Bailey’s summit call in the shadow of SpaceXAI
Shelby County Assessor of Property Javier Bailey Sr. speaks during a press conference in front of the vacant Memphis Riverline Hotel on Sept. 28, 2026. He is accompanied by Barbara Palmer, a deputy administrator in the assessor’s office. (Andy Ashby/The Daily Memphian)
Standing outside the recently renamed Riverline Hotel, owned by the City of Memphis, 28 days into his four-year term, Shelby County Assessor of Property Javier Bailey called for a summit of local elected and business leaders to change the city’s economic reality.
Bailey cited empty office space and lower hotel occupancy rates and the tax revenues that come from both.
Bailey said the combination signals that city and county governments are becoming more reliant on residential property taxes to keep operating.
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Javier Bailey data centers Willie Simon Jack Smith Capitol Insurrection Marsha Blackburn Bill Hagerty 2026 Governor's race 2026 elections write-in candidates John Bradley Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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