Greater Memphis Chamber to get sign on 100 Peabody Place
The 15-story Bass, Berry & Sims building in Downtown Memphis will add more illuminated signs to its building to battle vacancies.
Despite sign codes, the Downtown Memphis Commission Design Review Board approved Wednesday, June 4, up to six additional internally illuminated signs for the Greater Memphis Chamber and a future tenant on 100 Peabody Place.
Ted Townsend, president of the chamber, said the sign is a declaration.
“The sign is more than just the letters,” Townsend said. “It embodies that business is here in our Downtown core.”
Townsend said the sign will be up by Sept. 1, also known as 901 day, and the chamber will host a party to celebrate the city and the sign.
“For us, it’s a symbol of pride, but it’s also a commitment that Memphis is about business and we are open for business,” Townsend said. “It’s nice that people will be able to look up on the building and go, ‘That is where our chamber is located.’”
Building owner Belz Enterprises, through affiliate Peabody Office Tower GP, first appeared before the DRB on May 7 to add six additional signs — including a Belz sign — but the board declined it.
The group came back Wednesday with a revised plan of only four new signs, excluding Belz’s signage.
This rendering shows plans for what signs will look like on the side of the building. (Courtesy Downtown Memphis Commission)
The new signs are exceptions to the Central Business Improvement District codes because the tenant names will be placed outside of the code’s limit.