Top 15 Things You Need to Know!

Hey Loves!! I hope all is well!

I know It's usually a top 5 but I've seen a lot of things happening that I felt I needed to share so, here they are!​

Rock Climbing Gym
​A Chattanooga based company is planning to build a 9 million, 32,000 square foot rock climbing facility behind Christian Brothers High School. There will be a 52 foot indoor wall, 40 feet tall outdoor wall, and a kids climbing area. The facility will include a cardio room, weight room, yoga, and a spin class. 


The Cook Convention Center
​The City of Memphis has officially filed a construction permit for redevelopment of the Cook Convention Center that is set to start Quarter 1 of 2018 and wrap up Quarter 4 2019. Mayor Strickland announced the plans for this project but the final say comes from the approval of Memphis City Council. The 175 million dollar expansion and renovation is said not include any City of Memphis general funds or capital improvement program funds.

The Citizen
​The southwest corner of Union and McLean is getting a new tenant. 1835-1837 Union Avenue will soon become home to "The Citizen" and some new retail shopping. The four level design will have 175 apartments, about 26,500 square feet of retail space, and 363 parking spaces. The ground breaking ceremony for the structure happened on Thursday January 4, 2018.

Memphis International Airport 
Let the renovations begin! Concourse B is scheduled for complete shut down by March for a three year renovation project, leaving Delta and southwest operating out Concourse A, and Allegiant, American, & United operating out of concourse C. The 214 million dollar modernization of the 55 year old concourse is said to produce higher ceilings, more natural lighting, wider corridors, new concessions, additional moving walkways, new baggage carousels, and other amenities. The modernization of concourse B will move all airline operations to gate B, have gates A and C closed, but retained for future growth. Check out Flymemphis.com for the complete break down of the reconstruction and it's timeline.

Slice of Soul
New Restaurant Alert! Slice of Soul is the Medical District's latest addition featuring pizza, wings, and sandwiches. The restaurant is located at 1299 Madison Ave in the Madison Heights neighborhood. The lounge style restaurant will have live music four evenings each week with karaoke on Wednesday nights. Owners Anthony Latiker and Howard Bell grew up in Memphis' Westwood neighborhood and were graduates of TSU. They have come back home with great expectations for the growth in the City and to invest in the Memphis community. The grand opening for the restaurant was Thursday, January 11, 2018. I have already seen some themed events at Slice of Soul that I will be attending!

The Madison Hotel
Owners are planning a new restaurant, barbershop, and speakeasy for the building and a three story building adjacent to the hotel. Recently, The Madison Hotel announced it would be closing down it's restaurant, Eighty3, for renovations. Eighty3 is Connected directly to the hotel and was an intimate fine dining restaurant with modern art and great food. A 100,000 grant was filed with Downtown officials as a part of the 250,745 rehabilitation for the building. The application is scheduled to be put into action on January 17, 2018. Total reconstruction is said to start next month and be finished in May of 2018. The Madison is located at 79 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38103. 
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USL
Guess who is a part of The United Soccer League!! Memphis is now one of three teams to join the USL for the 2019 season. The announcement was made on Monday, January 8, 2018. Memphis is now the second city in Tennessee to become home of the USL club in the past three years, continuing the leagues growth in the Southeast.

Raleigh Springs Mall (Update)
Demolition started in March of last year and the completed project has a projected completion date of September of 2018. As stated in a previous blog the 31 million project "The Raleigh Town Center" will include a community center, police precinct, library, and potential retail. According to an article by Shay Arthur of News Chanel 3, members of the Raleigh area seem to be hopeful that the project will bring great new energy to the area. 

Germantown Parkway
There is a four acre piece of vacant property on Germantown Parkway that may be receiving 5 new restaurants. According to the Memphis Business Journal, Southern Properties' Bob Turner is developing the property into a 23,000 square foot of all things edible. Located just south of Walnut Grove at 200 South Germantown Parkway, across the street from the Agriculture International Center may soon be five new eateries for you to add to your list.. 

National Black Theater Museum 
The executive producer of Hattiloo Theatre, Ekundayo Bandele, wants to invest 50 to 100 million into creating a National Black Theater Museum. The preferred home of the potential National Black Museum is in Overton Park where the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is located.. The Brooks Museum is likely to relocate to the Downtown area so, there will definitely be a need to fill that space. The museum would be interactive, utilize  touchscreen technology, and take visitors from the 1400s where in Africa music, costumes, and dance were used to tell stories to today. In efforts to make things fair there was a 90 day proposal submission started so, that other entities could possible acquire the space. The Museum has gained support from local and non local parties and will continuing its pursuit.

Oak Court and Wolfchase Mall
It has been reported that H&M will be opening up two more stores in Memphis, giving us a total of 4 Mid-South Location (Current locations are Collierville and Tanger). One of the locations will be Oak Mall (set to open this summer) and the other being Wolfchase Mall (TBA). Last year when it was announced that Oak Court had new owners it was also announced that a significant new business would be coming to Oak Court. The new business was never mentioned. so, I am wondering if this was the mentioned addition. Maybe there is hope for our struggling Malls. I still have hopes for a Mall of Memphis remake!


Overton Square
Well, Overton Square is saying Goodbye to Bar Louie BUT saying (soon) hello to a Hopdoddy Burger Bar (to open within 90 days), Chipotle (to open within 90 days), an expanded LaFayette Music Room, and possibly a 100 room boutique hotel (construction set to start this fall). Apparently the owner's of the property at 2125 Madison Ave bought Bar Louie out of their 10 year lease. The owner's of the property (Loeb Properties) are hoping to fill the spot that once held Bar Louie with a fine dining restaurant. According to the owners the spot is in high demand and they are excited about what will possibly occupy the space. 


Trader Joe's
Finally, Finally, FINALLYYYYYYY(In my Jess Hilarious voice) there are signs of Trader Joe's coming to Memphis. For more than two years Memphians have been waiting for the arrival of Trader Joe's. I personally had begun to think it would never make it's debut BUT to my surprise a building permit was submitted this week to start the construction of the anticipated American grocery store. 2130 Exeter will be a $750,000 project and if everything goes well the store will open in 2018. They haven't gotten a confirmed yes but we're hoping that since Germantown's alderman approved a development contract that referenced Trader Joe's we'll be seeing it soon..


Atomic Tiki
1545 Overton Park Avenue will be getting an island themed bar with tropical drinks and food to match. Located less than a mile from Crosstown this bar will contribute to the areas redevelopment and give crosstown residents a bar that is in walking distance. The grand opening for the Tiki Bar is set for tomorrow, Friday January 26th. I'm interested to see the layout of the bar and explore the creativity of owners Brian McCabe and Jeff Johnson so, I may attend the opening. It would be nice to have a peace of paradise in the land of the Muddy Mississippi.


Dwell at Shelby Farms
According to the Memphis Business Journal Memphis City Council approved a plan for "mixed-use"  neighborhood at Raleigh LaGrange Road. The neighborhood would be developed in phases. Built during phase one would be 250 apartment units within four buildings. After the completion of phase one more three to four story apartments should follow. Also, named in the plan are  town houses, single family homes and a senior living facility with assisted living and memory care units. By the time the project comes to an end the neighborhood should consist of a 100 units for a senior living space, 530 apartment units (250 of 530 in phase 1), 140 town homes, 160 Single family-homes. Phase 1  is scheduled to start in 2019 if things continue to go as planned.