MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After sitting vacant for decades, the U.S. Steel Building in Downtown Memphis on Riverside Drive will be converted into a retail space and self-storage facility.
“We’re going to build an out parcel right here; two stories thirty-two hundred feet, each floor," the owner Trip Trezevant said.
It’s a project that 14-year downtown resident Falitta Covington said is much-needed growth to an underdeveloped part of her neighborhood.
“Every time a new restaurant or any new opening happens, I’m happy about it," she said.
The facility owned by Trezevant since 2013 will include a self-storage facility, a 6-thousand-square-foot retail space, a 4-thousand-square-foot office and apartment space, including parking both inside and underground.
“The first floor, I hope to put a bank, a coffee shop or a little restaurant; good for the neighborhood," Trezevant said. “A lot of people down here will have no place to park; either apartment or condo, there's just a big parking shortage.”
Trezevant promises to provide necessary services within walking distance for nearby downtown dwellers, a promise met with a welcome and a warning.
“It makes me feel like my property value is going up, that’s always a great thing," Covington said. “I like that they’re finding new ways to use some of these buildings. So the more uses the better; My only concern is the security for these kinds of places. We are right here, down from the organized crime unit, but we still have a lot of crime in this area.”
Trezevant said he hopes to be done with renovations and open in the next six months.