The Downtown Memphis Commission will implement a brand new strategy for re-energizing the core of Downtown.
The DMC board provided Aug. 27 some updates to its "Downtown Action Plan." The initiative will focus on five key areas, including public safety, increasing the Memphis and Shelby County tax base, eliminating blight, and improving ground-floor vacancies.
The action plan was initially adopted in October 2025.
Additionally, the DMC will begin overhauling its data gathering. The organization plans to update quarterly and annual reports on various statistics and data sets.
DMC President and CEO Chandell Ryan said the organization plans to continue measuring activity in Downtown Memphis and is working on putting together an annual "perception" survey.
"Using this data to get ahead of problems," DMC chief operations officer Brett Roler said, adding that the group is analyzing and gathering data more effectively every day.
Those data sets include daytime pedestrian traffic, hotel stays, and the number of visitors; those particular data sets are expected to help DMC stay informed on positive short-term progress in Downtown and what areas need to be focused on for longer-term goals.
Additionally, the organization plans to work with the City of Memphis and Memphis Police Department to provide quarterly and annual crime and public safety reports. These reports will be available on the DMC website.
St. Jude plans on-site data center expansion
On Aug. 25, a commercial addition permit was filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development regarding a data center expansion at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The service data center is an already existing one at the St. Jude's Downtown Memphis campus. The data center supports research and data storage. Service data centers are common for individual businesses and have a significantly smaller power demand than hyperscale data centers such asSpaceXAI's artificial intelligence data centers.
According to the permit application, the research data center improvement is part of phase three of the hospital's ongoing campus expansion and will have an estimated construction cost of $40,863,662.
The expansion is part of St. Jude's $12.9 billion expansion plan; the multi-year capital investment was first announced in 2021.
Memphis-based Fogelman expands portfolio
On Aug. 19, Memphis-based Fogelman Properties announced it acquired The Ovilla, a 288-unit residential community in Red Oak, Texas (a suburb outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metro).
The acquisition marks an impressive year for the real estate firm, which has added over 5,000 apartments and 16 new communities to its portfolio.The addition of The Ovilla brings the company's total property management in Texas to 3,012 units between nine communities, according to a news release.
“Red Oak checks every box we look for; population is up roughly 31% since 2020, and new supply on the south side of Dallas has all but dried up,” Fogelman Properties vice president of investments Thomas Henry said in a statement.
With the Texas acquisition, Fogelman Properties now manages over 35,000 units across 12 states.
U of M launches new AI law school
On Aug. 25, the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law announced it is launching a new research and litigation education program, the Delta Institute for AI and the Law (DIAL), according to a news release.
The institute will focus on artificial intelligence literacy and policy along with best practices for utilizing artificial intelligence for courts and attorneys. Professor Debra Ireland was announced as interim director for the Delta Institute. Ireland previously worked as a U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney for computer crime and intellectual property. Her background in criminal law has focused on cybercrime, sex trafficking cases, and cyber-facilitated fraud schemes, for both the Department of Justice and the Western District of Tennessee.
"With courts, government agencies, law firms, corporations, and policymakers increasingly requiring practical guidance and applied research addressing new AI applications in the legal field, DIAL and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law are uniquely positioned to become a nationally recognized hub for research and innovation,” University of Memphis School of Law Dean Jim Strickland said in a statement.
U of M Starbucks and Barnes & Noble renovations planned
On Aug. 26, a commercial alteration permit was filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development for renovations at the University of Memphis' Starbucks inside its Barnes & Noble location.
The interior renovations include new furniture, coffee equipment, and lighting.The estimated cost of construction is $400,000, according to the permit application.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: DMC updates Downtown initiative, U of M launches new AI law course
