The Dermon Building in Memphis was built 99 years ago, designed as an office building. It’s been vacant since 2010, but now a group is moving forward with a hotel. Turkey Creek Hospitality and Hospitality Builders of America are heading up the development team. The group is planning a 150-room Holiday Inn Express hotel. The project is estimated to cost $22.3 million. The development group plans to call the renovated property the Dermon Building by Holiday Inn Express.

The project received a 10-year PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) from the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. (CCRFC).

The ground floor of the building is to be used for commercial space while maintaining a number of the original features to qualify for historic tax credits. Existing parking facilities would be utilized for guest parking.

The Dermon Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The Dream Hotel developer says a demolition permit is needed and it has not been approved by the health department. Construction cannot begin without that approval. The hotel is to be built on top of the former Royal Furniture Store on South Main. The project is expected to cost $99 million.

The developer, 18 Main, is now asking that the building permit be pushed back to September of 2024 to give them time to get the permit. The Dream Hotel is currently listed as a pending case before the Land Use Control Board. A public notice has been sent out to nearby residents, and signage is posted at the project site. The decision will be made later this week.

Details show the new 11-story hotel will feature seven levels of hotel rooms, three floors of apartments, and ground floor restaurant and bar space. Dream Hotels is now a Hyatt brand.

Milwaukee-based private commercial real estate firm Phoenix Investors has acquired a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial facility in Memphis. The sales price and seller were not disclosed.

Built in 1973 with an addition in 1981, the property is a former distribution center for Sears. The facility, which is located at 3456 Meyers Rd., features clear heights ranging from 24 feet to 31 feet, 145 dock doors and 24-foot by 36-foot column spacing. Phoenix plans to implement its capital improvement plan in the coming months, making a number of structural and cosmetic upgrades to the facility.

Atlantic Capital Bank provided senior mortgage financing to Phoenix in the transaction. Jack Wohrman and Russ Westlake of JLL brokered the sale.

“Historically, we have received more national search inquires for the Memphis market than any other MSA,” said Kurt Jensen, senior vice president of acquisitions and leasing at Phoenix. “The combination of geographic location, transportation infrastructure, and affordable market rents make it the ideal marketplace to serve tenants searching for distribution east of the Rockies.”

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