in exchange for stock or a capital interest in the CDEs. To qualify as a CDE, an entity must be a domestic corporation or partnership that: 1) has a mission of serving, or providing investment capital for, low-income communities or low-income persons; 2) maintains accountability to residents of low-income communities through their representation on a governing board of or advisory board to the entity; and 3) has been certified as a CDE by the CDFI Fund. The Fund is currently accepting applications from entities seeking CDE certification.
Throughout the life of the NMTC Program, the Fund is authorized to allocate to CDEs the authority to issue to their investors up to the aggregate amount of $15 billion in equity as to which NMTCs can be claimed. This NOAA will invite CDEs to compete for tax credit allocations in support of an aggregate amount of $3.5 billion in qualified equity investments in CDEs.
For more information about new markets tax credits, please visit the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund website.
Click here to download a map of CBID census tracts that are eligible for new markets tax credits.
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Downtown Home Show
The Downtown Home Show at South End opens to the public on Thursday, April 12. The show will offer attendees exclusive tours of luxury condominiums, town homes and lofts built with the latest products and designs offered by the area's leading home construction experts.
The developments in the show include The Horizon by The Bryan Company, River Tower at South Bluffs by McCord Development, Inc., Riverside 648 by Crews Realty, LLC, State Place at South End by Beazer Homes, Carolina Lofts by FaxonGillis, City Commons at South End by Chamberlain, McCreery & Rice, LLC, The Lofts at South Bluffs by Henry Turley Company, Art House by Southland Development Partners, The Nettleton by The Nashoba Group, LLC, 2 West by Phil Woodard, and Butler Park Station by Butler Park Station, LLC.
There are currently 1100 condominium units that are planned, under construction, or recently completed in South End. The latest projections indicate that within just a few years' time, there will be approximately 5,000 people living in the 40-acre area.
For more information about the Home Show, visit www.southendmemphis.com.
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Development Briefs
Be among the first to tour the new Westin Hotel at the April meeting of Inside Downtown, the Center City Commission's monthly networking event that is designed to generate discussion about how to change Downtown for the better. The meeting will take place on April 5 at 4:30 pm. If you would like to participate, please RSVP to Nicole Hernandez, CCC Director of Executive Programs, at 901.575.0542 by April 2.
RiverArtsFest, a juried fine art show and artists market, has been scheduled for October 26-28 in the South Main Arts district. The festival is a joint venture between the South Main Arts Association and Experience Art in Memphis. Registration information can be found at www.riverartsfest.org/Memphis Business Journal recently reported that Governor Phil Bredesen awarded an $80,000 Tennessee Roadscapes Grant to assist with landscape improvements in Downtown Memphis. A collaboration between the Center City Commission, Riverfront Development Corporation, the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Southland Development Partners, the project will include landscaping and welcome signage at Downtown's Welcome Center and along Riverside Drive near I-40.
The Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) and alt.Consulting are co-sponsoring FastTrac® GrowthVenture, a 10 week entrepreneurial training course. Classes will begin March 30, 2007. The FastTrac® sessions include facilitated discussions and activities, networking, small peer groups, a guest speaker, and coaching sessions. Participants work on their own business ventures throughout the program. For more information, please contact Vonesha Mitchell at (901) 312-9796 or vonesha@altconsulting.org.
RiverTown, LLC. has begun work on RiverTown on the Island - phased construction of 200 luxury condominiums on Mud Island. Condos will range in size from 1350sf to 3200sf, and each unit will have its own private garage. Pricing will range from $250,000 to $700,000. The entire development should be completed by the end of 2009.Entreprenuer Dan Levin plans to open Blues City Pastry Shop and Coffee Bar in the former Viking Culinary Arts space in May. The bakery will feature luscious pastries created by reknown pastry chef Teresa Denton-Johns and custom chocolate creations by Carol Whitmore.
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New Downtown Businesses
Love Me Tender, Elvis-themed apparel and specialty items, 126 Beale St (901) 527-2722
Flying Fish restaurant, 105 S Second St, (901) 522-8228
Main Street Dental, Dental practice specializing in cosmetic dentistry, 99 S Main St, (901) 527-0716
More Space Place, Furniture showroom, 545 S Main St Ste 121, (901) 521-1350
Holiday Inn Express Medical Center Midtown, 1180 Union Ave (former Hampton Inn site), (901) 276-1175, www.hiexpress.com
Featherstone Realty Centre, 95 S Main St Ste 102, (901) 528-0031
Russwood Park Sports Bar & Grill, 160 Union Ave, (901) 525-5491
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Available Property Spotlight:
The Hotel Pontotoc
Built in 1906, this European style hotel has limitless redevelopment potential: hotel, bed & breakfast, condos, apartments, or office space.
Located in the South Main Historic District, the property is only one block from the river and is within walking distance of the Orpheum Theater and FedExForum. The building consists of two stories with a raised walkout basement. The sale price is $989,000.
For information, contact Kimberly Carlson at Heritage Homes Company, 901.761.4850.
To review other available properties in Downtown Memphis, click here.
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Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Center City Revenue Finance Corporation: Tuesday, April 10 at 9:30 am Center City Development Corporation: Wednesday, April 18 at 9 am
Center City Commission Board: Friday, April 27 at noon
Design Review Board: Wednesday, May 2 at 5 pm
The above meetings will be held at the Center City Commission, 114 North Main Street. Meeting times and dates are subject to change. For more information, contact Dawn Vinson at 901.575-0555.
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Center City Commission Staff
Executive
Jeff Sanford, President
Nicole Hernandez, Director of Executive Programs
Jerome Rubin, Manager of Diversity Outreach
Development
Andy Kitsinger, VP of Planning & Development
Lorie Chapman, Urban Planner
Jaske Goff, Development Project Manager
Katrina Shelton, Business Recruitment Manager
Dawn Vinson, Development Project Manager
Financial
Jim Street, Chief Financial Officer
Marketing
Lee Warren, Senior VP of Marketing
Leslie Gower, Director of Communications and Editor
Sridhar Sunkara, Director of Information Systems
Stephanie Ziemba, Director of Marketing and Special Events
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:
Eugene Brassel
Fannie Garner
Sally Hayes
Charles Jackson
Bobby Parker
Carl Hibler
Christopher Mason
Tara Maxwell
Johnnie Willis
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Email your questions or comments to Dawn Vinson, Editor.