The sprawling complex at 3796 Lamar Ave. that once served as Holiday Inn's global headquarters is slated for demolition. The building, which later housed FedEx offices, has sat vacant for years and fallen into neglect.
According to FOX13 Memphis, the property's buildings are set to be demolished.
The Lamar Avenue property has a long and layered history. Developed by Holiday Inn in the 1960s and later leased at one time by FedEx, the 33.1-acre site has three buildings totaling 331,705 square feet, according to the Daily Memphian. The campus once buzzed with corporate life — Holiday Inn employees played racquetball on-site while FedEx Corp. tracked planes from the same offices, the outlet reports. Records show Malone EAT LLC purchased the Commerce Center property, as it's known, from TCLT LLC for $800,000.
A Citywide Push Against Blight
The city is pursuing a wider initiative to clean up Lamar Avenue from Park Avenue to Winchester Road, an effort that includes holding property owners accountable for poorly maintained buildings and lots. For six months, city workers have gone out once a week to cut grass, pick up trash and clean illegal dumping sites along the corridor, the station's report notes.
Neal said the cleanup could draw businesses back to the area. “It opens up opportunity for businesses to move into the area, those that may have left because of blight, because of crime,” she said, per the same account. Several property owners of abandoned buildings along Lamar are currently in environmental court, and the city says some of those properties are in the process of being sold to new owners who plan to rehabilitate them rather than demolish them.
How Memphis Handles Vacant Properties
The city has pursued legal action involving vacant properties.
The city has been leaning hard into that enforcement push this year. Memphis recently wrapped up its 100-Demo campaign, with officials announcing it had completed the 100th demolition under that effort, hitting a goal of removing 100 vacant, severely deteriorated and unsafe properties in 60 days, according to a statement from the City of Memphis. Officials also plan to expand the Lamar Avenue cleanup model to the Crump corridor between Park Avenue and Riverside, with Raleigh and Austin Peay slated for future phases.
For now, the old Holiday Inn campus stands as one of the more visible symbols of the corridor's decline — and, city officials hope, one of its more visible turnarounds once demolition is complete.
