Saturday, July 3, 2010
Bass Pro 2012 ... Meanwhile
Posted by John Branston on Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Meanwhile, here are ten other pressing downtown problems/opportunities that can be taken care of before 2012. Feel free to add to the list.
Find a main tenant and secondary tenants for One Commerce Square, the former home of National Bank of Commerce, Suntrust Bank, and the Glankler Brown law firm. An anchor tenant such as Pinnacle Airlines would be a game changer. So would a dark office tower at the center of the city skyline.
Interstate 40 splits the north end of downtown and The Pyramid from the convention center and the rest of downtown. If you walk from the convention center to a restaurant in The Pinch, you go through a dark, dirty no-man's land under the expressway. Clean it up and turn it into a parking lot with some security.
The Horizon is the nearly completed almost-new residential tower on the South Bluffs. It is owned by the lender, Capital One. Is the plan to just let it sit there in its present state indefinitely?
Benny Lendermon, the head of the Riverfront Development Corporation, has called Tom Lee Park "the worst waterfront park in America." Even as casual hyperbole, this isn't true. The park has great views, parking, and decent sidewalks. But it could use shade and drinking water. Is a tent and a snack cart during the summer months out of the question?
Directly across from Tom Lee Park at Beale Street there is an overgrown vacant lot. Clean it up, take down the fence, turn it into green space until something better comes along. Same for vacant lots across from the old Tennessee Brewery on the south end. Clean it, fill it, and green it is a quick, inexpensive, temporary fix.
The trolley tracks on Madison are a pain. What's the point?
Do Memphis and downtown need both the Riverfront Development Corporation and the Center City Commission?
It seems like Peabody Place with its stores and movie theater just sort of disappeared. Time for Peabody Place 2.0.
Cite the owner of the Chisca Hotel — the never-changing wreck south of FedEx Forum — for violation of anti-neglect.
Resolve the ownership of the Memphis Redbirds and AutoZone Park.
Comments (55)
Showing 1-50 of 55
JB (the elder?--I'd say the better looking but that'd get me into a whole world of hurt): you're right to put One Commerce Square at the top of the list. Shame on Glankler Brown for abandoning it (and downtown). What did the law school know, coming downtown, that one of the city's pre-eminent, "white shoe" law firms apparently didn't?
The legal community of EVERY city I can think of has always understood the importance of maintaining a downtown identity, even at the expense of expense or of logistical inconvenience. Wachtel, Lipton would no sooner abandon Manhattan for Scarsdale, Alston & Bird abandon Atlanta for Buckhead or Latham & Watkins abandon Los Angeles for Century City than they would abandon their "white shoes." Even here, some law firms that opened offices in the hinterlands eventually closed them. I can't help but think that GB will eventually rue its short-sighted decision.
The attitude of many Memphians about downtown is shockingly ignorant. There would be no Bartletts, Colliervilles or Germantowns (and no, not even an "East Memphis") without a downtown Memphis. It's like saying an atom could exist without a nucleus, or the solar system without a sun. Thanks goodness we've had people like Phillip Belz, Henry Turley and Pitt Hyde who've realized that.
I remember, though, when One Memphis Place was affectionately known as One Empty Place (or, better yet, the Darth Vader Building). Somehow, that place managed to achieve full (or nearly full) occupancy. The bankruptcy court relocating there was part of the solution. When that happened, it also attracted other tenants who were in that court's natural orbit.
Which raises an interesting possibility for the former NBC Building: why not move some of the city and county offices that are apparently running out of space in the courthouse (and elsewhere) into the neighboring skyscraper? Some so-called "row offices" (e.g., Register of Deeds) have moved out of downtown lately, instead of staying where they belong. The NBC Building would be a perfect alternative, and it might (like it did in the case of "One Empty Place") have a similarly synergistic effect.
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Marty, Tom Jones and others have noted that government contributed to the flight to East Memphis by moving some of its own offices. Your idea sounds good.
Is Thomason Hendrix still in that building? They used to have the top two floors.
I am not sure why Tom Lee Park takes so much crap. Everyday I see kids playing, dogs walking, tourists taking photos, and couples courting. And it is right on the freaking river. Developers just want to get their greedy little mittens on it. A few trees and some water fountains would be great. But why would we spend money on water and trees when we could be spending it on people?
03: don't make the mistake of thinking that just because I like 38103 means I like you. In fact, I think impersonating a Zip Code may be a federal crime. Consider that free legal advice.:)
get an RDC task force together for some night ops in Shelby Farms, borrow a few hundred of their million trees and plant them in Tom Lee.
there are lots of old buildings in memphis that need to be torn down some of them are to big and to old to be used for anything like the old sears building on watkins and theres and old abandon milk company on the corner of walker and bellevue and old warehouses at crump and kentucky and the old showcase theater at park and airways
Public transportation is not a pain, especially not when it is cheaper, more pleasant, and more reliable than the bus. The trolley line needs to be expanded, not dismantled.
Good job by the Redbirds tonight winning in bottom of 9th 7-6. Over 13,000 came out for a great game and fireworks after. Baseball, fireworks and the 4th of July really go together well. Good job Memphis and Redbirds!
Great job in pointing out what needs to be done downtown - now do a cover story with the key stake holders on each item you mention - ask Belz for an update on Peabody Place - keep after Cap One on the Horizon - ask Pinnacle Airlines if they plan to move into One Commerce and put their logo in lights at the top of the building - give Glanker Brown more grief - do an interview with the new CCC president and chairman - Cover Story Please - Oh and while we are at it lets change Forrest Park into a new park that honors our TN/MS/ARK veterans of the gulf war - and lets ask Fred Smith (who did a great job with the funding on the Washington DC WW2 monument) to help lead the funding effort.
Happy fourth, everyone! For us it'll be the usual. A great big cookout, plenty of beer, some swimming, and we'll wrap up the day like we always do: gathering unsuspecting guests around the plasma for a viewing of "Sophie's Choice."
Mark, that was indeed a moving end in the 9th and a great pyro display after. The rocketry is well underway in North Memphis at 10 AM. Happy INDEPENDENCE day!
I agree with Melanie.
I say EXTEND the trolley down Madison to East Parkway. Then it will connect Cooper-Young, Tucker-Jefferson, Evergreen, Orange Mound, & Overton Park with downtown.
It could also be vital in making Overton Square appealing to investors, and could tie in with the recent decision by city council to make midtown more pedestrian-friendly/urbanized.
While I don't disagree about extending the trolley, they need to do it with the intention of it serving as a transit tool and not a novelty like it's treated now.
Great points JBr (so JBa doesn't become offended or confused ;-))
TV-
Just because no one in downtown likes you, doesn't mean you have to be such a downer about everything going on here. Plenty of people go to Christine's. I would ride the trolley into midtown. A lot of people like the idea of incorporating old buildings with new purposes...jeez, you act like this is a personal attack on you.
In Tommy's World, everything that doesn't completely jibe with his paranoid rantings IS a personal attack on Tommy.
"The more successful beggars will sell individual beers from their 12 pack at a profit which the other beggars will GLADLY pay because now they don't have to get hassled going into a store."
Isn't that called capitalism? Who knows, one of those guys could build up his business to rival Canale and Barboro.
tommy. wrong number, once again. Been writing about Bass Pro since 2004, when I wrote this: "Of course it would be a gamble. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's might be as lasting and lucrative as riverboat casinos or as faddish as Hard Rock Cafes and factory-outlet malls." As for Tom Lee Park, you don't know what you're talking about. Lots of people enjoy it. Check it out today. And as for its shortcomings, who's responsible if not your beloved RDC, which wasted all its time and money on a boat dock? One more time, why don't you cut the insults and start your own site?
John, I think you need to give Cravens a shot at caricaturizing Tommy, maybe something in a dartboard motif.
Scott: I don't think anyone can do as good a job of caricaturing Tommy V as he's already done himself.
Tommy's our very own, local version of Glenn Beck (or Anne Coulter). He doesn't believe half the crap he spews (nobody could), but he does it because he thrives on the attention it gets him, and because he enjoys the rise he gets out of rational folks ("liberals" and "pole-smokers," in his universe) he tries to alienate with his bullshit.
He's really kind of like a housefly: he's pesky, a nuisance and more than a little unsanitary (eating shit will do that to you), but ultimately, the best thing you can do is ignore him because he's got a fairly short life cycle. Geez, I hope he can't (or hasn't) laid any eggs (other than the ones he routinely lays, rhetorically).
Whatever you do, though, don't try to argue with him or persuade him of anything (i.e., don't take his bait). That's the ultimate exercise in futility, but what's worse is, it only makes him madder. As I said when I compared him to one of those homeless babblers: leave him to his own delusions.
P.S. Nonetheless, nothing I've said should prevent you from being amused by TV's antics. Think of him as a circus clown: you don't have to join him in taking pies to the face, or his other pratfalls, to get a kick out of his schtick.
Basketball courts at Tom Lee Park? You're joking I hope. That is one element we don't need on Memphis' front porch. Argue as you will but this is the truth. Keep the basketball courts close to the police stations (like Halle) as possible.
Tommy wouldn't be happy with any park that didn't offer Pronto pups and chicken on a shtick.
I just recently moved back to Memphis, The city has alot of potential in the riverfront area. I lived in Louisville, Kentucky and the fireworks show is one of the main attractions every year before the Kentucky Derby. I can't believe that Memphis lets so many things go to waste. Start local fundraisers to provide money for fireworks next year. Add more spray parks for children and adults to actually get out and enjoy the summer heat. Have more music festivals on the riverfront. Re-invent downtown, while keeping the true essence of Memphis and the Beale Street area alive.
Marty, your last 50 posts center around your analysis of my life. It seems as YOU are the one who needs to start a webasite honoring me. You are obsessed!
Regarding Christines.... My point is that the CCC came up with $80,000 to give to who? Young, aspiring kids with diverse upstart businesses? Ah, no, they gave it to a woman already farting through silk so she can run a new business with someone else's idea. Ah yes, and Automatic Slims.
Do you see why I bloody your noses? You cry out for the little people, but remain silent when the little people get looked over.
You liberal scum claim to be for the little guy, but as I have said all along, Downtown is a socialite clique polluted with closed minded bastards who have no tolerance for anything that looks different than they do.
I told all who would listen from day one that the beggar police force was a waste of $250,000 that did nothing more than appease downtown socialites who make up all kinds of stories about beggars being violent, which they aren't. 250 K down the crapper.
Then we have another liberal racist shuddering at the thought of basketball courts. Whatsammater Midtown Mark, only like blacks when they look like AC Wharton?
I will be on one of the panels for a rap music business seminar for Memphis Rap.com in September. Why don't you come see me and I will turn over the mic so you can tell everyone how you think kids who like basketball don't belong ANYWHERE near your precious Downtown. Boy, you really showed me up.. calling you a socialite.
You liberals really are hypocritical creeps. You LOVE minorities, as long as they look like you idiots and don't play basketball, rap, wear droopy pants or beg.
Like I said when Branston interviewed me............. The people associated with the DNA, SMA and most activist groups downtown are effete socialites.
MIdtown mark isn't a liberal, fatass. he's a conservative like you. Hey badass, why didn't you serve in the military? Closet "Polesmoker" that you are.
Tommy isn't going to dignify your questions with a response Packrat, he will just keep on calling veterans 'cowards', 'anti-American' and 'pussies', and at some point demand proof he ever said that, before retreating into denial.
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He's been gone a while. Maybe some Gtown Conservatives finally beat him up and ran him out for making them look bad.
Tommeh, you know I love you man, in a purely heterosexual sense of course, so please don't take me the wrong way. All these comments peppered with colorful references to whizzing and jizzing in the face/chin etc., are starting to worry me. I have tried to forget my liberal ways, but I can't help a certain level of knee-jerk acceptance, so if that's your thing, I'm cool with that, I won't judge you. But as a burgeoning conservative of the Tommy Volinchak School, I also have to say, geez you sick bastard, keep it in the bedroom, or the bathroom, as the case may be.
And no, you can't spank me in the comments section.
Belz Enterprises is waiting for full completion of its' $450 million hotel expansion in Orlando before starting on "Peabody Suites". They only have so much credit and can't take on both projects at the same time.
The Horizon? Well, the flyer trashed that building with its' "Lost Horizon" cover story making up crap like "the building is not sealed with windows, etc. and will be overrun with mold". All the while, drive by the building and see that it has had all of its' windows for a long, long time.
The pigeon shit trap known as the Chisca Hotel is owned by COGIC. Don't even get me started. They could redevelop the place if the female members had a "Stupid hat sidewalk sale". What a shame, all the investment on South Main Street and look what they do (won't even pick up the trash). I hope their convention in St. Louis burns down with them in it.
Rap music? The ultimate oxymoron. Rap music business? The ultimate exploitation (an updated version of "blacksploitation").
Way to go, TV; why not make some bread off the credulous and gullible, eh? As my hero, H.L. Mencken, once said, no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. Tommy's apparently adopted that as his MO.
Speaking of "rap music business," I have some bad news for you, TV: you're white, dude. Step aside. Oh, I forgot: most of the producers, promoters, recording company owners, and the folks who make the serious money from black music genres (and that ain't the folks who wear grills and other bling) are (and have always been) white. MCA, CBS, Warner, Sony, BMI, etc. all took over the major black record labels (Motown, Stax, etc.). And then, of course, you have the owners of radio stations, and other sources of music replays (Disney, Apple, etc.), which are also white-owned.
Once again, blacks toil in the fields and whites make the money. Looks to me like a repeat of the plantation mentality, only this time the slaves are being paid a LOT better. Tell us how to make money on our music, Massa Tommy.
Sorry Packrat, but NO. Death to COGIC because they are a societal epidemic & they don't tip restaurant servers!
We're attempting to hook up with The Erikson Group about that. We'd like to add some real incentives for our growing customer base: Water slides, concessions, a country music showcase, Hall Of The Bleached Presidents, etc.
You're like the hyper aggressive cartoon character who throws such a wild haymaker that he knocks himself out. All you've done is bloody yourself, coward. Pussy. Limp-dick. Can't get it up anymore can ya? All 4 inches of Ukrainian schvanze, couldn't satisfy a first timer, much less any woman who had anything going for her. Whadya tell your girlfriend first time she saw it, boY? That's what they all look like, honey? yuk-yuk-yuk. what a maroon...... now go beat somebody up, goofball. It won't get you laid, but you'll feel so manly.
Wow, Tommy, that was fun. I enjoyed that. Let's get together and hurl inane, pointless insults again real soon......pencil dick.
Can I join in? Wagon train face, lava head, brain-damaged chinchilla, Debbie Boone wannabe...
Is this anything like the old "Name Game?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJLi5_dyn0 If so, I go with "Chuck." That's just the way I roll.
What ever happened to the jerk (the dance), anyway (or, for that matter, the pony, watusi or frug)? Is it too late for a revival?
Marty says a few interesting things, most of them, as usual, without substance.
"Rap music? The ultimate oxymoron."
Agreed, but that's what it is called. It is sad that " It's hard fo a pimp" was given Academy Award Status right along with "When You Wish Upon A Star". However, it was after all a white liberal panel who decided to grant that award. Was it because liberals think that they have a moral obligation to approve and accept anything blacks do for fear of being called racist? Of course it was. How else could a piece of crap like that even be considered? This is no different that lowering test scores so dummies can get jobs as cops and firemen. Same thing!
:Rap music business? The ultimate exploitation (an updated version of "blacksploitation"). :
So what you are saying is that whites have absolutely no business being involved in anything that is a predominantly black culture? Isn't that the same segregation you liberal hypocrites are opposed to?:
I frequently offer the free use of my recording studio and my time as an engineer, producer and musician to young black kids who want to rap but can't afford to pay places like Ardent.
I have provided countless free recording industry seminars at places like Full Sail, NAMM, Wendy Day's Rap Coalition, and AES. Locally Yarbrough's and Strings and Things can tell you about how much time I have donated to aspiring artists and musicians. I routinely give free music lessons on guitar, bass, harmonica, dobro, keys and yes, the dreaded accordion.
Oh yeah, my Producer's corner was one of the most popular features on Memphis Rap.com, and I provided that information for free as well.
I'm a real exploiter, huh Marty?
:Way to go, TV; why not make some bread off the credulous and gullible, eh? As my hero, H.L. Mencken, once said, no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. Tommy's apparently adopted that as his MO.:
So I can quote you on record as saying blacks who rap are credulous and gullible? Nice Marty, If I would have said that you would have called me every racist slur imaginable.
I AM HOWEVER going to show your comments to M TOWN LUV so he can pass around the community your feelings that blacks are easy to fool. You're gonna be a real popular man very soon Marty. I am going to enjoy this.
:Speaking of "rap music business," I have some bad news for you, TV: you're white, dude.:
Google my friend Wendy Day at Rap Coallition.com. She is accepted amont all rappers as THE source for getting fair contracts and treatment from record labels. She is responsible for negotiating Eminems deals and also David Banner's. Talk to 50 cent, 3-6 or Jay Z about this "horrible" white woman. Go ahead Marty, try to tell those guys about nasty white people.
Also, while you are stuck in the past thinking that Rap is exclusive to blacks you might want to look up Asher Roth, MC Chris, Lady Sovereign or any of the other white rappers who are not only on the rise, but who are also well accepted and respected in what you think is a "black only" club.
:Step aside. Oh, I forgot: most of the producers, promoters, recording company owners, and the folks who make the serious money from black music genres (and that ain't the folks who wear grills and other bling) are (and have always been) white.:
Kind of like this newspaper, eh? Kind of like those bicyclists wanting special lanes?
Marty, you hate being white, I get it. What you need to do is go into the hood, take all your money and cry out. " I'm white, I have no right to be successful, please take all I have and beat me to a pulp." I actually believe that would make you feel better.
:MCA, CBS, Warner, Sony, BMI, etc. all took over the major black record labels:
BMI is a non-profit Performance Rights Organization. Along with their competitors The Jukebox Licensing Organization, ASCAP and SESAC they determine and collect performance royalties for songwriters and publishers. Unless the artist wrote the song, BMI has no involvement with them.
Performance royalties, meaning anytime a song is performed in a public place, a fee has to be paid. BMI has never owned a record label and really has no reason to interact with record labels. Mechanical and synchronization royalties (CDs, print, movies, are a totally different matter.
:(Motown, Stax, etc.). And then, of course, you have the owners of radio stations, and other sources of music replays (Disney, Apple, etc.), which are also white-owned.:
Good grief are you twisted! But I wonder, what are you doing to help young blacks get a better deal and become more self sufficient?
:Once again, blacks toil in the fields and whites make the money.:
Jay - Z made $35 million in 2009, 50 cent - 20 Million, Kanye - $25 million. The list goes on and on. Yeah, the white record execs are REALLY stickin it to those blacks in the fields.
I guess it's only blacks who are struggling to get a record deal, right? There are no starving white musicians. God knows all the guys playing in Memphis are making TONS.
:Looks to me like a repeat of the plantation mentality, only this time the slaves are being paid a LOT better. Tell us how to make money on our music, Massa Tommy.:
Marty, my experience includes over 40 years of professional musicianship, appearances on National TV, a client list that includes Grammy Winners and Gold Record Writers. I am a published book author (Make Money With Your Studio - Hal Leonard) and frequent columnist in several of the world's top music trade publications. My book is in university libraries I have been an invited speaker at places like Full Sail, NAMM, Wendy Day's Rap Coalition. I was a music licensing exec at BMI, an artist representative at the CCMA and a regional coordinator for the Nashville Songwriters Association. I recieved national accolades for working againt republicans who took the Sonny Bono Bill and bastardized it into the Sensenbrenner amendmant.
I don't teach blacks how to rap. I offer help in understanding PRO royalties, engineering techniques and in the event a rapper doesn't ever get that big break, how to find other avenues with his studio investment that can put bread on the table and allow him to live to try another day.
Do blacks hire me out for stuff? Sure, and sometime I hire blacks to help me. Sometime we barter.
To you I guess that's exploitation. The the people who invite me to participate it's viewed as help.
Anytime you want to compare CV's and show me your qualifications in the music industry, I am more than happy to oblige you. You know, for a liberal, you really are for segregation, aren't you?
I mean, in your mind a white shouldn't be able to offer his talents and skills to compliment what a black is doing? So, when a rapper hires me to lay some tracks or build riffs, I am exploiting him? What you are saying is that any involvement a white has in black music is racist and manipulative?
I will end your latest lesson by pointing out that it doesn't matter if I choose to be civil or not, the net result of your debating me is that you wind up looking a fool. You have worthless opinions based on not one ounce of real-world life experience.
Now, lick your wounds and go back with your pals fantasizing about the size of my schlong.
How funny is it that you buffoons have to resort to that crap?
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