The Memphis Music Magnet concept was born in the classroom and has grown through a series of conversations with local musicians, industry representatives, neighborhood residents, and institutional partners.

To help develop the concept, we have hosted round-table dialogues and focus group discussions, initiated numerous one-on-one stakeholder meetings, surveyed local musicians and others in the industry to help build a better understanding of the current strengths and weakness of Memphis as a place to live and work, and engaged neighbors in informal conversation during a clean-up activity at the Memphis Slim house.

The preliminary ideas offered on this website come from the input received through these conversations, and our exploration of best practices in other cities.

A Work Program for Moving Forward

A working partnership has formed to move forward with the development of the Memphis Music Magnet concept for the Soulsville neighborhood. The partnership was formed at the request of neighborhood leaders, and includes representatives from the University of Memphis’ Division of City & Regional Planning, the Division of Housing and Community Development, the Division of Planning and Development, the Memphis Music Foundation, and the LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation.

In order to complete the development of the Memphis Music Magnet concept and move toward implementation in the Soulsville neighborhood, we are seeking support to embark on a work program focused on accomplishing to following planning tasks:

• Building strong neighborhood partnerships and providing appropriate opportunities for broad neighborhood input in visioning
• Continuing to build and strengthen working partnerships with allied organizations
• Developing an appropriate organizational structure for management of the program elements and associated Memphis Music Magnet centers
• Developing a branding and marketing strategy
• Developing an implementation plan that would define or determine the following:

For Homeownership Programs

• • an appropriate target area for homeownership incentives
  • an appropriate mechanism for providing homeownership incentives, including funding source and scope of funding
  • eligibility guidelines for homeownership incentives
  • the role of county-owned tax delinquent properties and foreclosed properties in homeownership incentives and related revitalization efforts
  • the potential for new housing construction related to the program, including potential sites, designs, developers, and funding mechanisms
  • the feasibility of a senior low-income rental housing element, including potential sites, designs, developers, and funding mechanisms
  • the role of existing city and county programs in providing relevant incentives

For Place-Based Neighborhood Amenities

• • specific Memphis Music Magnet Center program elements
  • appropriate means of accommodating Music Magnet centers, i.e., which buildings to use
  • associated acquisition and renovation costs, and funding sources
  • the feasibility of a warehouse renovation for live/work/show space