Big River Crossing sparks investment in Downtown

Developers have spent millions along a Downtown walking and bicycling route in the four years since the Main to Main Intermodal Connector project was announced.

As Memphis prepared for thousands of people to attend the Big River Crossing dedication and lighting Saturday, officials said they expect the Harahan Bridge and the broader Main to Main project to benefit Downtown for years to come.

"Once The Big River Crossing is open, we anticipate that even more Memphians and tourists will flock to this part of Downtown, bringing new amenities and businesses with it," said Terence Patterson, president of the Downtown Memphis Commission.

A $40 million project anchored by a $15 million federal transportation grant, Main to Main is credited with speeding the South End's transformation from desolate landscape to bustling bedroom community. The neighborhood borders the Memphis approach to the Harahan, a 4,973-foot-long Mississippi River railroad bridge built in 1916. Big River Crossing refers to the recent addition of a boardwalk on the Harahan to accomodate bicycles and pedestrians.

Main to Main also has given a long-overdue facelift to sidewalks, curbs and the pedestrian Main Street Mall, helping a financially-strapped city make up for years of deferred maintenance on basic urban infrastructure.

It also figures prominently in the city's grant application for South City, a $200-million-plus plan to redevelop  the last public housing complexes and surrounding area just south and east of Downtown.

"The synergy of all of these activities create an environment where we believe growth and development will continue, not only in the Downtown core, but the areas on the outskirts of Downtown as well," city Housing and Community Development director Paul Young said.

Officials say $225 million in new construction that has occurred along Main, Front and Carolina can primarily be attributed to demand that had been building since the recession. But Main to Main provided a spark for development to happen at a faster pace than the free market alone would have dictated.

Patterson and others at the Downtown development agency point to Memphis developer Henry Turley Jr.'s $26 million South Junction apartments as jump-starting the latest wave of interest in the South End.

Turley launched South Junction in a former railroad yard at Carolina and Florida in part because he didn't want Main to Main users passing through a post-industrial wasteland.

Big River Crossing boardwalk on Harahan opens

During an Urban Land Institute-sponsored tour, Turley said, "We got on bicycles and rode the prospective route from way the hell up north to the (Harahan) Bridge, and I said, 'We can't present this to the world as our idea of development.' "

Turley and partners are adding nearly 600 apartment units with selling points like bicycle storage lockers in common areas. Another developer's project, the Artesian condominiums on Riverside Drive, is also emphasizing proximity to the bicycling route.

With South Junction nearing full occupancy, Turley jumped into a $55 million overhaul of Central Station, a former train station, into apartments, a hotel, retail, offices and movie theater. Other developers saw the market response to South Junction and were encouraged to pursue projects like the $28 million Tennessee Brewery redevelopment.

Seeing the potential of Main to Main and foot traffic from South Junction, a group of entrepreneurs including Doug Carpenter opened Loflin Yard, a back yard-style dining and recreation spot at Florida and Carolina.

"We had no idea how successful it would be. It's been six months and we've already had to expand," said Carpenter, owner of DCA, a  Memphis advertising and public relations firm.

Main to Main and Big River Crossing, he said, are highlighting South End as a vibrant, pedestrian-oriented community.

Architect Todd Walker, whose firm archimania plans to develop a corner of Main and Carolina,   said he believes Main to Main's impact was "secondary to the fact that development was maybe long overdue." Walker also believes South End has tilted too far toward residential development and needs more office and commercial to create a proper balance.

Regarding Main to Main, Walker said, "I think surely it has helped that area, but the timing was right for development regardless."

Carpenter countered, "I would not subscribe to that theory. That's kind of a wait and see theory. The wisdom of Paul Morris and the city to pursue this (federal) TIGER grant and parlay it with private investment, that's been a powerful catalyst. If you wanted to wait around for the real entrepreneur, you would be waiting a while."

Paul Morris began working on Main to Main as president of the Downtown commission and stayed on as manager of Big River Crossing construction after going to work for his family's auto glass business last year.

Main to Main is a partnership of federal, state, Memphis, Shelby County and West Memphis, Arkansas, governments and private donors. The project was announced in June 2012 as the winner of a TIGER grant -- Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery -- part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus program.

The pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi generated the most buzz, but dollars for Main Street infrastructure were crucial to continuing South Main's renaissance and setting the stage for further development, Morris said.

The project includes a  wheelchair-accessible path on Main from Henry Street on the north end to Carolina on the south; a reconstruction of Civic Center Plaza, eliminating drainage problems that periodically caused flooding in City Hall's parking garage; and bicycle lanes on Front Street. What it did not include, however, was repairs to the Memphis Area Transit Authority-controlled trolleyway in the middle of Main Street, Morris said.

Before the grant was obtained, the Downtown commission had been trying for years to come up with funding to fix broken and crumbling sidewalks, pavers, curbs and gutters, Morris said.

"The difference in the public infrastructure is pretty dramatic," Morris said. "All of these things make it a more attractive area" for residents, visitors and developers. "You don't want to put $30 million into a project and have the public infrastructure in the area be nasty."

Carlisle Corp. came into the Hotel Chisca redevelopment after Main to Main was announced, but streetscape improvements were a factor in the Memphis firm's decision to become the lead investor, director of real estate Chase Carlisle said.

"Making it as friendly, clean and inviting as you can always makes investors more comfortable, especially when you're bringing in outside banks. They're very sensitive to what they're investing in," Carlisle said.

Carlisle footed the property owner's share of sidewalk costs while Main to Main ensured a seamless run of sidewalks, curbs, drainage and pedestrian crossings at intersections.

"That block was heavily deteriorated, and now we have a beautiful, brand new sidewalk," Carlisle said. "There's just a clean line, all the way from Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue down South Main."

Projects on the near horizon range from a California group's conversion of 477 S. Main into a boutique hotel to a Nashville developer's plan to build $15 million in affordable housing on North Main at Looney.

Carpenter said, "I think there's things on the drawing board, and there's also growth in occupancy of buildings that have been looking for a new or renewed purpose. I think for anybody who's running a business or starting a business, to not have the right kind of infrastructure around them is a drag."

Main to Main, Carpenter added, "helps consumers feel more comfortable, it helps tourists feel more comforatable, and that just builds on itself."