A Downtown Memphis Commission board has given the developers of The Walk, a massive planned development sprawling over 29 acres fronting Union Avenue Downtown, another 18 months to start vertical construction for the first phase of the project.

Developer Dave Dlugolenski said construction debt financing had been secured for the development, formerly known as Union Row and The Walk on Union.

“The project is shovel ready,” he said. “We are prepared to start at the most responsible time.”

Dlugolenski, who is one of the partners behind the project, said the continued wait to start vertical work ― demolition and some site work has been done ― was a desire to see some interest rate relief or other reversals of some of the economic headwinds that have been keeping the development in a holding pattern.

“It’s not just The Walk,” he said. “I think it’s impacting everyone in their day-to-day lives, but I think it’s also impacting projects, especially projects of this size and scale.”

He listed many of the same difficulties other developers have cited as stalling large developments: the war in Ukraine, workforce shortages, supply chain disruptions, the pandemic and soaring inflation rates. He said the project cost for the first phase has risen by about $30 million since it was initially announced.

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Developer Kevin Adams said the team hoped to start as soon as is practical, but did not want to rush the project and deliver something lesser than what was proposed.

In April, Adams said that despite several setbacks, the development team was “110% going forward” with the project. At that Center City Revenue Finance Commission meeting, the board voted to amend a development agreement to allow the development team additional time to secure funding for the first phase of the more than $1 billion project.

That extension allowed developers until Dec. 31 to secure financing for “at least one of the vertical improvements included in The Walk” and gave until Dec. 21, 2024, to close the payment-in-lieu-of-tax incentive leases.

On Tuesday, the board extended the closing deadline for phase one to June 2024. The closing deadline for all phases was extended to December 2025.

DMC President Paul Young said the development team had committed to giving the organization frequent progress reports, which would then be passed on to board members.

Here’s what is planned at The Walk

No design changes have been made to the project since it last received an approval from the DMC’s Design Review Board.

Phase one includes two Hilton-brand hotels, a Tempo and Embassy Suites, an office building, a parking structure and about 700 apartments. Both multifamily buildings in phase one also have ground-floor retail space.

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Future phases would include more multi-family units, office and retail space and green space. A new north-south street, to be called Fifth Street, is also planned to be constructed through the site.

First announced in 2018, the project has faced economic headwinds related to COVID-19, inflation and the war in Ukraine. It was approved for a PILOT in August 2020. Developers filed for a construction permit to begin phase one in April of 2021 and then received approval from the Design Review Board for phase one shortly after.

The Memphis City Council has also approved a tourism development zone surcharge for the project.

Corinne S Kennedy covers economic development and healthcare for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Downtown Memphis development: The Walk gets 18 more months to start