WM Design & Review pleased with Southland expansion plans

WM Design & Review pleased with Southland expansion plans

City officials sees investment as a major positive for community

news@theeveningtimes.com

Building projects are looking up in West Memphis. The city’s Design & Review Commission heard plans for a 20-story hotel tower and casino at Southland during its February meeting.

The expansion represents a project of unprecedented proportions in the city.

“Its a 20-story hotel and a $250 million investment,” said City Planning and Development Director Paul Luker. “We’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Nory Hazaveh, Principal of SOSH Architecture, Interiors and Planning, flew in from New York to unveil his concepts for the Southland casino and hotel tower.

Mayor Marco McClendon liked what he saw and drew on the irony of the new hires with current flooding in the Tunica gaming district.

“I really like the idea of what they are doing,” said McClendon. “I think it will be good for our city.

Tunica is back underwater and that’s doing nothing but helping Southland here. The new building and the remodeling in the second phase will be really good for us.”

Hazaveh described what Interstate travelers would see. The east end of the hotel will align with the Hernando DeSoto bridge so travelers get the full impact of the blue glass-sided building.

“The light will be reflecting and seen from miles away,” said the mayor.

“Soon we can take advantage of the economic development around it.”

The architect pitched the visual connection for travelers and the community. The planner deemed the location ideal with relatively flat ground along the frontage near the two Interstates. “With the signage it will be visually connected, this tower will be seen from miles away,” said Hazaveh. “If you can see it from Memphis, don’t you want to stay there? All around are fields, which is nice for the color pallete on the interior design. We have the tower in such a way…

you can see it as you come over the bridge. The entire facade of the tower on that side has electronic lighting. The building will be the signage. We are spending a million bucks on tower lighting. We have to advertise our business and we will have a sign above the building too, to represent the branding. This will be like watching a TV when you come over the bridge.

When you come in at night you can see the whole tower animated at night.”

“The building is your billboard,” noted DRC Commissioner Charlie Suiter, Jr. The architect touted not only the sight of the building but the pastoral views from the tower of surrounding farmland as a tourist draw.

The 240 foot tall hotel will be set back far enough as to not require a zoning variance and the casino spreading west of the tower will hide a 1,200 car multi-story parking garage from the Interstate line of sight.

The whole complex will be surrounded by a oneway ring road with 2,400 total parking spots. In all, the hotel will house 175 rooms on the 19 upper floors with standard rooms at 450 square feet.

Pile driving piers fitting California earthquake standards will begin the groundwork.

“We will start in late April or early May and the whole thing will take about 22 months,” said Hazaveh.

Southland Casino President and General Manager David Wolf said about 90 jobs would be added this April and a total 300 more by project completion.

By John Rech