[Johnny Ryall]

Wharton addresses Memphis hotel industry at annual meeting
Memphis Business Journal - by Michael Sheffield

Memphis mayor A C Wharton addressed numerous city issues ranging from panhandling Downtown to the long-gestating Bass Pro Shops deal and the slow moving Beale Street Landing project during an address at the Metropolitan Memphis Hotel and Lodging Association’s 12th annual industry update meeting.

Wharton acknowledged that “the money simply isn’t there” to continue Beale Street Landing in its current incarnation, but he did say he wants to keep the project alive. “The original request was for $8 (million)-$9 million, and I would support funding to keep the project from dying,” Wharton said. “When it was conceived, we had riverboat traffic that is no longer there. We have to come back and retool those plans and decide what the current vision is.”

Wharton addressed the need for more aggressive laws to handle panhandling Downtown, a concern of hotel owners and general managers. But he was careful to make the distinction between dealing with panhandlers and persecuting the homeless, citing the need for injunctions that could lead to arrests of panhandlers.

Answering what has become an annual question during the meeting, Wharton said he’s confident Bass Pro will finalize its deal to redevelop the Pyramid, and he is planning a trip to the company’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo., in the near future. Wharton said in his almost weekly conversations with the company, he hasn’t detected any “foot dragging” or reluctance to complete the deal. He said the fact that the company is taking its time shows its commitment to the project. “I don’t want to do the Pyramid fast. I want to do it right so it doesn’t come back to bite us down the road,” Wharton said. “We’re getting paid thousands of dollars a month for it now, which we didn’t have until (Bass Pro) came along. Nobody else is standing in line wanting them to get out of the way so they can start working on (redeveloping) it. If there is, let me know.”