Campus welcomes Memphis in May, Chris Brown, expanded management role by Oak View Group, and more in tandem with new construction
MEMPHIS—Liberty Park continues to move forward with its $112.5 million private development.
Upon receiving Memphis City Council’s unanimous favorable vote in 2024, development agreements and ground leases were signed by Mayor Paul Young to approve the next phase of construction on the mixed use plan.
“The concept behind Liberty Park was always about creating energy and opportunity for Memphis. From day one, we envisioned this development as a way to grow our City’s revenue base by creating spaces that draw people in,” said Mayor Paul Young, who led the City of Memphis’ HCD at the time of Liberty Park’s introduction and the construction of the Memphis Sports & Events Center (MSEC). “Now, a new hotel is on the way, the MSEC calendar is packed, and the property welcomes thousands of visitors every week. With dirt moving, jobs created, and venues filled, this project looks like real progress for our city.”
An affiliate of Capstone Development, in a joint venture with Memphis-based M&M Enterprises (MME), is developing a five-story Hampton Inn by Hilton with 152 guest rooms, a 5,000-square-foot restaurant, which will be operated by a local or national restauranteur, and a rooftop bar overlooking Liberty Park and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The hotel will be located in the northeast quadrant of Early Maxwell Boulevard and Raymond Skinner Drive.
Meanwhile, Capstone and MME will also construct two residential and retail buildings in Liberty Park facing Central Avenue. The five-story buildings will comprise 215 apartments, 43 of which will be set aside for tenants earning up to 80% of the area median income. The ground floor of the residential buildings will comprise approximately 20,000 square feet of retail space, which Jonathan Aur of Jones Aur Commercial Real Estate has been engaged to lease on behalf of the project.
The hotel and multifamily/retail buildings are being designed by a joint venture of LRK Architects and Bounds & Gillespie Architects and will be constructed by Patton & Taylor Enterprises General Contractors. Construction on both projects will simultaneously begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 with projected opening dates by early 2027.
To support activations around Liberty Park, including Memphis Tigers’ football season and a full calendar of events in Tiger Lane and the Memphis Sports and Events Center, engineering planning firm Kimley-Horn has been engaged to create a traffic management plan for Liberty Park. The plan is designed to be flexible to accommodate the various activations on the campus, evolving not only through construction but also into active operation of the hotel and apartments.
These two additions will join existing businesses and organizations already operating in Liberty Park, which include Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Children’s Museum of Memphis, Kroc Center and the Memphis Sports and Event Center.
Oak View Group (OVG) and Fairgrounds Partners, a joint venture between Allworld Project Management and VIESTE LLC, serve as Liberty Park’s collective property development, leasing, and management team. OVG is the venue management company overseeing parking, maintenance, security and partnerships as well as rentals of the outdoor and shared spaces across the park. They also manage the operations of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on behalf of Auxiliary Services Foundation.
Oak View Group is a global leader in venue development, management, and premium hospitality services for the live event industry. Offering an unmatched, 360-degree solution set for a collection of world-class owned venues, including some of the most influential, highest attended arenas, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions on the planet. OVG, formerly known as Spectra and Global Spectrum, has been managing the property since 2011 with a growing scope in conjunction with the expansion of Liberty Park.
OVG’s expertise and management of Liberty Park venues have established the facility as the proud home of events such as the Memphis in May International Festival, The Bluff City Fair, and iHeartMedia’s Sista Strut and has grown and maintained an average yearly attendance over 300,000.
“We believe in not only managing facilities and public spaces well but further activating them, and reestablishing the property as a major concert destination has been a goal of ours for years,” said Brian Hoffman, General Manager. “The scale of Chris Brown’s October concert at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium is the first for this venue in three decades, which is monumental. With the new hotel, apartments and amenities on the way, we believe there will be even more opportunities to attract national acts and events, and we look forward to all that Liberty Park will bring locals and visitors alike.”
For more information, visit libertyparkmemphis.com.
ABOUT CAPSTONE DEVELOPMENT. Capstone is a real estate development and investment firm focused on hospitality, residential, and mixed-use projects in urban locations. Founded in Washington, D.C. in 2009, Capstone’s mission is to create great places to live, work, and play, to create value for the communities in which they invest, and for the investors that partner with them. Capstone has developed over two million square feet of urban real estate including hospitality, residential, and mixed-use projects. The firm has extensive experience in the creation and successful execution of public-private partnerships, and constructive engagement with diverse communities of stakeholders where their projects are located. Capstone’s pipeline of future development comprises over two million square feet of unique, urban projects.
ABOUT M&M ENTERPRISES. M&M Enterprises (MME) specializes in every aspect of multifamily real estate investment, development, and operating processes, including development consulting services, property management, asset management, and project management to clients in government, non-profit, and commercial spheres. With over two decades of experience in the apartment industry, MME’s leadership focuses on lowering risk, maximizing flexibility, and increasing profitability and efficiency. As a property management partner, the company maximizes net operating income on conventional properties and extends the community impact on affordable properties. As the liaison between clients and a third-party manager, MME is valued for protecting partners’ investments and meeting long-term asset goals. The company’s project management expertise minimizes change orders, prevents financial overruns, and avoids timeline contingencies.
ABOUT OAK VIEW GROUP. Oak View Group (OVG) is the global leader in live experience venue development, management, premium hospitality services, and 360-degree solutions for a collection of world-class owned venues and a client roster of arenas, stadiums, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions. Founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015, OVG is the leading developer of major new venues either open or under development across four continents. Learn more at oakviewgroup.com.
ABOUT LIBERTY PARK. Building on the spirit of an iconic past, Liberty Park represents destinations including Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis Sports & Events Center, and Tiger Lane and is growing to include a mixed-use private development. A current list of campus elements may be found on libertyparkmemphis.com.
