A century-old downtown Memphis office tower is moving toward new life as apartments. The Center City Revenue Finance Corp. approved a 20-year tax abatement for the Falls Building on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, replacing an earlier 12-year freeze and clearing the way for redevelopment of the $82.4 million project.
The project is expected to begin construction before the end of 2026, according to Memphis Business Journal. An entity related to New York-based Left Lane bought the 156,000-square-foot building at 22 N. Front St. for $10 million on Nov. 30, 2022, from Hertz Investment Group, which had owned it since 2012, as WATN-TV reported at the time. The building was still being used as an office building.
The developer had originally secured a 12-year PILOT in 2023, but commercial lenders balked, requiring a tax abatement term that extended beyond the loan's maturity before they would commit to permanent HUD takeout financing. That underwriting requirement, detailed in the same Memphis Business Journal reporting, forced Left Lane back to the city's incentive board to ask for the longer 20-year freeze instead.
A Growing Price Tag and a Bigger Building
The project's scope has shifted since it was first pitched. The adaptive reuse budget grew from an initial $79 million to $82.4 million by this month, and the residential yield climbed to 175 upscale apartment units alongside 2,244 square feet of commercial space, up from the 170 units outlined in the project's 2023 plans, the bizjournals report notes.
The project includes 12,525 square feet of amenity space, according to the Downtown Memphis Commission.
A Landmark With Blues History
Built in 1902 for local cotton merchants along the Mississippi River, the 11-story tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building hosted W.C. Handy performances, including the first performances of “St. Louis Blues” in 1914, a detail that underscores why its conversion has drawn close scrutiny from preservation-minded Memphians watching the project move forward.
Left Lane has a strategy to invest $1.5 billion in real estate projects over five years. The firm focuses on adaptive reuse in secondary markets including Memphis, Savannah, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Phoenix, and its Recess Hotel & Club brand is being developed in Savannah. Hoodline previously reported on the company's plans for Phoenix's Punchcard Building, which cited the Falls Building as part of the same multi-city strategy.
Crosstown Project Gets Its Own Tax Break
The Falls Building wasn't the only item on the finance corporation's agenda Tuesday. Board members also approved a 10-year PILOT for the second phase of Belle Mont, a residential development by KPS Development Partners in the Crosstown neighborhood, according to the Daily Memphian. Belle Mont is a separate residential project from the downtown conversion.
The Center City Revenue Finance Corp. is the Downtown Memphis Commission's finance corporation. The Daily Memphian reported the 20-year freeze for the Falls Building, and the project is expected to break ground before year's end.
