Historic Stereo Alley makes a return Downtown; MEM lands new flight | Mane Street Memphis

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Constellation Properties redeveloped The Commonwealth building

The developers behind the Sterick Building are bringing back another little piece of history alongside the 29-story "Queen of the South."

On Thursday, July 11, the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board (LUCB) approved a street name change for Bates Alley and Park Lane to Stereo Alley. The alleyway is located next to the Sterick Building and begins at Second Street and extends to Fourth Street. The alley is between the Court Avenue and Madison Avenue city blocks. Stereo Alley (1,157 feet in total) runs from North Second Street to Fourth Street. (The approval was part of the board's consent agenda.)

"This new, combined alley will be the heart of a new district anchored by the redevelopment of the Sterick Building," Stuart Harris of Constellation Properties said in a letter of intent.

Harris' Constellation Properties is redeveloping the historic Sterick Building . Constellation Properties, which also helped redevelop the nearby Commonwealth Building, purchased the Sterick in March 2023. Plans for the building are still in the design phase, but the initial concept is to restore the Sterick into a mixed-use tower , anchoring a new Downtown neighborhood district. Harris said the focus is the Sterick Building right now, but creating and maintaining a district for both residents and tourists alike remains a key component of Constellation Properties' strategy.

The Stereo Alley addition is another element to that creation of a Downtown district. The name also pays homage to the thruway's history. In the 1960s, radio station KLYX broadcasted music through Park Lane alley as a means to make the walkway and nearby roadway friendly for pedestrians. A sign for "Stereo Alley" was added during this time as well, Harris said in a letter of intent to the LUCB.

"We believe that codifying this name is a nod to both Memphis music history as well as the intention of activating the space, which our projects aim to do," Harris said.

Memphis home sales down, inventory up in June

Inventory is way up in the Memphis region, despite slightly declining home sales, according to a June Memphis Area Association of Realtors (MAAR) report.

“Sales were up 12.1% from last month,” MAAR President Scott Bettis said in a statement. “And there’s enough inventory for buyers to have a few options."

Between June 2024 home sales were down 11.7% compared to June 2023, despite the month-over-month increase. Average sales price was changed minimally compared to last year with a 0.1% change between June 2024 and 2023.

Inventory is at 3,627, its highest mark since October 2023 and only the second time the area's inventory has exceeded 3,600 homes since 2022. The most active markets in June 2024 were Cordova, East Memphis and South Memphis. The trio combined for 32.5% of the total 1,580 homes sold last month. The three submarkets also remain the three most active markets in 2024, according to the report.

Most active markets in 2024

• East Memphis: 1,221
• Cordova: 747
• South Memphis: 601
• Frayser: 499
• Hickory Hill: 496

The neighborhoods with the largest average sales change this year are Southwind, Downtown and Frayser. Southwind has seen a 38.9% increase in average sales price jumping from $362,628 in 2023 to $505,541 in 2024. Frayser has also seen a 12.1% increase from $99,908 to $111,961 in that same time span. Downtown Memphis has seen a decrease by 30.4%. The Downtown market has 218 homes sold this year compared to 187, however the average sales price is down to $219,071 compared to $314,942 a year ago, according to the report.

Indoor storage making room at former Commercial Appeal building

On July 12, New Jersey-based design firm The Bannet Group filed an administrative site plan permit with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development for an indoor storage facility at 495 Union Ave.

The facility will be located at the warehouse portion of the site. In April, California-based Global Storage Partners purchased a section of the subdivided 495 Union Ave. site for $3.7 million .

New York-based 495 Union Ave. LLC, a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Twenty Lake Holdings Inc., purchased the former Commercial Appeal Building for $3.9 million in 2019, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds. That purchase included the warehouse, five-story office building and the adjacent parking lot at 597 Beale St. (Twenty Lake Holdings is the real estate arm for New York-based hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which also owns newspapers.)

In September 2023, plans for a subdivision at the 6.48-acre site were filed . The subdivided property was split between the 4.12-acre,179,612-square-foot warehouse and 2.95-acre, 128,773-square-foot office building. The subdivision allowed the two properties to be sold separately.

In February 2024, a zoning permit exploring possibility for a self-storage facility along the warehouse subdivision was filed by 495 Union Ave. LLC. In March, Global Storage Partners acquired that subdivision.

The 2.95-acre office building subdivision remains up for sale for $4.9 million via the real estate firm Colliers .

Memphis International Airport announces seasonal nonstop flight to Dallas/Fort Worth

On July 12, Memphis International Airport (MEM) announced a seasonal nonstop flight via Spirit Airlines between Memphis and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport through Nov. 5. The flight will operate three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, according to the news release.

“We know our Memphis guests enjoy low fares to popular destinations, and the addition of Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to our Memphis International Airport route map provides easy access to the Lone Star State this summer,” Spirit Airlines vice president of network planning John Kirby said in a statement.

Spirit will be using an 182-seat Airbus 320 as the aircraft for the seasonal flight service. The flight schedule will operate as followed:

• Departing from Memphis at 7:47 p.m., arriving in Dallas at 9:31 p.m.
• Departing from Dallas at 5:27 p.m., arriving in Memphis at 6:57 p.m.

Memphis Tourism offices undergoing renovations

On June 27, Olive Branch-based Code Solutions Group filed a commercial alteration permit with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development for commercial improvements at the Memphis Tourism office.

Memphis Tourism is located at 47 Union Ave. The estimated cost of construction for the improvements is $1,930,000, according to the permit application.

Memphis Tourism vice president of communications Kevin Kern said crews have already begun stabilizing the building, which dates back to the 1880s. Crews will also be replacing windows, skylights and improving the roofs and elevators inside the 16,131-square-foot building.

Memphis Tourism staff are still working in the building five days a week and the lobby and front desk remain open to the public, Kern said. The renovation work is expected to be completed by late 2024 or early 2025, he said.

Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com , 901-426-0679 or via X: @neilStrebig .

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Historic Stereo Alley makes a return Downtown; MEM lands new flight | Mane Street Memphis