Downtown Memphis bounced back and expanded last year, according to the Downtown Memphis Commission’s (DMC) 2022 State of Downtown report.
Restaurants and nightlife returned. The Grizzlies had a hot run. Live music played every day of the year. With all of this, “Downtown Memphis saw tourism rebound and pedestrian counts return to pre-pandemic levels.”
Downtown’s population got a boost, too. The DMC said those living Downtown rose by 6 percent in 2022, up to 26,086 residents.
One of the DMC’s jobs is to attract and retain development Downtown. This is largely done through tax abatements.
Last year, the DMC gave tax breaks to 38 projects that it says will bring 1,165 apartment units, 310 hotel rooms, 85,000 square feet of retail space, 5,500 square feet of office space, and 1,000 parking spaces.
”Our stewardship of Downtown is critical to our entire community,” said DMC president and CEO Paul Young. “Downtown is the Memphis the world recognizes: We are Beale Street, the Grizzlies, Sun Studio, and the National Civil Rights Museum.
“We are also the neighborhood of choice for Autozone, St. Jude, and FedExLogistics, as well as six breweries, one world-class distillery, and countless innovators in the arts, music-tech, med-tech, and ag-tech space.”
The DMC also expanded the reach of its Groove On Demand ride service from and eight-mile area to 12. About 50,000 Grove On Demand rides were taken last year, the DMC said.
The DMC also won an award from the International Downtown Association for its work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. On that front, the DMC took over the region’s Emerging Developer curriculum, which encourages a developer community that looks more like the Memphis community.
The DMC is also focusing on safety. It recently won a county grant to work with the University of Memphis to develop new safety strategies. It also plans to expand the Blue Suede Brigade to include overnight shifts.
“’Downtown for everyone’ is more than a slogan,” Young said. “It is the fight song for our entire community. We take it seriously. We are Downtown Memphis.”
