“Having this space activated is important to bring more people in and liven up Downtown,” said Downtown Memphis Commission planning manager Brian Mykulyn.

“You have to draw the line somewhere,” said owner Shannon Wynne. 

“The incentive tools work — $2 million of incentives brings about almost $9 million of investment — that is real change for our community.”

Downtown Memphis is progressing with more projects, population and initiatives despite the “doom loop,” said Brookings Institution fellow Tracy Hadden Loh. 

U.S. Marshals arrest suspect in the fatal shooting of a rapper outside the Westin Hotel in Downtown Memphis earlier this year.

This week, Ask the Memphian investigates reported sightings of ghosts at the South Main district bar. Oh, and we’ll also tell you about the abandoned cemetery right across the street.

The National Civil Rights Museum’s Freedom Awards mark another move by the 34-year-old institution further onto the “sacred ground” it occupies.

A Knoxville-based real estate firm plans to buy the 205,000-square-foot Prospero Place Tower at 50 S. B.B. King Blvd. and the neighboring 756-space parking garage.

Hoodoo is alive and well, one practitioner said Saturday at the grand opening of the Beale Street Hoodoo History and Folklife Museum on the third floor of A. Schwab’s on Beale Street.

The art project breathes new life into the public basketball court. 

“Before this actually gets signed, we will have paid $8 million that we don’t officially own yet,” said City Council member Jerri Green.

Each October, as the sun sets over the Mississippi River, Memphians gather under the Sunset Canopy at Tom Lee Park to dance, box or do Pilates in the dusk. 

Memphis Mayor Paul Young said the deal had taken longer than expected, but he was unsure about the specifics.

“We are surrounded by high-quality restaurants, so we didn’t want to enter the arena competing with them,” Hotel Pontotoc’s general manager said. “We had to find our own little niche with upscale bar bites.”

The rain this week boosted the Mississippi River’s level at Memphis. But that is likely to change and return to the drought level driven by a dry August in the Ohio River Valley.

The new South Main Street shop offers locally sourced produce, canned goods, beauty products and more.

The observation deck and boardwalk are due to open next year. It will offer an unobstructed view of the Mississippi River.

“The big alligators will swim about 20 yards from you, parallel to you, and they’ll stay right next to you for about half a mile,” said one paddler. “What they’re trying to do is figure out who’s bigger — you in the kayak, or them.”

The Dixon’s resident feline has survived enough near catnappings that the museum has put up a little sign letting people know he works there and not to take him home.

The Downtown Memphis Commission hosted Parking Day for the first time since 2017 on Friday, with three themed mini parks. 

Four designs will be displayed on the Main Street Mall and will highlight and celebrate the city’s identity.

Marching bands, drumlines, street flippers and more took to Beale Street to celebrate what would be B.B. King’s 100th birthday.

Darren Watkins Jr. — also known as IShowSpeed — filed into his black SUV on Thursday afternoon and said the magic words. “Memphis is way more lit than Nashville. Memphis is super lit.”

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Mayor Paul Young cut the ribbon on a new Riverside Drive that works for those on foot, on bicycles and in cars and narrows down access to parking for Tom Lee Park.