Pinch District, Memphis

Pyramid Arena

from the North

The Pinch District is a historical district of

downtown Memphis roughly bordered by the Wolf River

lagoon on the west, Market Street on the south, Danny Thomas Boulevard on the east, and A.W. Willis Avenue on the north.

History

The area known as the Pinch District was part of the original plan of Memphis, and emerged as the city's first commercial area. It was originally located north of Market Street and south of the Bayou Gayoso, a stream that ran through (now under) downtown Memphis. The name "Pinch" was originally a derisive term, referring to emaciated Irish immigrants who fled the

African-American, and remains so today. During the 1970s, the Pinch was a target of slum clearance and urban renewal. The Barry Homes housing project was constructed in the Pinch in 1970, and the neighborhood was bisected by Interstate 40 as part of the construction of the Hernando de Soto Bridge in 1973.^[1]

Growth

In 1991, the City of Memphis constructed the

FedEx Forum in 2004, and the Pyramid closed as an arena. Several proposals for new development were devised in the mid-2000s, though many never materialized. Recent development has centered on MATA's North End Terminal, which operates as the city's main bus terminal. The Pyramid now has been converted into a Bass Pro Shops megastore opened in May 2015, a hint that gentrification may be returning to the struggling neighborhood.^[2]

In 2016, conceptual plans for revitalizing the Pinch District were announced.[3] The design calls for a mixed-used district that would complement a $1 billion expansion of St. Jude. New research and office buildings will be located outside the existing St. Jude gates and will have public-facing retail and restaurant tenants at ground level. Additional mixed-use buildings would provide a mix of office, residential, and hotel space. A long-awaited pedestrian bridge to connect the Pyramid to the greater Pinch District is also planned.