City Council approves Old Daisy lease, gets look at Oak Court Mall plans
Memphis City Council members on Tuesday, July 22, approved a new 50-year lease for the Historical Daisy on a 10-0 vote.
The resolution directs the city administration to negotiate the terms with the Beale Street Development Corporation — the entity that the city granted a master lease on the entire city-owned Beale Street Entertainment District in November 1982.
With the new lease on the circa-1917 theater, BSDC would give up its claim on the master lease that has been in dispute for at least the last decade in a series of lawsuits.
The council approved the resolution without discussion.
Mayor Paul Young told council members two weeks ago that his administration is working with BSDC Executive Director Lucille Catron for the theater to be used as an interpretive center on the street’s history and culture.
When the district was renovated and reopened in late 1983, the theater was the home of the Center for Southern Folklore and operated as a museum and interpretive center.
Currently, the theater serves as the office of the BSDC and is rented out for banquets and similar gatherings. During the spring and summer, the exterior of the theater is a large outside bar.
The Downtown Memphis Commission runs the three-block entertainment district between Second Street and Ida B. Wells Street for the city.
Council members also got an update Tuesday on plans for the redevelopment of the Oak Court mall in East Memphis.
Developer Josh Poag, who is part of the Memphis development group, said there are plans for some multi-family development along with retail including restaurants for the site and the Macy’s department store, with the Dillard’s store remaining as “an anchor.” An office building with parking will also remain as it is currently, although the developers said they have back-up plans ready in case that doesn’t work out.
An earlier plan for townhomes has been abandoned in favor of different multi-family development. And the height of the buildings on the site of the mall are now tiered to be lower in areas bordering a residential area and rising further away from the residential areas.
The council votes on the planned development at its Aug. 5 meeting.
Council member Pearl Walker, whose district includes Southland Mall and Hickory Ridge Mall said she supports the reuse of Oak Court. But she also described the discussion as “bittersweet.”
“The bitter part is there are two malls in my district … that are dying malls,” she said. “And they have similar issues and separate issues. … I wish we could get this kind of development in other deserving parts of the city.”
In other action, the council approved $7.25 million in capital funding for the mixed-use redevelopment of the old Southwest Twin drive-in movie theater on South Third Street in the Westwood area of Southwest Memphis.
With the first installment of funding for a $42.8 million multi-year undertaking, construction is expected to begin next month.
The city is going to build a new police station on the 21-acre site along with a new public library and a pavilion. The city is also hoping there will be some private development compatible with the public facilities on the site.
“Third Street has been neglected for years and years,” said Council member Edmund Ford Sr., whose district includes the old drive-in. For years, Ford has pushed to reuse the site that was at one time a flea market and was closed down after a raid by federal agents who seized counterfeit products being sold.
“This will make the difference,” Ford said of the redevelopment. “Once this has been done, everything else will follow behind.”
“We’re going to make things happen and go all the way to the Mississippi line,” he said. “We are going to stop there and keep everything on this side.”
The council also reviewed plans to convert apartment units at 436 South Front St. at Nettleton into a full-service boutique hotel. The Council votes on that as well as the Aug. 5 meeting.