LIBERTY PARK $112M PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT TAKES STEP FORWARD

SAMUEL HARDIMAN // DAILY MEMPHIAN // VIEW ARTICLE

Further development at Liberty Park took a key step forward Tuesday, July 23.

The Memphis City Council voted in a committee to approve ground leases for the private development on the north side of Liberty Park bordering Central Avenue, what the city says is an essential step in paying off the Memphis Sports and Event Center’s debt. The council still must approve the leases at its regular August meeting. 

The private development could change Midtown. High 5 Entertainment — a planned laser tag, bowling and and axe-throwing facility — would have a 30-year ground lease with four, 10-year options.

Capstone Development plans to build a 150-room hotel and 200 apartments. The multifamily development would have a 30-year lease with six, 10-year options; the hotel would have a 30-year lease and four, 10-year options.

The developments collectively add up to $112.5 million in private investment at Liberty Park. The City has invested $13 million in bonds into the land where the development will be located. 

Antonio Adams, the City’s interim chief operating officer, said the entertainment facility, apartments and hotel are the “highest and best use” of this part of Liberty Park. 

Scott Emley, CEO of High 5 Entertainment, spoke to the City Council Tuesday. 

Emley said, “We would like to be known as the Chick-fil-A of entertainment.” He said the facility would be a “mall of entertainment” that could include a TopGolf swing suite, miniature golf and arcade in addition to the axe-throwing, laser tag and two types of bowling.

He said the structure of the deal is helpful because the company won’t seek financing for the land it’s leasing. 

The Council’s action on the development comes as the City hopes for sales-tax growth in the Liberty Park Tourism Development Zone, a district that stretches from the former Fairgrounds throughout Cooper-Young, Midtown and into the Crosstown area. 

The district captures sales-tax growth and uses that growth, known as increment, to pay the bonds on the Memphis Sports and Events Center. The Daily Memphian reported last year that growth did not match the city’s projections and the city remains underwater on the bonds. 

Data the City administration shared with the City Council Tuesday showed it expects to use bond-reserve funds and city general-fund dollars to pay off the bonds up to at least 2027. 

Ashley Cash, the City’s housing and community development director, said the proposed development would help pay off the bonds and generate sales-tax growth.

This spring, the Council pumped the brakes on the developments for lack of information. Council member Chase Carlisle said the city had to stop making bad deals.

On Tuesday, members praised the amount of information the City administration had shared. Carlisle was absent.

Pearl Walker, Michalyn Easter-Thomas, Rhonda Logan and Yolanda Cooper-Sutton expressed excitement about the project.

Logan said AAU parents attending basketball tournaments would be excited to use the facility. 

Council member Janika White said, “I still have a lot of questions,” and asked why the development had ground leases. She asked why the city had chosen the development structure.

Mary Claire Borys, director of strategic initiatives, said other cities have given large cash grants to entertainment facilities or land for $1. 

“For once, Memphis came out with the best deal,” Borys said. 

James Maclin of M&M Enterprises is partnering with Capstone Development on the multifamily and hotel at Liberty Park. He is a member of Memphis Fourth Estate’s board of directors, the parent organization of The Daily Memphian.