Memphis is known for Beale Street, barbecue and the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll. Once considered a “B-list” city, it is fast becoming the place for mega-bucks investment.

Spend an afternoon downtown and it is obvious that Memphis is on the move. AutoZone Park has been called one of the finest minor league ballparks in the country and routinely sets attendance records. The FedEx Forum, home of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies, is a $250 million arena that opened in 2004. The Memphis Cook Convention Center completed a $92 million expansion with the 2,100-seat Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. The recent opening of the $1 million Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange became the 18th museum located in downtown. On a musical note, tour the $14 million Gibson Guitar Factory and Showroom.

The trolley line expansion — a $53 million investment — takes commuters from the Downtown Core to the Medical Center. The University of Memphis Law School is relocating to the old downtown post office. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is constructing the $40 million, 203-room Westin Beale Street Hotel directly across from the FedEx Forum. The Westin Beale Street will be Tennessee’s first Westin and the first upper-upscale branded hotel built in the Memphis metro area in more than 20 years.

“In partnership with the private sector, we have created more than 68,000 new jobs, representing private capital investment of $11.1 billion,” said Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton. “Our community has been responsible for approximately 25 percent of the entire state’s growth in capital investment for the past five years.”

More than a million people live in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Perched on the Chickasaw Bluffs, adjacent to the Mississippi River, Memphis is the largest city in the Volunteer State. The economy is fueled by transportation, tourism, manufacturing, health care, and a growing presence in biotechnology.

“Downtown Memphis is the talk of the town. It has transformed the whole city,” said Leslie Gower, director of communications for the Center City Commission, noting the once-blighted downtown Memphis has an unprecedented $3 billion in development under way. “The big news is residential.”

Some 27,000 people live in the downtown area. Nearly a third of the affluent residents are from out-of-state. Harbor Town on Mud Island was one of the first single-family, market-rate residential developments built downtown in the late ’80s. South Bluffs came along around the same time. Both are award-winning, nationally recognized neo-traditional neighborhoods. Within the last decade, downtown has become one of the largest urban neighborhoods in the South, with thousands of apartments and loft units and hundreds of condos and single-family homes.

Uptown encompasses 100 blocks of resurgent downtown and won the International Downtown Award for neighborhood revitalization. The planned community is building 1,000 homes and apartments among the parks.

“It includes Uptown Square, a $30 million renovation of a former public housing complex — where Elvis lived as a teenager” said Gower.

Fourteen-year-old Elvis lived with his parents in the small two-bedroom apartment with parquet wood floors and radiator heat. He strummed his guitar in Lauderdale Courts, played music with other residents, and was inspired by the blues artists he heard on nearby Beale Street.

The burgeoning residential developments are headlining the news in Memphis. The South End District is 40 acres of high-density housing — condo towers, apartment complexes, single-family homes. More than 1,100 units are planned for the area and experts project they will attract some 5,000 residents within the next few years. South Main Historic Arts District is a home to the restored Orpheum Theater and the National Civil Rights Museum. The hip neighborhood of loft apartments and art galleries has been dubbed the SoHo of the South. Approximately 150 units currently are being developed. New Main, one block of Main Street in the Downtown Core, is considered the most challenging block in downtown to develop. It has 500 condos, 70,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, and a 400-space parking garage under way.

“What sets Memphis apart is the 13 historic districts within downtown,” said Gower. “Although we’re experiencing the most dramatic revitalization of our city, we’ve maintained our character and personality by preserving our historic buildings and architecture that define us as a city.”

LODGING

THE PEABODY HOTEL

Take a dip in the Grecian-indoor lap pool. Or just watch the hotel’s famous ducks splash in the Grand Lobby fountains. Three restaurants, two bars, Sunday brunch, afternoon tea and 24-hour room service offer guests sustenance. The Union Avenue ground floor side of the hotel has an eclectic collection of shops offering everything from souvenir T-shirts to imported pearls. Originally built in 1925, the hotel completed a multimillion-dollar renovation in December 2005. $$$$
THE PEABODY HOTEL
149 Union Ave.
tel 901 529 4000
www.peabodymemphis.com

DOUBLETREE HOTEL MEMPHIS

Directly across the street from Auto-Zone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds minor league baseball team, is the Doubletree Memphis. Business travelers will appreciate the dataports and complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access, in-room coffeemaker and business center. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the T.G.I.Friday’s located on the first floor. $$$
DOUBLETREE HOTEL
185 Union Ave.
tel 901 528 1800 fax 901525 8509
www.doubletree.hilton.com

TALBOT HEIRS GUESTHOUSE

If you are tired of staying in hotel chains, the Talbot Heirs Guesthouse is a respite for the road-weary traveler. Make your reservations early for one of the nine individually decorated suites that feature full kitchens and dining nooks. If you provide a grocery list, the kitchen will be stocked with your requested items. Each suite contains a queensized bed, HBO, complimentary high-speed Internet and dual phone lines. Feel the need to burn some calories? A treadmill, stationary bike or stepper can be used in your suite. Or how about a jog along the river? Convenient to the tourist attractions, the Talbot is less than two blocks from Beale Street. $$
TALBOT HEIRS
99 South Second St.
tel 800 955 3956 or 901 527 9772
fax 901 527 3700

DINING

CAPRICCIO GRILL

Power lunch at the Peabody Hotel’s Italian Steakhouse, the Capriccio Grill. The menu includes a chef-prepared pasta dish and salad bar selection for $12.95. Try the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich on toasted focaccia with pesto aioli, melted goat cheese, arugula and sliced tomato. Craving something sweet? The signature dessert “shooters” are miniature portions of decadent delights. Chef de Cuisine Jeffrey Quasha has been featured on the Food Network’s special, “Best Young Chefs in America.” $$
CAPRICCIO GRILL
145 Union Ave.
tel 901 529 4199
www.peabodymemphis.com

RENDEZVOUS RIBS, CHARLES VERGOS

The menu is short and the lines are long at this Memphis institution. More than 1,500 people are served daily and that number doubles on weekends. Tourists and locals crowd the place and they order the ribs. Prepared with a dry seasoning (rub) the famous ribs are shipped across the country by FedEx. Rendezvous is located on a dark alley — and still people have been finding their way here since 1948. The friendly staff love their work — most of them have been here for decades. $$
RENDEZVOUS RIBS, CHARLES VERGOS
52 South Second St.
tel 901 523 2746
www.hogsfly.com

DYER’S BURGERS

Located across the street from Hardy Park, Dyer’s Burgers has been making deep fried burgers since 1912. Thin, delicious burgers are served with hand-cut fries. $
DYER’S BURGERS
205 Beale St.
tel 901 527 3937

DIVERSIONS

Memphis is all about the music. Such musical legends as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Otis Redding, Jerry Lee Lewis, Al Green, Isaac Hayes and others began a musical revolution that changed the world. Start at the Memphis Rock ’n’ Soul Museum for an entertaining and educational journey through five decades of musical history. This compelling Smithsonian Institution exhibition features an MP3 audio guide that allows guests to tour at their own pace listening to more than 100 songs recorded in and around Memphis. Visit the famed Sun Studio where 18-year-old Elvis Presley recorded his first song — “That’s All Right.” Just minutes from downtown, the 14-acre Graceland Mansion is on Elvis Presley Boulevard. The undisputed king of rock ’n’ roll’s home is the second most visited residence in the United States. Only the White House receives more visitors each year. Voted one of the top museums in Memphis, The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is located in the neighborhood known as Soulsville USA. If the weather is pleasant, sit outside at Hardy Park and listen to the bands play. Night time, the place to be is Beale Street.

INFO TO GO

Memphis International Airport (MEM) is located 15 minutes from downtown.

A hub for Northwest Airlines, the airport offers flights and connections to most U.S. cities. The world’s busiest cargo airport also handles some 9 million passengers a year. Many hotels offer complimentary shuttle services. Private limo should be arranged in advance. Registered taxis are available at the airport. Once you are downtown, the Main Street & Riverfront Trolley Line can take you just about anywhere for 30 cents. More than 1 million riders each year use trolleys which make a five-mile loop along Main Street and the Mississippi River. A new $56 million trolley line expansion along Madison Avenue now connects the Downtown Core to the Medical District.