Memphis
- Beale Street Landing (901.312.9190; www.memphisriverfront.com), a major new waterfront development in on the banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis, is scheduled to open this summer. It will include retail shops, dining venues and walking and cycling paths, and will host events and activities on the riverfront. The final phase of construction will include rolling green spaces that will open in fall 2013.
Nashville
- The 1.2 million-square-foot Music City Center (615.742.2053; www.nashvillemusiccitycenter.com) is scheduled to open in April 2013 and will feature a 350,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 57 meeting rooms and a 57,000-square-foot ballroom.
- Music City Center will feature the adjacent 800-room headquarter Omni Nashville Hotel (615.782.5300; www.omnihotels.com), scheduled to open in mid-2013 with more than 80,000 square feet of event and meeting space.
- Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (615.416.2001; www.countrymusichalloffame.org) is planning a 200,000-square-foot, multilevel expansion that will include an 800-seat theater and an additional 10,000 square feet of event and meeting space. Scheduled for completion in early 2014, it will also be attached to the Omni Nashville Hotel, making it the only hotel-museum integration in the country.
- The Johnny Cash Museum (615.259.4730; www.visitmusiccity.com), slated to debut this summer, will feature the most comprehensive collection of Johnny Cash artifacts and memorabilia in the world.
- The Hutton Hotel (615.340.9333; www.huttonhotel.com), one of the latest properties to debut in Nashville, teamed up with the T.J. Martell Foundation to launch the upscale T.J. Martell Foundation Suite, decked out with rare music memorabilia. A percentage of the suite’s revenue will benefit the foundation, a nonprofit organization that was started by a music industry executive in 1975 and supports groundbreaking research in the treatment of Cancer, Leukemia and AIDS.
Chattanooga
- The 137-room Holiday Inn Hotel Hamilton Place (423.485.1185; www.holidayinn.com) opened in February with 2,000 square feet of meeting space.
Smoky Mountains Region
- The LeConte Center Pigeon Forge (www.mypigeonforge.com/event-center.aspx) is scheduled to open in fall 2013. The 232,000-square-foot facility includes a 100,000-square-foot, clear-span exhibition hall and a 12,000-square-foot exhibition hall, plus a variety of multipurpose rooms.
- The 25,000-square-foot indoor Wilderness Adventure Forest (877.325.9453; www.wildernessadventureforest.com) opened last month in Sevierville with a three-story ropes course, a multilevel laser tag arena, a giant arcade and party rooms.
Knoxville
- Courtyard by Marriott Cedar Bluff (865.539.0600; www.marriott.com)plans to finish a lobby renovation in the second quarter of this year. The project will include a bistro and full-service Starbucks.
- Springhill Suites by Marriott Turkey Creek (865.966.8888; www.marriott.com) is scheduled to receive a complete guest room and lobby renovation by the end of the year.
- Homewood Suites by Hilton Turkey Creek (865.777.0375; www.hilton.com) is scheduled to receive a complete guest room and lobby renovation by the end of the year.
- Crowne Plaza Knoxville (865.522.2600; www.crowneplaza.com) recently completed a renovation of its main hotel lobby, and guest room upgrades will be completed this year.
- Knoxville Convention Center (865.522.5669; www.kccsmg.com) recently implemented some environmentally friendly practices, including installing solar panel systems on its roof to generate renewable energy for the area.
Tri-Cities
- The historic Foundation Event Facility (423.279.0400; www.foundationeventfacility.com) in Bristol opened in December following a complete renovation. The facility accommodates groups of up to 400 people.
- The MeadowView Marriott Conference Resort & Convention Center (423.578.6600; www.marriott.com) completed a $15 million conference wing expansion last year. With the addition, the resort now features 88,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. Additionally, Reedy Creek Cellars at MeadowView is scheduled to open in mid-2012 with a retail wine shop and adjacent wine cellar tasting room and meeting space.
- The Millennium Centre (423.282.2001; www.millctr.com) in Johnson City recently upgraded presentation technology, bandwidth and furniture in auditoriums, replaced carpet in auditoriums and public spaces, and expanded Wi-Fi access throughout all of its meeting space.