A 112-room Tapestry by Hilton hotel is planned for the corner of Central Avenue and South Highland Street in Memphis, on a lot that once held a church demolished a few years ago. The project has already cleared a key financial hurdle, with local economic development officials signing off on a tax increment financing plan last month.
According to WREG, the hotel is planned near the University of Memphis and would include a restaurant and a rooftop bar in addition to its 112 guest rooms. The site previously housed the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, according to the Daily Memphian, which reports the project is being developed by 3535 Partners LLC, led by developer Vince Smith.
The Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County approved a tax increment financing plan for the project on Sept. 16, the Daily Memphian reports. Under a TIF arrangement, the station's report indicates the deal would allocate the majority of new property tax revenue generated by the hotel toward its construction, while developers have also requested approval of the financing package itself.
What a TIF Deal Actually Does
Tax increment financing works by letting a development pay for itself over time. The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury explains that “the increased property tax revenue is used to recover the cost of the TIF improvements,” a mechanism that directs future tax growth from a project back into the upfront costs of building it, according to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. The same state office notes that Tennessee law requires review of certain TIF plans by the Comptroller and the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.
Per the WREG report, the hotel development would require improvements to sidewalks, lighting, and utility lines around the site. Developers told the station the project carries a projected investment of more than $46 million and said it would employ more than 90 people once open, while construction itself is expected to create hundreds of temporary jobs.
Neighborhood Support and What Comes Next
The University Neighborhoods Development Corporation supports the hotel plan, per the same station report. Shelby County commissioners are set to consider approval of the TIF plan and an accompanying economic impact report, WREG reports, though the outcome of that county-level vote has not yet been determined.
The project adds to a broader wave of hotel investment across Memphis. In July, the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved a PILOT and surcharge debt plan for a $63 million renovation at the former DoubleTree hotel site downtown, according to the Commercial Appeal. The city has also weighed raising its hotel-motel tax to help fund $550 million in FedExForum renovations, as reported by Local Memphis.
Memphis's Place in a Crowded National Market
Nationally, the hotel construction boom is sizable. Lodging Econometrics reported 5,975 hotel projects totaling 703,001 rooms were in the development pipeline at the end of the second quarter of 2026, according to Lodging Econometrics, with 661 new hotels totaling 74,820 rooms forecast to open by the end of this year.
Memphis itself is projected to see 14 new hotel projects totaling 1,233 rooms open in 2028, per the same Lodging Econometrics data. The city did not rank among the five U.S. markets with the largest hotel construction pipelines as of mid-2026 — a list topped by Dallas, with Nashville placing third at 122 projects and 16,281 rooms, according to the firm's analysis.
