Memphis Business Journal - by Andy Ashby -

Beale Street Landing has become a lot like the mighty river it touches: large and slow moving. But it is moving.

Work has started on the project’s third phase while funding for the fourth and final phase remains up in the air.

The project, now at $34 million, is scheduled to be completed by late 2012.

The project initially was expected to be completed in late 2008 at a cost of $29.4 million. That was pushed back to fall 2011 due to the nonprofit Riverfront Development Corp. having to obtain approvals from the Tennessee Historical Commission, adding expense through project redesigns and the rising cost of construction materials.

But now, the project is moving forward again, as Webb Building Corp. is building the first part of the fourth phase, which includes a commercial building with a grass roof, a parking lot and a plaza area. The building will mostly likely hold a restaurant.

“For the first time, we’re doing significant work on the bank side,” Benny Lendermon, president of Riverfront Development Corp., says.

Delays in construction have led to skepticism from some residents about the project ever being finished.

Joey Hagan, principal at Architecture Inc. who can see the Mississippi River from his office, would like to see continued progress.

“I think the argument for whether or not it’s the right project or not is over,” he says. “Right now, we’ve got to finish it.”

Hagan points to the unfinished Horizon residential tower at Riverside Drive’s southern end, which was forced into foreclosure and now stands empty, as a bad way of doing things.

“We can’t have another unfinished disaster at the door of our city,” Hagan says. “They need to find the money, finish the project and move on.”

General contractor LCI Inc. is waiting for the Mississippi River to drop to finish the third phase. It needs to construct pile caps, which are large concrete foundations that will rest on the river bed. These pile caps will support adjustable mooring arms which will hold the floating dock through river level variations of more than 50 feet.

The contractor needs the river to be at a river gauge of zero or below for about a month. The Mississippi River gauge was 10.6 feet on Sept. 1. The river is usually at its lowest during the summer, meaning LCI will probably have to wait until mid-2011 to complete this phase.

“The river for the past two years hasn’t cooperated,” Lendermon says.

The third phase also includes building the floating dock, the mooring arms which hold the dock and a 60-foot-tall helical ramp which leads from Tom Lee Park to the floating dock.

These components are currently being built in Memphis and Iuka, Miss., where they can be floated to the site when they are ready to be installed.

Webb Building Corp. started the third phase in August and should finish it by the end of 2011.

“All of their work will be much more visible than in the past because it’s on the Riverside Drive level,” Lendermon says.

The contractor had to move the fence line into Tom Lee Park to the south in order to hold materials. It will be moved back by the start of Memphis in May, according to Lendermon.

“It’s a work in progress,” Jim Holt, president and chief executive officer of Memphis in May, says. “We look forward, like everyone else, to having an improved waterfront Downtown.”

Holt points out that when completed, Beale Street Landing would add four acres of land adjacent to Tom Lee Park. Dirt was trucked in to create the land.

“That gives us an expanded footprint for Memphis in May Festival events,” he says.

The fourth phase will include terraces, more plaza area and guitar pick-shaped islands extending into the water. The RDC is still $6.7 million short of funding this phase, which would complete the project, even with $1 million in federal funds matched with $1 million from the Hyde Family Foundations and Plough Foundation.

“We’re still working with the city administration and our board to identify additional funding sources,” Lendermon says. “We’re looking at all opportunities to generate funds.”

The fourth phase is the key to the project, according to Lendermon. That includes park areas which include the terraces, the guitar-pick shaped islands and a plaza connecting the project’s various components to the intersection of Riverside Drive and Beale Street.

“I can’t imagine the project being there without the park,” he says. “Everything was designed around the park. It doesn’t work without the park. It would be like building the amphitheater without the stage. That said, you still have to have the money to do it.”

The historic cobblestones to the north of Beale Street Landing is a separate project, even though the two touch.

The RDC has resubmitted plans to the state to satisfy historic issues at the six-acre cobblestones site. The initial plan called for three 10-foot wide walkways extending from Riverside Drive to the Mississippi River. The new plan removes one walkway and reduces the other two to eight-feet wide. Overhead utilities will be moved under the walkways. The new plan also calls for a 300-foot small craft launching ramp. The cobblestone project, listed at $6 million, is being funded through federal money with some matching city funds.

The Mud Island River Park Land Use Study, recently completed by Looney Ricks Kiss Architects Inc. and approved by the RDC board, could impact Beale Street Landing in the future.

The study suggested a water taxi operation originating at Beale Street Landing would be an appropriate use. It could run along Wolf River Harbor, touching Mud Island, the Pyramid and Harbor Town. A pedestrian bridge from the southern tip of Mud Island to the northern edge of Beale Street Landing might be a good idea as well, according to the study. While Lendermon says the pedestrian bridge would be a good thing, it could cost upwards of $30 million, which means funding would be a significant hurdle.

Riverfront Development Corp.

Non-profit organization
President: Benny Lendermon
Address: 22 N. Front St.
Phone: (901) 312-9190
Website: www.memphisriverfront.com