UTHSC to demolish former Holiday Inn hotel building along Madison Avenue

One of the Medical District's tallest buildings will be demolished soon.

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is planning to knock down the 12-story tower at 969 Madison Ave., along with the two surrounding buildings at 955 and 959 Madison Ave. The 12-story tower was formerly a 167-room Holiday Inn hotel.

"Remediation work is expected to start in the next month or so and demolition, which is a process, will begin shortly after that is completed," said Raaj Kurapati, UTHSC chief operating office and executive vice chancellor. "We expect the project timeline to be about 18 months."

Memphis-based FlintCo is the the general contractor for the demolition phase. Kurapati said future plans for the site are still under consideration. The university is updating its capital masterplan and is a conducting a space utilization study, he said. Any future use for the Madison Avenue block will likely be determined after the study is completed.

UTHSC acquired the trio of Madison Avenue properties in January 2015 for a total of $2,088,000 from the Memphis BioWorks Foundation, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds.

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Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X: @neilStrebig.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: UTHSC to demolish former Holiday Inn, 2 other Madison Avenue buildings