What Memphis developments could benefit from new venture fund & where each project stands

A new local venture capital fund announced Thursday aims to provide additional assistance for development projects throughout Memphis.

The River City Momentum Fund's goal is to help rejuvenate momentum and interest in Memphis for both local and out-of-state developers. Several notable mixed-use projects have stalled since the pandemic, while others have been on hold as developers continue to fight through financing hurdles.

The fund was announced by Chance Carlisle, president and CEO of Carlisle Development Corp., and Tyrone Burroughs, president and CEO of First Choice Sales & Marketing Company.

Here is a look at four of the notable projects the River City Momentum Fund is targeting and where those projects stand.

The Walk | Downtown Memphis

Arguably — for better, or for worse — The Walk is one of the most recognizable and discussed developments in Downtown Memphis.

On July 11, the developers behind the mixed-use project announced a change in ownership structure . That announcement shared the news that Kevin Adams and David Dlugolenski of Big River Development have restructured the partnership group and "are finalizing joint venture documentation with a new local development partner." The new-look development group is planning to go forward with new updates and incentive proposals to the Center City Revenue Finance Corp., an affiliate board of the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), in August.

Big River Development missed its closing deadline for the first phase of construction in June 2024. The developers were expected to close on the entire project by Dec. 31, 2025, after the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved an extension for the project's payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) incentive in December 2022 .

The mixed-use project has been stalled since it was first approved for a 30-year PILOT in August 2020. The 29-acre project is located along 16 parcels of land directly across from AutoZone Park along Union Avenue. Cost estimates for the project exceeded $1 billion with the first phase having an estimated cost of more than $741 million. That first phase would include 349 hotel rooms between two Hilton brand hotels (a Tempo and Embassy Suites), 702 apartments and a 1,514-vehicle parking garage. The Walk would also include more than 142,000 square feet of office space and 27,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

The project was first announced in 2018, then referred to as Union Row.

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The Racquet Club | East Memphis

In September, Carlisle Corp. announced plans for the redevelopment of the former Racquet Club at 5111 Sanderlin Ave. The 12.5-acre site will include a mixed-use campus consisting of a hotel, 16 townhomes, office buildings and a pedestrian promenade. The project, according to a development permit filed on Sept. 8, will be called Mid-City Memphis.

The site will also include 50,000 square feet of retail and a 500,000-square-foot parking garage. Carlisle Corp. began buying up property near the Racquet Club in 2020.

Its affiliate company, RCM Devco LLC, purchased the main, 9.2-acre Racquet Club site for $7,738,263 in December 2020. The real estate company acquired the adjacent properties located at 5141 Sanderlin Ave., and 5148 Wheelis Drive for a combined $3.1 million in November 2021 and November 2022, respectively, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds.

Central Yards | Midtown

Central Yards is another notable project that has been stalled since its initial announcement. In January 2021, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved a 20-year PILOT for the $76 million mixed-use development near Cooper-Young.

Developer Clayton Kemker's Central Yards was planned to add more than 51,000 square feet of retail, office and commercial space along with 348 apartments and 615 parking spaces along 5.65 acres near the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Cooper Street.

The project hit another snag in November 2022, after one of Kemker's financing partners James Zhong pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in a $3.36 billion Bitcoin fraud case . In a July 2023, report from the Memphis Business Journal, Kemker acknowledged his company had to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as a result, putting the project into limbo.

On Tuesday, Chance Carlisle of Carlisle Corp. said he is working on finalizing a closing agreement for the property and will be a development partner once the project comes back online.

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One Beale | Downtown Memphis

This is one of Carlisle Corp.'s largest projects and a project that has seen several additions over the years.

The One Beale development includes The Landing Residences, Caption by Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, along with Amelia Gene's in the former William C. Ellis & Sons Machine Shop at 255 S. Front St . The project has been conducted in phases, its most recent one (Phase V) includes the 210-apartment complex, The Oliver.

The Oliver, located in the former Nylon Net building at 7 Vance Ave., is finishing construction and currently leasing apartments . Perhaps, the most notable portion of One Beale is the missing one: The Grand Hyatt.

In August 2023, Carlisle confirmed that plans for the 359-room Grand Hyatt are paused . It is a sharp contrast in comparison to the financing fiasco the project went through during the fall and winter of 2022. After former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland's administration and Carlisle Corp., could not come to an agreement over bond financing, Carlisle announced the project as dead during a news conference in November 2022 .

Currently, the proposed location for the Grant Hyatt is a construction area and parking lot for construction equipment and staging.

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

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What Memphis developments could benefit from new venture fund & where each project stands