UPDATE: Memphis City Council members punted sale of the Orpheum Theatre to its next meeting in two weeks.
The sale to the Orpheum Theatre Group, which operates the building, was on the council’s agenda Tuesday. But some council members had questions about the sale and about similar deals with other nonprofits across the city.
Council Chairman Frank Colvett sponsored the resolution for the sale. He said the group needs to own the building for fundraising reasons. They are not now able to “raise the capital to keep going unless they actually own the dirt and the building.”
Colvett said the city has $21 million invested in the Orpheum building. (Orpheum officials clarified later that the group, not the city, has invested $21 million in the building.) If approved, the city would sell the building back to the Orpheum Theatre Group for $1.
However, the building would revert back to the city if the Orpheum closes, goes bankrupt, or many other events that would leave the building empty.
ORIGINAL POST: City leaders might sell the Orpheum Theatre back to the Orpheum Theatre Group, which operates the building.
Memphis City Council members will review the sale during its 3 p.m. meeting Tuesday.
The city owns the property at 203 South Main. This includes the Orpheum, which fronts Main Street, and the parking lot behind it, which fronts Front Street. The entire parcel was last appraised at $169,700, according to information from the Shelby County Register of Deeds Office.
The Orpheum was purchased in 1976 by the Memphis Development Foundation, a group organized to save the building from demolition, according to a Memphis Business Journal story. The group bought the building from Malco Theatres Inc. for $10, according to a deed issued at the time. It, then, transferred the building to the city for $10 in 1982, according to a deed.
The Memphis Development Foundation changed its name to the Orpheum Theatre Group (OTG) in 2016, according to the MBJ. The group preserves and operates the Orpheum. It also operates the neighboring Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education. The group owns that building, appraised at nearly $14 million.
No sale price was listed in council documents.
This story will be updated when details become available.
