The City of Memphis is backing Loews Hotel Holding Corporation's redevelopment of the city's tallest building, which would turn the downtown property into the Memphis' official convention center hotel and have 550 rooms.
"This project, if realized, would be two major steps forward -- both with a new convention center hotel and the reimagining of a historic property," Mayor Strickland said in a statement. "This could represent a major investment in Downtown -- which means a major investment in all of Memphis with new jobs and more economic growth from which all Memphians will benefit. I'm eager to work with these partners to make this a reality."
The new hotel would join a 600-room Sheraton, which is currently connected to the convention center by skywalk.
The plan for the $175 million renovation also includes a total transformation of the Memphis Cook Convention Center, which would expand its footprint with outdoor terraces and glass-enclosed concourses, as well as add prefunction and meetings spaces that embrace the building's location along the Mississippi River.
Memphis Cook Convention Center's is located on the city's trolley transit line and steps away from The Pyramid. The latter is a focal point of the Memphis skyline and home to a Bass Pro Shops and Big Cypress Lodge, a wilderness-themed 103-room luxury hotel and event center.
"We have lacked full-service hotel capacity and a convention center with the necessary amenities and assets that a planner needs and that's what we are addressing with this comprehensive project," said Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A completion date for the convention center renovation is set for 2020, with the new hotel opening its doors in early 2021.