MEMPHIS, Tenn. —Royal Furniture announced it’s moving from its showroom and headquarters on South Main Street at Gayoso, a building it’s called home since 1982.
A New York-based developer has purchased the Royal Furniture building at 122 S. Main St., the Downtown Memphis Commission said.
Tom Intrator, who purchased the 65,000-square-foot building, already owns seven apartments totaling 1,630 units in the area.
Intrator said ground-floor retail and either hospitality, residential, or office space could be located above. Plans may call for adding floors to the building.
If hotel space is built, it would add to the nearly 2,600 rooms in the immediate downtown area.
“We don’t just want to fill this space—we want to create something remarkable. Memphis’ and Downtown’s growing demographics warrant a concerted recruiting effort for something dynamic, kinetic and sustainable … ,” Intrator said in a statement.
A DMC representative said the original 1948 structure would not be demolished.
Michael Faber, president of Royal Furniture Company, said it would be emotional leaving downtown, but it’s for the best for the company.
“The business has always had a presence downtown. We love downtown, watched it grow, watched it rise and fall and rise again. It’s been exciting to see,” Faber said. “We’ve grown over the last few years and run out of corporate space here. So it was a good time.”
