The Next Crosstown? 6 New Memphis Developments to Watch
Vacant buildings, overlooked school properties, and a stretch of riverfront are getting new life across Memphis. Here’s a look at what could be next for some of Memphis’s most underused spaces. Image: Facebook / Memphis River Parks
Some of Memphis’s most intriguing recent projects are breathing new life into vacant, underused, or overlooked sites across the city.
From a long-dormant downtown skyscraper to a former North Memphis high school and a new mixed-use project on Jackson Avenue, several major developments are taking shape across the 901. Some are already under construction, while others are still working their way through the planning and redevelopment process.
Will any of them become the next Crosstown Concourse? Here are a few new Memphis developments worth keeping an eye on.
The Sterick Building
This 29-story Gothic Revival skyscraper, also known as the “Queen of the South,” has been largely vacant since the 1980s. Now, local developer Constellation Properties plans to transform the historic landmark into a mixed-use destination with residential, hospitality, dining, and community spaces.
The plans are part of a larger revitalization effort around Madison Avenue and B.B. King Boulevard. And it’s easy to see the Crosstown Concourse parallels: Both projects take enormous, architecturally significant buildings that had fallen out of use and reimagine them as places where people can live, work, eat, and gather.
Greenbelt Landing
At the north end of Mud Island, work is underway on a $6 million expansion of Greenbelt Landing, designed to improve access to the Mississippi River and support riverboat tourism. The City of Memphis and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground in March.
Plans include additional docking space for passenger riverboats, repairs to the existing boat ramp, ADA-compliant parking upgrades, new lighting, and other infrastructure updates.
It’s a smaller project than the Sterick or Northside Square, but it fits into a much bigger Memphis conversation: How can the Bluff City make better use of its riverfront?
Northside Square
Another major adaptive-reuse project is taking shape in North Memphis at the site of the former Northside High School. The $81 million Northside Square redevelopment is transforming the long-vacant school property into a mixed-use community with residential, commercial, and community spaces.
The project is being led by The Works, with the historic school building serving as the centerpiece. The first residents and commercial tenants are expected to begin moving into the development this year.
The space will also house CodeCrew‘s national technology education headquarters, thanks to a $1 million gift from Anthropic.
The investment is expected to triple CodeCrew’s instructional capacity, creating space to serve hundreds of students and adult learners. It will also host national conferences, expand the organization’s technology education work, and help position Northside Square as a place where education, technology, housing, entrepreneurship, and community development intersect.
Smokey City Market
Construction on Smokey City Market started in June 2026 at Jackson Avenue and Decatur Street. The roughly $70 million mixed-use project is being developed by AEQUO Fund and The Works, Inc. to create a new neighborhood anchor and support revitalization in North Memphis.
The first phase includes 20 townhomes intended for moderate-income buyers, affordable rental housing, and a temporary beer garden. Later phases plan to bring additional housing, commercial space, dining, retail, and services, as well as a co-housing component.
Smokey City Market is designed with broader neighborhood revitalization in mind. Identified as a key anchor in the Uptown Community Plan, the project is expected to bring new housing, gathering spaces, and economic activity to an area that has historically seen less development.
Memphis Public Market
In June, the nonprofit HiFi Memphis acquired two vacant buildings at 158 and 164 Madison Avenue, near B.B. King Boulevard, with plans to create the Memphis Public Market. About 20,000 square feet of ground-floor space would be converted into a market featuring farmers, grocers, butchers, bakers, prepared-food vendors, artisans, and specialty retailers.
More than a food hall, plans also include business incubation, workforce development, and shared infrastructure designed to help local food entrepreneurs grow.
The Memphis Public Market is connected to the same development team behind the Sterick. Together, the two projects could bring new activity to this pocket of downtown, pairing the revival of a major historic landmark with a new hub for local food and businesses.
There’s no firm opening date yet, and the buildings need stabilization and renovation before the market can open.
100 North Main
At 100 North Main, a $309 million redevelopment aims to transform Memphis’s tallest building and the surrounding block. Plans for the 38-story tower include approximately 200 apartments, 200 hotel rooms, office space, restaurants, and retail, along with new construction, additional apartments, and parking elsewhere on the property.
The project’s current status is less clear. Downtown Memphis Commission materials list it as under construction, while more recent reporting has described it as stalled.
That makes 100 N. Main one to watch rather than one to count on just yet.
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Ariel Taranski
Ariel's been writing professionally for over a decade, with a passion for travel, pets, good food, and a great book. She's lived in Memphis for over half of her life, a transplant from Florida and Southern through-and-through.