Tag: urban land institute

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Soulsville Recommendations from ULI (and Tom Shadyac)

Tom Shadyac

Soulsville needs more organic development, a reinforced neighborhood identity, better wayfinding signs, and maybe a coffee shop, according to members of an Urban Land Institute (ULI) technical advisory panel.
Members of the panel — a mix of architects, artists, development professionals, and Soulsville residents — discussed these recommendations and others at a public meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Stax Academy.

The group found that Soulsville lacks neighborhood connectivity, especially between the Stax Museum and LeMoyne-Owen College, and has too many vacant spaces in between existing businesses. Brian Whaley with CBRE led the presentation, and he said some of those blighted or vacant spaces should be activated with community gardens, mini parks, or other uses. He also said the black windows at Stax, although there for historical reasons, made the museum seem uninviting from the sidewalk.

Missing from Soulsville are healthcare facilities, eateries, pocket parks, public gardens, live music venues, and fitness facilities, according to the ULI presentation.

“Tourists come here for Stax, and they want to eat. But they end up leaving the neighborhood to eat,” Whaley said.

The ULI panel interviewed Soulsville neighborhood stakeholders, and they said Soulsville should focus on offering places where the next generation could connect to the neighborhood. They also wanted a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, and a place where neighbors could interact. Accessibility and walkability were also high on the list of stakeholder needs.

The design recommendations from ULI suggested new wayfinding signs directing tourists to various points around Soulsville, a Soulsville sign on the bridge over I-40, visual transparency into the Soulsville gift shop, and signage explaining Stax’s black windows (which were actually never explained in the ULI meeting).

They also envision a sculptural seating area at the rock garden being built by the I Heart Soulsville mural, more community gardens on empty lots, more affordable housing, and having artists paint abandoned structures. Better connections between the Soulsville bike lanes and downtown bike lanes were also mentioned.

Retail recommendations included a record shop, a music store offering lessons, and a coffee shop/bookstore.

At the end of the meeting, film director Tom Shadyac, who recently purchased the foreclosed Towne Center in Soulsville at an auction, stood up to address the audience. He said he has plans to build a restaurant with a pay what you can model. And he plans to turn Towne Center into a spiritual healing center that will help heal people through meals, art, and mentorship — a sort of St. Jude for spiritual needs.

“We feel there is something moving here. There is a spirit here. I think it’s called Soulsville for a reason,” Shadyac said. “There are no limits to the soul. And there are no limits to what we want to do in Soulsville.” 

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Editorial Opinion

Happy Ending for the Fairgrounds?

It is no secret that adherents of preserving the Mid-South Coliseum nursed grave doubts about the integrity of the process, when the city engaged with a team of consultants to conduct public hearings on the future of the

Fairgrounds, after which the independent Urban Land Institute would pass on its recommendations. The administration of Mayor A C Wharton, and specifically Robert Lipscomb, the city’s director of housing and community development and its de facto planning czar, had seemed fully committed to a vision of the future Fairgrounds area that included the demolition of the vintage structure. The Tourism Development Zone proposal favored by Lipscomb proposed a basic start from scratch on much of the Fairgrounds acreage, leaving in place the newish Kroc Center, a renovated Liberty Bowl, and the Shelby County Schools administrative facility in the complex that was once Fairview Middle School. The plan envisioned a youth sports complex, a new multi-purpose athletic facility at the site of the now dormant Coliseum, along with retail facilities and a hotel. Though the Coliseum was in disrepair and needed serious renovation to be used for any kind of contemporary purpose, the real problem with the building was that its use as a performance arena for sports and concerts clashed with the terms of the non-compete clause between the city and FedExForum. That contract was the price of attracting the Grizzlies to Memphis.

But the Coliseum has deep connections to the hearts of Memphians and Mid-Southerners. Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and — perhaps most memorable of all — some truly legendary performers of the ‘rassling arts performed there. Memphis’ preservationist community joined legions of fans in wanting to see the building restored, perhaps as a wrestling museum. A variety of demonstrations made the point, and the ULI-conducted public meetings were a necessary response to the demand. The droves of citizens who turned out overwhelmingly backed the idea of preserving the Coliseum, but they also made other useful suggestions, most of them, as it turned out, consistent with the root premises of the proposed TDZ.

The ULI folks listened, and they submitted recommendations to the city that made a compelling case for the Coliseum transformed into an open-air structure, seating a maximum of 5,000 persons, and able to compete with other nearby arenas (Snowden Grove in Mississippi, for example) for mid-range concerts. Other recommendations were for a water park and a conservancy, whose managerial reach would extend beyond the Fairgrounds proper to Tobey Park on the north side of Central Avenue.

The ULI report made for a proposition that was probably more realistic than such features of the original TDZ proposal as the imagined hotel and large-scale big-box retailers, which were arguably too dependent on a philosophy of build-it-and-they-will-come.

In any case, the ULI’s recommendations seem to have gone down well with people on both sides of the previous conflict line — those who wanted a whole new shuffle on the Fairgrounds property and those who wanted to maintain a bit more tradition.

Lipscomb says he and his team are reviewing the feasibility of a revamped TDZ proposal in line with the ULI recommendations. We hope that he sees in them the ingredients for a happy ending in which everybody can go home satisfied.

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News The Fly-By

Greenprint Plan Proposes 500 Miles of Greenways

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

A plan will soon move forward that could eventually connect Shelby, Crittenden, DeSoto, and Fayette counties with a network of 500 miles of greenways. 

It’s the first recommendation from those who have guided the Mid-South Regional Greenprint plan for the past three years. 

Shelby County won $2.6 million in 2011 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a long-term vision for the area’s green spaces, including parks, greenways, community gardens, storm water management, and waterways.

The planning process has so far included 80 organizations, 18 municipalities, four counties, three states, and input from thousands of residents, as well as civic and business leaders.

Bianca Phillips

The overall plan is broad, covering everything from fair housing to bus transit. But Greenprint leaders said they wanted to focus on greenways first.

“One of the things we quickly found is that everybody — regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, or race, or gender — saw a passion in connecting our communities through greenways and trails,” said Paul Young, Greenprint program administrator.

Young was speaking to a group last week comprised mostly of city mayors from within the Greenprint boundaries. Young, Greenprint Program Manager John Zeanah, and others told the mayors that the planning phase will be done in November and that their help was needed in the next step — implementation. 

A draft of the greenways plan will be made public in a couple of weeks, Zeanah said, and the review process will be completed in November. Greenprint leaders will then take the plan to the elected bodies in 18 cities and four counties for their approval. He called this a “critical point” as the plan moves from discussion to implementation. 

“We want to get uniform adoption so we can demonstrate regional buy-in,” Zeanah said. “This will be particularly important as we try to leverage funding from state, federal, and local governments and from private sources.”    

No price tag for the greenways project has been made public so far.

The notion of such a large network of greenways was sold to the group of mayors as more than just a recreational amenity but also as a portal for community development, improved transportation options, and for better health and environment. But it was mainly sold as a possible tool for economic development.

“You can locate a business anywhere in the world today,” Ed McMahon, with the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute, told the group. “Why in the world would you locate it in Memphis, Tennessee over any other place across the globe?”

The answer he gave: quality of life. McMahon said the Memphis region could use the system as a tool to attract employers and employees alike. The system could also help brand the city, he said. 

“Wouldn’t it be nice if Memphis, Tennessee, was thought of as the greenest city in the southern United States?” he asked. “I think you have an opportunity to build that brand.”

The plan was also made attractive to the gathered mayors since it can be implemented piece by piece, instead of all at once. No construction timeline is available yet. 

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton preached vigilance to the group for when the time came to implement the plan.

“Do not be afraid to get knocked down a whole bunch of times,” Wharton told the group. “The [Shelby Farms] Greenline died in late 2001. Of course we resuscitated it. Taking over the CSX line died two or three times. Even in its short life, the Harahan Bridge project [Main Street to Main Street Multi-Modal Connector project] has died so many times.”

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News The Fly-By

Sex and Real Estate

CREDIT: AGG | dreamstime.com

Urban Land Institute trend-watcher Chuck DiRocco says everything comes down to real estate.

“If an adjustable-rate mortgage resets from $600 a month to $900 a month, that’s $300 in disposable income that people are not spending elsewhere,” DiRocco said. “It’s going to affect commercial real estate down the line.”

As one of the authors of the land institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate, DiRocco was in Memphis last week to present the study’s findings and to discuss which markets are the “ones to watch.”

And, frankly, Memphis wasn’t one of them.

In terms of commercial and multi-family development potential, the study ranked Memphis 38th out of 45 metropolitan areas. Topping the list were Seattle, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.

“The top markets to watch fall on the coast,” DiRocco said. “It all comes down to global pathways.”

That and what the study calls “24-hour cities.”

“For years, Emerging Trends has extolled the handful of America’s 24-hour cities — multifaceted markets with desirable, walkable residential neighborhoods near commercial cores: New York [City], Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago. These markets — along with Southern California’s suburban agglomeration and more recently Seattle — have gained further status as the preeminent U.S. global gateways,” read the report.

With the economy on a downswing, investors want to be safe, not sorry. But DiRocco noted that logistics experts are beginning to look inland for global gateways. And that is where local panelists think Memphis could succeed.

“Though we’re not a port city,” said local panelist Jim Mercer of CB Richard Ellis, “I think we’re probably the next best thing.”

With FedEx’s hub and the busiest cargo airport in the nation, Memphis is uniquely situated to become what experts call an “aerotropolis,” a city built around a bustling airport and aviation-intensive businesses.

But, as DiRocco says, everything depends on real estate.

Which might explain why, later that same day at a public hearing, representatives from airport area businesses and the Memphis medical community spoke against the city’s proposed sexually oriented business ordinance.

The area around the airport includes an unlikely combination of Smith & Nephew, Medtronic, Elvis Presley Enterprises, FedEx, and various adult businesses.

If enacted, the city ordinance would replace a new county ordinance that outlaws topless dancing and prohibits alcohol in the clubs. The city ordinance would allow beer sales and topless dancing.

If the City Council decides to do nothing, the county ordinance will go into effect countywide January 1st.

“We would prefer to adopt stricter guidelines,” said Bill Griffin, a senior vice president with Smith & Nephew. “We want to make the area around the airport a nice place to do business.”

John Lawrence, head of the Airport Area Development Corporation, said member businesses were concerned about the secondary effects of sexually oriented businesses, such as crime and falling property values.

“Today, it’s an area where industry is bringing in prospect after prospect. They’re bringing in doctors, researchers. Do we value these businesses?” Lawrence asked.

It seems strippers are standing (or dancing) in the way of Memphis’ potential in the global economy. But that’s not quite fair. As a representative for the sexually oriented businesses, attorney Edward Bearman pointed out that nothing in the new ordinance makes sexually oriented businesses safer or reduces crime.

“The reason the clubs are located near the airport is because that’s where the zoning will allow them,” he said. “They have money invested in this town, just the same as other businesses.”

I’m not going to get into whether clubs should close at 3 a.m. or midnight or whether they should allow beer sales or brown-bagging, nude dancing or semi-nude dancing.

But if the city’s goal is to encourage global pathways through Memphis, then the airport area is a precious commodity. Elvis Presley Enterprises, for instance, has a $250 million plan to transform the area around Graceland much like Disney did in Anaheim, California.

If the city doesn’t enact an ordinance, the county ordinance might regulate the strip clubs right out of business. I’m not sure that’s right, but lap dances and back rooms don’t seem to fit with a global commercial hub and an international tourist destination.

Adult businesses may offer something to see, but they won’t make Memphis a market to watch.