Feb 21, 2012

[vivaelvis]

I have been told that the Memphis City Council will vote on either February 20th or 21st on the $16 million dollars needed from the city to begin construction and redesigning Elvis Presley Boulevard. There's been a strong push lately to get it approved now and underway by end of the year. You can thank Harold Collins for that.

[debtdbruno]

here's hoping then............

[KPM]

If it passes-good for the city of Memphis
If it doesn't-you get what you pay for

[vivaelvis]

It looks like my source was correct! Elvis Presley Boulevard improvements finally APPROVED by the City Council!!! I was also told that EPE didn't wanna make any announcements on expansion such as renderings until the city did its part. Now that they ar, it's EPE's turn to step up to the plate and deliver. And that could come soon, especially with the economy gaining back some strength.

The word is that the new HH will be a tower hotel at around 10-12 stories high. Although they do have height restrictions due to the airport being just 3 miles east of Graceland. It'll be a meeting style luxury hotel with restaurants and retail shops. possibly live entertainment. It'll be at the old Meadows apartment complex site that EPE has recently cleared off to make way for the new hotel just north of the mansion on the same side of street. I'll keep you updated on anything I hear regarding plans for the new HH.

Anyway, here's the story on the improvements to the boulevard. http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news...-blvd-funding/

[debtdbruno]

fabulous news..........lets get cracking then now eh?..........lol

hopefully a bigger hotel, may mean we have more chance of getting a room at 'peak' times...

[Jungleroom76]

FANTASTIC NEWS VIVAELVIS!!!

Thank you so much for posting the newspaper article link as well as keeping us updated on what you're hearing regarding the EP Blvd. and Graceland expansion projects!!

Now let's hope EPE steps up quickly with their plans and, with the funding now in place for the boulevard, starts the renovation projects!!

TCB!
Mike

[KPM]

Having read the article I see that the funding is conditional-The Memphis Museum Inc. people must contribute $10 million in funding and half of that amount must be privately raised so we'll see where this announcement ends. Memphis should have listened to Harold Collins long ago since he is rightly saying that these improvements are not about what EPE is doing or plans to do-but these improvements are for the citizens of Memphis:
........Council member Harold Collins, whose district includes the mansion and the boulevard, has long complained the plans for the improvement have been continually pushed back as newer capital improvement projects elsewhere in the city have been pushed ahead...........Collins has always maintained that the streetscape improvements can go forward and are about improvements for the Memphians who live and work along the boulevard as opposed to tourists.
“The people in this district have been waiting over 35 years to get this redeveloped,” said Collins.

[KPM]

As far as EPE-they will do what Apollo allows them to do, and so far IMO Apollo has talked of tinkering around the edges.
EPE is not an entitiy unto itself-and they will have to listen to the big boys at Apollo.
We will see in time........my own prediction is that Apollo will tinker,and in a few years as the economy gets better-they will sell to someone else.
We will see.

[Jungleroom76]

As long as we actually see some improvements starting to rev up around the Graceland area. This area has been in decline for years in terms of run-down buildings, streets & sidewalks needing repair and just the overall aesthetics of the area. Graceland is one of, if not THE major attractions of not only Memphis, but the entire United States and it definitely deserves to look the part.

I know there's always contingencies, back-room deals, hidden contract clauses, etc. in every project and deal, but let's hope that this project winds up being above board and the planned revitalization actually begins to materialize. I'm not saying everything has to be done in one fell swoop, but just seeing some action happening (aside from the purchasing of land around the mansion that has already taken place) in terms of reconstruction/renovation will do wonders for the fans that have been clamoring for this for years!!!

TCB!
Mike

[vivaelvis]

I am told that the approval was the last hurdle the EPB improvements needed to get started. However, the funding was approved to start work in 2013 fiscal year. Which begins in July 2012.

As for EPE and their plans, Apollo is very secretive with their dealings but the word is that they are in support of the expansion that EPE and CKX have been planning. But it may be downsized a bit to fit the economy. Meaning it could take years to complete the expansion. My understanding is that the top priorities will be addressed first and that'll be the new hotel. Apollo also owns Caesars Entertainment who owns and operates Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and Harrahs casino chain. Apollo wants their businesses to work partnerships within the family of Apollo. So don't be surprised if Caesars is the partner who teams up with EPE and CKX to build the new HH. And I'm also told that there's no guarantee that it'll be named the Heartbreak Hotel either due to marketing issues.

Ken, I understand that you're skeptical, but the approval of the boulevard upgrade was the opening door to EPE's ambitious plans. It's a done deal. They were not going to invest $250 million or more into an unstable situation until a commitment and approval by the city was reached. Which is what happened last night. EPE/Apollo have already removed the old Meadows apartment complex just north of Graceland and placed a big black iron gate around that property to keep people away. They did that since the purchase by Apollo which tells me what I was already told, is that they are moving forward to getting the hotel deal done. It's possible that we could hear something before Elvis Week or during. And now with the funding approved for EPB, it would not surprise me to see construction or at least groundbreaking before the end of the year or by early 2013 on the new hotel. I do know it's expected to take about 2 years to build. EPE is feeling the pressure to upgrade due to lower tourist numbers and loss of dollars. They know the need for the new hotel as it alone will become an attraction itself. Think Hard Rock Hotel.

Another thing about the new hotel. It's expected to be big enough to hold corporate business meetings and feature a luxurious experience. A far cry from the HH now.

[KPM]

I am told that the approval was the last hurdle the EPB improvements needed to get started. However, the funding was approved to start work in 2013 fiscal year. Which begins in July 2012.

As for EPE and their plans, Apollo is very secretive with their dealings but the word is that they are in support of the expansion that EPE and CKX have been planning. But it may be downsized a bit to fit the economy. Meaning it could take years to complete the expansion. My understanding is that the top priorities will be addressed first and that'll be the new hotel. Apollo also owns Caesars Entertainment who owns and operates Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and Harrahs casino chain. Apollo wants their businesses to work partnerships within the family of Apollo. So don't be surprised if Caesars is the partner who teams up with EPE and CKX to build the new HH. And I'm also told that there's no guarantee that it'll be named the Heartbreak Hotel either due to marketing issues.

Ken, I understand that you're skeptical, but the approval of the boulevard upgrade was the opening door to EPE's ambitious plans. It's a done deal. They were not going to invest $250 million or more into an unstable situation until a commitment and approval by the city was reached. Which is what happened last night. EPE/Apollo have already removed the old Meadows apartment complex just north of Graceland and placed a big black iron gate around that property to keep people away. They did that since the purchase by Apollo which tells me what I was already told, is that they are moving forward to getting the hotel deal done. It's possible that we could hear something before Elvis Week or during. And now with the funding approved for EPB, it would not surprise me to see construction or at least groundbreaking before the end of the year or by early 2013 on the new hotel. I do know it's expected to take about 2 years to build. EPE is feeling the pressure to upgrade due to lower tourist numbers and loss of dollars. They know the need for the new hotel as it alone will become an attraction itself. Think Hard Rock Hotel.

Another thing about the new hotel. It's expected to be big enough to hold corporate business meetings and feature a luxurious experience. A far cry from the HH now.

Na.......h not me
I was told by a very successful local businessman I worked for in the 70s to:
"Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear, expect the unexpected in any deal"
I have found that you need to take this type discussion with a grain of salt because things almost never end up like the hype.
That is shown here over many years of discussion at TCB World-this very topic, Apollo/CKX and expansion plans.... many many threads, many many announcements or rumors..... that just did not make it to implimentation.
Sillerman was the savoir in 2005-not that most of us really thought Elvis needed a savoir but many wanted a much larger scale "GRACELAND" including evidently Lisa, Priscilla and the EPE team-so they make the deal with "deep pockets Sillerman"-whos credentials were suppose to match the job at hand-and the job at hand was to basically take Graceland to a new level of growth since it had gone as far as it could with the old team...... Lisa trusted the hype, fans trusted the hype and lets face it Sillerman was just not the wizard that had been promoted.
Now the new Sillerman is Apollo with its history of accomplishments which may or not be relevant to this situation.
As I said so far all they have said they planned was IMO tinkering around the edges so we will see.
Skeptical-no reason to be I guess

[KPM]

Last years CKX report had this bit of information-The report addressed the redevelopment project directly, albeit vaguely:

“Although we continue to consider the exact scope, cost, financing plan and timing of such a project, we expect that the redevelopment of Graceland, if and when pursued, would take several years and could require a substantial financial investment by the company,” read the report.
“In addition, our ability to pursue such a project would be conditioned on a number of factors, including but not limited to general economic conditions, the availability of capital and obtaining necessary approvals and concessions from local and state authorities..........

So if Apollo/CKX/EPE are planning huge things-see how much has changed since March of 2011 when the above information was released.

[KPM]

The bottom line in this story is one I like-the winners will be the citizens of Memphis if the city completely follows thru on this public redevelopement.
As Mr. Collins said-for 35 years the people have been waiting to see this begun, but other shortsighted politicians drug their feet hoping to see movement on other fronts.......before they made their total commitment....also hoping that some of the groundwork for the public improvements would be done by private interests. Memphis should move on its plans regardless of what someone else does-because their concern should be for the citizens who elected them-just like every other city should.
So the citizens win here if Memphis follows thru.

[Jungleroom76]

Another thing about the new hotel. It's expected to be big enough to hold corporate business meetings and feature a luxurious experience. A far cry from the HH now.

DEFINITELY THE FIRST THING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!

I honestly can't believe that EPE built the HH that way in the first place!! While the idea was (and is) certainly necessary to accommodate the fans, the HH never really fit in, in my opinion. It just seemed like it was just put there to satisfy the need for a hotel with no real thought or planning, just plop...there it is.

Just my opinion of course...

TCB!
Mike

[Jungleroom76]

The bottom line in this story is one I like-the winners will be the citizens of Memphis if the city completely follows thru on this public redevelopement.
As Mr. Collins said-for 35 years the people have been waiting to see this begun, but other shortsighted politicians drug their feet hoping to see movement on other fronts.......before they made their total commitment....also hoping that some of the groundwork for the public improvements would be done by private interests. Memphis should move on its plans regardless of what someone else does-because their concern should be for the citizens who elected them-just like every other city should.
So the citizens win here if Memphis follows thru.

And us fans, of course!!!

TCB!
Mike

[Joe Car]

Get err done!!!

[vivaelvis]

Good news! I am told that it was mentioned on Memphis news the other night that official groundbreaking on the Elvis Presley boulevard improvements will be November of 2012 and will cost $43 million. The city of Memphis is funding $16 million out of it's budget. The state is covering the rest. This is big news for all the Elvis fans who will visit Graceland in the near future and for years to come, to see a new revitalized part of town. It's projected to take about 3 years to redevelop and be completed by 2015.

The plans call for removal of power lines to be replaced underground in some parts of the strip, new sidewalks and treeline islands in the middle of the boulevard, along with widening the street in some areas.

As for Graceland's planned $250 million expansion, there's still no official word on that, just hearsay right now. I've been told that now that it's confirmed that the strip will be remodeled that an announcement from EPE/Apollo for a new hotel at Graceland could be right around the corner. Possibly as early as this summer. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

[Kajo]

I have been told that the Memphis City Council will vote on either February 20th or 21st on the $16 million dollars needed from the city to begin construction and redesigning Elvis Presley Boulevard. There's been a strong push lately to get it approved now and underway by end of the year. You can thank Harold Collins for that.

Sounds great! Let's hope everything will work out well.

[Kajo]

Good news! I am told that it was mentioned on Memphis news the other night that official groundbreaking on the Elvis Presley boulevard improvements will be November of 2012 and will cost $43 million. The city of Memphis is funding $16 million out of it's budget. The state is covering the rest. This is big news for all the Elvis fans who will visit Graceland in the near future and for years to come, to see a new revitalized part of town. It's projected to take about 3 years to redevelop and be completed by 2015.

The plans call for removal of power lines to be replaced underground in some parts of the strip, new sidewalks and treeline islands in the middle of the boulevard, along with widening the street in some areas.

As for Graceland's planned $250 million expansion, there's still no official word on that, just hearsay right now. I've been told that now that it's confirmed that the strip will be remodeled that an announcement from EPE/Apollo for a new hotel at Graceland could be right around the corner. Possibly as early as this summer. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Sounds great. Fingers crossed

[vivaelvis]

Apparently my source was right on the money again. I just found this video clip referring to what I was told and it details what is expected and the groundbreaking date, as I was told it would be. http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news...s-rpt-20120312