Beale Street doesn’t need a cover charge, with or without rebate coupons, to solve its problems. Two summers into the policy, and after several crowd stampedes in the entertainment district before it, Beale needs a better security plan that probably includes a mix of Memphis Police and private security. But linking that to a cover charge, and the resulting checkpoints to enforce it, is sending the wrong message at the wrong time.

2. Council Faces Beale Street, Parking Decisions - Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Memphis City Council members have an agenda full of hot spots Tuesday, April 11. They vote on a move to abolish the Beale Street Tourism Development Authority, check to see if both sides paying for a Memphis Zoo parking solution in Overton Park are on the same page and take a final vote to change on-street parking around FedExForum and The Orpheum Theatre to a flat fee of $10 for “special events.”

3. Council Could Delay Turner Dairy Vote Again - Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Memphis City Council members are likely to delay a vote Tuesday, Jan. 17, on a parking lot for Turner Dairy Holdings LLC in Overton Square that is part of the dairy’s expansion.

4. Hiring of New Beale Street Manager Nears - Monday, December 21, 2015

The Beale Street Tourism Development Authority will soon know what it has to work with in selecting a firm to run the entertainment district on a day-to-day basis.

The deadline for real estate management companies to apply to the authority’s request for proposal or RFP was Friday, Dec. 18.

5. New Beale Street Lease Gets Last-Minute Council Amendment - Thursday, December 17, 2015

One last amendment was filed before the city’s new Beale Street lease was a done deal Tuesday, Dec. 15. But as the Memphis City Council approved the agreement with the Beale Street Tourism Development Authority, the widow of the Beale Street Development Corp.’s former director pushed her claim that the city still hasn’t settled the old 52-year lease with the BSDC that the new authority replaces.

6. Beale Board Approves Lease With City - Monday, December 14, 2015

This was all supposed to be settled legally in 2014. But the stickiest legal dispute of many involving the Beale Street entertainment district may be coming back to life.

As the Beale Street Tourism Development Authority approved a 25-year lease with the city of Memphis last week, which includes five renewal options of 15 years each, it learned the city has suspended payments to the Beale Street Development Corp.

7. Beale Board Approves Lease With City - Friday, December 11, 2015

The Beale Street Tourism Development Authority has approved a 25-year lease agreement with the city with five renewal options of 15 years each beyond that. But there are signs of discord between the city and an old Beale Street entity that was supposed to stand down in the transition.

8. Beale Authority Moves Toward Management Firm - Monday, September 14, 2015

The Beale Street Tourism Development Authority plans to hire a day-to-day real estate management firm by the end of the year.

The authority voted Thursday, Sept. 10, to move toward the hire. The next step is a request for proposal that the board is expected to vote on at its Oct. 15 meeting.

9. Council Approves Schools Deal, Appoints Boyd - Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Two weeks after they ignored a proposed $43.1 million settlement of the six-year old schools funding legal standoff, Memphis City Council members Tuesday, Jan. 20, approved a $41.8 million settlement with Shelby County Schools.

10. Report: City Should Stay on at Beale - Friday, February 14, 2014

The city of Memphis should maintain ownership of its properties on Beale Street and create an autonomous board or hire a new development and management company to guide its future, according to a detailed report on the iconic street.

11. New Management - Thursday, January 9, 2014

It was shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and Downtown Memphis Commission president Paul Morris got an urgent message about a problem on Beale Street.

12. ‘Handle With Care’ - Thursday, October 17, 2013

Once the settlement of a lawsuit over control of Beale Street is complete, the administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. plans on issuing requests for firms to manage and develop the thriving entertainment district.

13. Recovery Begins at Beale Street Anchor B.B. King’s - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

One of the cornerstones of the Beale Street entertainment district was surrounded by a chain link fence Tuesday, Oct. 8, following a pre-dawn fire Monday in the kitchen of B.B. King’s Blues Club, on the southeast corner of Third and Beale streets.

14. Beale District Future Mapped Out in Report - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Whatever comes next for the Beale Street entertainment district, the city of Memphis isn’t likely to turn over the three blocks of real estate for several decades to a developer and the nonprofit middleman, Beale Street Development Corp.

15. Judge’s Ruling Moves Beale’s Future Forward - Thursday, November 1, 2012

For at least a year, a box containing copies of a report on the future of Beale Street has been in storage awaiting a settlement of the two levels of court disputes for control of the entertainment district.

16. Beale Street Bankruptcy Ruling Clears Way for City Control - Wednesday, October 31, 2012

More than two years after the city of Memphis reached a settlement with the company that managed and developed the Beale Street entertainment district, a federal bankruptcy court ruling Tuesday, Oct. 30, cleared the way for the city of Memphis to regain day to day control of the district.

17. Beale Street Blues - Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Last September, a working group appointed by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. completed its work on recommendations for the future of Beale Street.

The report has been printed and boxed up – but it won’t be released until a judge settles the federal bankruptcy case embroiling the entertainment district.

18. Dancing Jimmy’s to Open on Beale - Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Beale Street’s former Pat O’Brien’s space is being replaced with a new concept from some of the street’s prime stakeholders.

Bud Chittom and Preston Lamm, operating as Beale Holdings LLC, are renovating the 15,000-square-foot property at 310 Beale St. to prepare it for three banquet halls and a 1,200-square-foot corner bar called Dancing Jimmy’s by May 1.

19. Dancing Jimmy’s to Replace Former Pat O’s Space - Monday, March 26, 2012

The former Pat O’Brien’s space on Beale Street is being replaced with a new concept from some of the street’s prime stakeholders.

Bud Chittom and Preston Lamm, operating as Beale Holdings LLC, are in the midst of renovating the 15,000-square-foot property at 310 Beale St. to prepare it for three banquet halls and a 1,200-square-foot corner bar called Dancing Jimmy’s by May 1.

20. Business of Barbecue - Friday, May 13, 2011

The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is moving its celebration of a fine plate of pork from its established home in Tom Lee Park to Tiger Lane at the Mid-South Fairgrounds this year.

21. Optimistic Elkington Weathering Real Estate Storm - Friday, February 25, 2011

When the economy crashed in 2007, Griffin Elkington had just taken a principal broker position at River City Land Co.

22. Bankruptcy Trends Shift, Local Numbers Drop - Friday, January 14, 2011

Bankruptcy attorney Jimmy McElroy, one of the Memphis court’s top filers, has noticed a recent change in local bankruptcy trends.

23. Hall Takes Marketing Talents to Leadership Memphis - Thursday, December 23, 2010

In his roles through the years with organizations such as Hands on Memphis, Youth Villages and the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphian Ken Hall has served as a key thread in the city’s civic fabric.

24. Daisy Déjà Vu - Monday, November 22, 2010

The head of the Beale Street Development Corp. (BSDC) plans to open the Old Daisy Theater on Beale Street in February as an interpretive center on the history of the entertainment district.

25. Shelby County Court Filings See Sharp Dropoff From Q2 - Monday, October 18, 2010

Court filings in Circuit, Chancery and Probate Courts for the third quarter of 2010 were relatively unchanged from the same quarter of 2009 and down significantly from the second quarter of this year

26. Beale Street Chaos - Friday, October 1, 2010

Four months after Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. announced the city was settling a Chancery Court fight over control of Beale Street with Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc., Performa is in control of the daily business of the entertainment district.

27. Museum Shows Withers’ Legacy Intact - Thursday, September 30, 2010

Work on a new Beale Street museum honoring the life and work of a world-renowned photographer is complete, with the opening planned for mid-October.

The Ernest Withers Collection Gallery and Museum will display Ernest C. Withers’ powerful photographs that celebrate the life and triumphs of Memphis blues. He secured the legacy of Beale Street with a camera lens in spite of an era that ignored African-American achievement.

28. Ground Zero Blues Club Closes Amid Court Battle - Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Ground Zero Blues Club on Beale Street has closed, apparently the victim of a civil court battle over past due rent and ownership.

The club recently opened in the building that was once Pat O’Brien’s.

29. Ground Zero on Beale Closes - Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Ground Zero Blues Club on Beale Street has closed and faces an uncertain future.

The club is apparently the victim of a civil court battle over past due rent and ownership of the recently opened club in the building on the northeast corner of Beale and Hernando that was once Pat O’Brien’s.

30. Beale Street Honors - Monday, September 13, 2010

Memphis has a music heritage going back a hundred years.

And some of those earlier and more obscure artists could be forgotten if it wasn’t for the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame.

The small brass music notes lining the sidewalks of Beale Street are engraved with names as well known as Elvis Presley and as obscure, at least to some, as Dr. Herman Green, who played with many jazz greats.

31. Controversy Remains Around City, Performa Settlement - Friday, July 9, 2010

Memphis City Council members critical of the Beale Street court settlement say the Wharton administration was too generous after the city publicly alleged Performa Entertainment founder John Elkington owed the city millions of dollars.

32. Elkington Looks to Life After Beale Street - Monday, June 14, 2010

The outgoing developer of the Beale Street entertainment district has some ideas about bringing back Overton Square.

Performa Real Estate Entertainment Inc. founder John Elkington told The Daily News he will be in Colorado this month to talk with the owners of the Midtown entertainment district still in search of a new plan. Fisher Capital, based in Colorado, co-owns the property along with Arizona-based Univest.

33. Pat O’s Sold Back to Bank - Monday, August 3, 2009

A mini bidding war broke out Friday during the trustee’s sale of the former Pat O’Brien’s bar at 310 Beale St., but in the end the bank that foreclosed on the property came in with the highest bid of $827,000.

34. Bankruptcy Judge Rejects Beale Street Hip-Hop Club - Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A federal bankruptcy court judge has scrapped plans to reopen the old Pat O’Brien’s on Beale Street as a two-day-a-week nightspot with a dress code.

The plan by Cato Walker and Curtis Givens to open “Liquid On Beale” drew opposition from Beale Street developer John Elkington and his Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc., as well as the Beale Street Merchants Association.

35. Why the Struggle to Control Beale Street Continues - Monday, June 1, 2009

Eight blocks lie between the Shelby County Courthouse and Beale Street.

The courthouse’s seated representations of wisdom, justice, liberty and authority look southward toward the entertainment district. Sometimes, if the wind is blowing in the right direction, you can hear the band in Handy Park from the courthouse steps.

36. Beale St. Merchants Take City to Court - Friday, April 17, 2009

The Beale Street Merchants Association has joined the thickening legal fray over the finances of the entertainment district.

The association filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Chancery Court against the city of Memphis, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com. It came as the city’s attorney accused the district’s manager, Performa Entertainment, of “hiding behind” a protective order in another lawsuit.

37. Beale St. Merchants Take City to Court - Monday, April 20, 2009

The Beale Street Merchants Association has joined the thickening legal fray over the finances of the entertainment district.

The association filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Chancery Court against the city of Memphis, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com. It came as the city’s attorney accused the district’s manager, Performa Entertainment, of “hiding behind” a protective order in another lawsuit.

38. Lee’s Landing Dodges Foreclosure Sale - Monday, February 9, 2009

Between the seated figures of authority and liberty last week the latest chapter in the saga of Beale Street’s complex business affairs amounted to a waiting game on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.

39. Lee’s Landing Avoids Foreclosure, But Lee's Commercial Files for Bankruptcy Protection - Friday, February 6, 2009
The owners of Lee’s Landing Garage, one block south of Beale Street, managed to block the foreclosure sale Thursday of the parking garage and strip of nightspots.

The auction on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse at noon was delayed five times until 2 p.m.

Rowlett Scott, the attorney representing Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada in the foreclosure, was reading the foreclosure notice on the steps when word came by cell phone that Sun Life and Lee’s Landing Garage LLC had reached a settlement.

One of those in contact with Scott by cell was Michael Marshall, the attorney for Lee’s Landing Garage LLC.

“I really can’t say what the sum of money is other than to say we have brought Sun Life current on their debt and are working to reorganize the company and make it a profitable going concern,” Marshall told The Daily News. “We have brought Sun Life current.”

Meanwhile, just before the noon deadline, Lee’s Landing Commercial LLC filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com. The company, whose president is Beale Street developer John Elkington, leases the spaces on the ground floor of the parking garage now occupied by several nightspots. The chapter 11 filing allows reorganization efforts that permit the businesses to remain open.

Marshall said the bankruptcy filing affects the owners’ plans “only to the extent that instead of going through Circuit Court to get at the assets that we believe belong to us, that we go through the bankruptcy court.”

The bankruptcy filing estimates the assets of Lee’s Landing Commercial LLC at between $1 million and $10 million. Liabilities are estimated in the same dollar range.

The list of creditors includes Elkington, who is claiming a $20,000 loan. His Performa Entertainment Real Estate LLC is another creditor with two loans totaling $422,611.98.

Lee’s Landing Garage LLC is claiming $900,000 is owed in trade debt.

Elkington and Lee’s Landing Garage President Michael Dumas and Vice President Steve Sallion have been at odds over the management of the southward expansion of the Beale Street entertainment district. Elkington left in a reorganization of the company’s leadership.

Sun Life filed the foreclosure notice and still has a motion pending in Chancery Court for appointment of a receiver after it claimed Lee’s Landing Garage defaulted on a $5.9 million promissory note.

Read more about the Lee’s Landing proceedings in Monday’s edition of The Daily News.

40. Beale Street Funding, Other Issues Raised At Council Meeting - Thursday, November 8, 2007

Memphis City Council members this week marked the 24th anniversary of the opening of the renovated Beale Street entertainment district with an old question: When does the city get money from the district it owns?

41. Beale Street Merchant's Assn.Taps Horne as Director - Tuesday, September 18, 2007
     The Beale Street Merchant's Association has named Onzie Horne, a businessman with strong ties to Beale Street, as executive director.
     Horne, whose father was a musician and band director

42. Beale Street's Dreamer Looks To Other Adventures - Monday, July 2, 2007

"The seven wonders of the world I've seen,

And many are the places I have been,

Take my advice, folks, and see Beale Street first."
- "Beale Street Blues," W.C. Handy

Concert posters, jackets worn and signed by music icons such as Garth Brooks and B.B. King and an entire wall of Ernest Withers photos greet visitors inside the office of Performa Entertainment Real Estate.
The company's Beale Street storefront is decked out with scores of other trinkets, including head sculptures of the four members of the rock group K.I.S.S.

43. Performa to Move Some OfficesTo East Memphis Site - Tuesday, June 26, 2007
     Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc. has bought property in East Memphis and plans to move some of its offices to the site.
     Working under the name Performa Entertainment LLC, the comp

44. Double Deuce Taps Unfilled Void - Thursday, June 14, 2007

Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that a pair of business partners with unique sports backgrounds parlayed that intensity into getting Beale Street's newest hotspot off the ground.

Their brainchild, the Double Deuce Saloon, is the only full-time country music bar on Beale and opened next door to the New Daisy Theatre last month, during the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

45. Lee's Landing RestaurantsNear Completion - Wednesday, May 30, 2007
     Two blues-themed restaurants on the ground floor of Lee's Landing Garage are nearing completion, and that means more music options for Beale Street patrons. The restaurants will occupy most of the 14,300-square-foot grou

46. Construction Begins On Memphis' Ground Zero Blues Club - Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Memphis' status as Home of the Blues will grow this summer with the addition of a Ground Zero Blues Club. The original club is in Clarksdale, Miss., and is co-owned by Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman and lawyer Bill Luckett.

47. Performa to Help With Birmingham Project - Tuesday, February 27, 2007
     The Memphis entertainment and real estate development company that helped forge Beale Street into one of Memphis' premier tourist spots has been tapped to do the same for Birmingham, Ala.'s, convention center entertainme

48. The Moon and Sixpence - Tuesday, July 11, 2006

It started with a search on the Internet.

Dr. Kenneth Williams, a Collierville resident who owns a clinic and a hospital in Holly Springs, Miss., and who's preparing to build another hospital, was looking for a worthwhile investment.

49. Downtown's Condo/Entertainment Trend Moves East Despite Moratorium - Monday, June 12, 2006

The condominium boom that's driven much of Downtown Memphis' residential growth in the past year is stretching beyond the city's redeveloped urban core.

One example is a new project being handled by John Elkington, CEO of Performa Entertainment Real Estate Inc. He's working with a Chicago-based development firm that wants to transform 67.2 acres of prime real estate on the eastern fringe of Memphis into an upscale retail and entertainment destination with condos.

50. Archived Article: Trends - Monday, May 23, 2005
By Andy Meek

Center City Commission Forms Subcommittees

ANDY MEEK

The Daily News

The Center City Commissions 19-member board of directors is a hodgepodge of business leaders and government officials who lead the group in redeveloping and...

51. Archived Article: Beale (lead) - Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Beale

Beale Street Gets Set for New Venues

Upscale club, other projects planned in anticipation of arena

LANCE ALLAN

The Daily News

Beale Street has seen many changes in its own character over the years. Now, changes in the neighborho...

52. Archived Article: Hotel (lead) - Thursday, February 26, 2004
Within the next month, plans are likely to be finalized that would bring construction of a new major hotel across from the Fed

Downtown Readies for Upscale Hotel

Westin near arena to round out entertainment corridor

ANDREW BELL

The Daily...

53. Archived Article: Ccdc (lead) - Thursday, September 18, 2003
CCDC to re-purchase Family Dollar building

CCDC to Take Back Family Dollar Building

Owners failed to meet renovation deadlines

ANDREW BELL

The Daily News

Members of the Center City Development Corp. voted unanimously to exercise a con...

54. Archived Article: Tourism (lead) - Wednesday, July 30, 2003
07-30-03 Lead

Costs of storm high for local tourism industry

By LANCE ALLAN

The Daily News

The price tag to repair the devastation wrought throughout the city by the hurricane-force winds that accompanied last weeks storm is mind-bogglin...

55. Archived Article: Ccdc (lead) - Thursday, November 21, 2002
CCDC moves forward with Main Street and Rhodes Jennings projects

CCDC moves forward with renewal plans

By SUE KIRSTEIN

The Daily News

Two blighted sections of Downtown Memphis took another step toward renewal Wednesday as a Center City C...

56. Archived Article: Lead (ccdc) - Thursday, October 17, 2002
Center City reviews proposals for Main St

CCDC reviews S. Main Street block plans

By SUE PEASE

The Daily News

The Center City Development Corp. reviewed three proposals Wednesday to renovate vacant and run-down Main Street properties in ...

57. Archived Article: Tech Briefs - Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Germantown-based uMonitor Cell Genesys gave a company presentation at the New York Society of Security Analysts sixth annual Health Care Conference Monday and broadcast it live over the Internet. The presentation is archived on www.cellgenesys.com. ...

58. Archived Article: Real Review - Tuesday, December 19, 2000
Performa closes deal Performa closes deal to put disco in old firehouse Performa Entertainment Real Estate closed the sale of the historic 3-Alarm building at 200 Linden Ave. for the newest location of Polly Esthers restaurant and bar, a national ni...

59. Archived Article: Handy Park (lead) - Friday, May 12, 2000
Work starts on stage, exhibit hall for Handy Park Walking in Memphis to get better on Beale By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News Construction is underway on new and improved facilities for Beale Streets Handy Park. Plans for park renovations include the...

60. Archived Article: Center Sf - Wednesday, October 6, 1999
Center for Southern Folklore to host rally, seeks support for new home Center for Southern Folklore seeks support for new home By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News With less than a month left remaining on its lease, the Center for Southern Folklore has ...

61. Archived Article: Park (lead) - Friday, September 3, 1999
Handy Park step Handy Park step closer to redesign By KATHLEEN BURT The Daily News When blues legend B.B. King takes the stage on New Year's Eve it should be on a brand new one at Handy Park. Plans to redesign the park are one step closer to reality...

62. Archived Article: Road Runner Chg - Friday, October 17, 1997
By CAMILLE H Time Warner brings online cable service to Memphis By CAMILLE H. GAMBLE The Daily News Time Warner Communications high-speed, cable on-line service, Road Runner, will be available in December in selected areas of the Memphis market, com...

63. Archived Article: Design Review Brd - Wednesday, February 5, 1997
The first steps are being taken by a local real estate company to develop an artists development center in Downtown Memphis. Developer seeks tax abatement, loan for artists development By SUZANNE THOMPSON The Daily News A local real estate company i...

64. Archived Article: Elvis Club Chg - Wednesday, December 11, 1996
Elvis Presley Enterprises Elvis Presley club entices big names again for Beale DEC. 11, 1996 -- Elvis Presley's Memphis, a new club being developed by Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. on Beale Street, is already renewing interest from outside name bra...

65. Archived Article: Real Briefs - Tuesday, November 26, 1996
The Home Builders Association of Memphis has announced that Winderly Place at Southwind will be its main site for the 1997 Vesta Home Show The Home Builders Association of Memphis has announced that Winderly Place at Southwind will be its main site ...

66. Archived Article: Beale St Chg - Monday, August 19, 1996
Beale Street surpasses Beale Street surpasses Graceland for tourism Elvis is no longer the king of the tourism industry in Memphis, according to a report released by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. The U.S. Travel Data Center study ...

67. Archived Article: Beale St On Web - Wednesday, July 17, 1996
Marketing Memphis Music Beale Street via the Web Performa Entertainment Real Estate uses Web site to attract tourists to the citys most famous street By CAMILLE H. GAMBLE The Daily News Music helped create a banner fiscal year for Memphis tourism an...

68. Archived Article: Chg Hotels - Thursday, March 21, 1996
03-21 CHG hotels Germantown, Collierville hot areas for new hotels By CAMILLE H. GAMBLE The Daily News Several hotel developments are underway in the Mid-South, and the hot markets seem to be the Wolf River Parkway and Germantown Parkway areas. A 93...