Elvis Managers Plan Graceland Overhaul

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/graceland_air.jpg

 

Elvis Presley Managers Plan Big-Time Overhaul for Graceland to Tune of $250 Million

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- The thousands of Elvis Presley fans descending on Memphis for the 30th anniversary of his death Aug. 16 won't see much sign of it, but plans are moving along for big-time changes at Graceland.

Managers of Presley's famous home want to overhaul its tourist complex -- with a new visitors center bigger than a football field, a convention hotel and high-tech museum displays that can give a new, digital life to the King himself.

All it will take to bring about those wonders is $250 million or so; the total reorganization of CKX Inc., the New York-based company that controls all things Elvis; and a publicly supported facelift for Graceland's struggling neighborhood.

The obstacles are far from small, but the people behind the plans, led by CKX Chairman Robert F.X. Sillerman, have a history of putting together big deals and making money for investors.

 

Sillerman, a multimillionaire dealer in media and entertainment assets, took over Graceland in 2005 when he bought the rights to Elvis' name and image from daughter Lisa Marie, Presley's sole heir.

When Presley died, his finances were in sad shape. Led by his ex-wife Priscilla Presley, the estate formed Elvis Presley Enterprises, opened Graceland to the public and solidified the legal rights to make money on Elvis' name and image.

 

Last year, Graceland took in $27 million in revenue, and the overall Elvis business brings in more than $40 million a year. That made him the second-highest grossing dead celebrity in 2006, behind only Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, according to Forbes.

Lisa Marie Presley still owns her father's house and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, but CKX controls Graceland and its sprawling complex of souvenir shops and memorabilia museums.

"As great as it is," Sillerman said after a recent visit to Graceland, "it can be so much better."

 

The big, white-columned house Presley bought in 1957 for just over $100,000 draws close to 600,000 visitors a year, and for a week around the anniversary of his death on Aug. 16, 1977, it attracts legions of his still-adoring fans.

Graceland's current visitors center, souvenir shops and museums were cobbled together by renovating a small strip mall across the street from what the Elvis faithful affectionately call "the mansion."

 

The new plans call for leveling all that and building a 80,000-square-foot visitors center designed from the ground up for handling big crowds and high-tech exhibits.

"To put that in perspective, that's about six or seven times the size of the mansion," Sillerman said.

The center will be equipped for the kind of technical wizardry that allowed singer Celine Dion to recently perform what appeared to be a live duet with Elvis on the "American Idol" TV show, which CKX also owns.

"People will actually think Elvis is there," Sillerman said. "It's going to be, 'Oh, wow,' I can tell you that."

For years, Elvis Presley Enterprises, now a CKX subsidiary, has been buying land for expansion and has put together 100-acres needed for the renovation, which would move the tourist center to the same side of Elvis Presley Boulevard as Graceland.

"We've continued all these years to be a major destination attraction with a busy, pretty unattractive street running right through the middle of it," said Jack Soden, EPE's top executive and a major player in opening Graceland to the public in 1982.

 

Graceland's 128-room Heartbreak Hotel, also on the wrong side of the four-lane street, is to be replaced by a convention hotel, on the better side, with up to 500 rooms.

No timeline for the expansion has been set, Soden said.

"But moving straight ahead, with every intention of keeping the ball moving, we're probably looking at something in the neighborhood of a three-year process," he said.

 

Top CKX managers, led by Sillerman, want to buy the company for $1.3 billion, at $13.75 a share plus stock equaling 25 percent of FX Luxury Realty, an affiliate with plans to develop hotels, casinos or other such projects with CKX.

Shareholders are expected to vote on the proposal perhaps in October, said Sillerman, the company's largest stockholder with 34 percent.

The plan is to take CKX private, with a small group of big-dollar investors including Sillerman and "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller, and continue its focus on intellectual property and entertainment content.

Fuller is chief executive of CKX subsidiary 19 Entertainment, the company's biggest revenue source and owner of the "American Idol" franchise. After the buyout, CKX would become 19X.

FX Luxury Realty, as FXLR, would remain public with a much broader shareholder base to develop real estate projects in Memphis, Las Vegas and elsewhere, including abroad.

CKX, which also owns the rights to former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali's name and image, might have a better shot at other such deals as a private company, since celebrities are often reluctant to have their financial dealings made public, said Bear Stearns analyst Christopher Ensley.

Bear Stearns, which is not involved in the buyout, predicts a total cost, including expenses, of $1.5 billion, with $600 million in equity and $950 million in debt. CKX management is expected to provide $200 million with the rest coming from institutional investors.

 

With Sillerman and other CKX managers holding more than 45 percent of its shares, approval for the buyout is likely, with a closing perhaps by the end of the year, Ensley said.

"I looked at the transaction several different ways, and I thought the valuation was full and fair to investors," he said.

Sillerman's past success in putting together investment packages may help attract buyout backers, Ensley said.

 

In the 1990s, Sillerman helped put together a group of radio stations that sold for $2 billion, and he was a leading founder of a SFX Entertainment, a sports and live concert company that sold for $4 billion in 2000.

Graceland managers have been working on their expansion plans for more than a year, and Sillerman has come to Memphis to talk with city, county and state officials about their assistance.

CKX wants a "mutual cooperation agreement" with local government for major highway and utility improvements and renovation help for other businesses in the area, particularly along Elvis Presley Boulevard, a once vibrant commercial strip now dotted with used-car lots and empty buildings.

 

"We don't want to create an island," Soden said. "We want to be a catalyst for the right kind of growth and the right kind of revitalization of the commercial corridors."

 

CKX Inc.: http://ir.ckx.com/

 

Tuesday July 31, 11:21 pm ET

By Woody Baird, Associated Press Writer

Source: www.epgold.com

 

There have been many misconceptions about the reported expansion plans for Graceland to be turned into an amusement park or theme park.

 

The truth to that matter is that there are no plans at all for any amusement park or theme park and there will not be any rides as part of this project.

Unfortunately the media has taken Robert Sillerman's quotes out of context and used the term "on par with Disney" as their interpretation of him meaning of turning Graceland into a theme park like Disney.

 

The reference Sillerman used was more to do with the fact that Disney is well known for their breathtaking landscaping and state of the art facilities. This is what Bob Sillerman wants to bring to Graceland. Not a roller coaster.

 

Below is a news video from WOAI in San Antonio, TX.

It gives a better understanding as to what is being planned. Think "Elvis World".

 

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?...60eb&rss=68

 

Here is another video news clip from MyFoxMemphis.

It also talks about the expansion plans and how Graceland wants to move into a new direction for the future.

 

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/myfox/pages/Ho....1.1&sflg=1

 

 

Also from EP75 – TCB www.epgold.com

 

‘I have been reading some lame excuses and just flat out misunderstood comments or should I say complaints coming from EP fans regarding the soon to be Graceland expansion plans. So for those who are confused and don't understand exactly what is being planned and why it is important for these plans, I have broken it all down for you step by step to let you see what is and isn't being planned so that you will have a better understanding to it all.

 

1)There will NOT be any amusement park or rides at Graceland or part of the new expansion plans. This is a given. Priscilla mentioned this at the Insiders Meeting.

 

2)The plans call for a complete redevelopment plan that is both privately and publicly funded to enhance the visitation of the Graceland estate and bring in more tourism yearly which will generate more money into the struggling Memphis economy. In order to doing that, they MUST upgrade the facilities, revamp the area, and have city and state support or the project would suffer financially in the long run. (think an entire community remodeled). The total cost of this massive project is $250 as of now, but it could exceed that when the final plans are announced.

 

3)The plans call for a new state of the art visitor's center to replace the current run down squashed together outdated former strip mall called the Graceland Plaza. The current one will be torn down once the new one is complete.

 

4)The new visitor's center will be built on the same side of street as the mansion, to the left of the mansion making it more easier for access to the tours without using shuttle buses. This was Graceland's original plan but the land wasn't available back then.

 

5)The plans for the new visitor's center are to go more modernized to attract new fans and still cater to the older fans at the same time.

 

6)Among those plans are a hi-tech museum (for the computer cyber generation lovers) to display interactive exhibits and for the visitors to learn and discover EP and his legacy.

 

7)The facility will feature much better and bigger attractions than currently displayed at the Plaza using modern day technology.

 

8)I expect there to be some type of hi-tech theater of some sort (if FXS is wanting interactive attractions). Maybe not exactly an Imax, but something similar that would showcase the live performer that was E-L-V-I-S in a unique fashion.

 

9)Expect some type of EP themed restaurant as part of the plans, similar to the old Elvis Presley's Memphis spot on Beale Street.

 

10)The plans call for a new Hotel to replace the current Heartbreak Hotel. The new hotel will be 500 rooms and a conventional hotel that is capable of holding conventions and events. This will only up the tourism and business for EPE and CKX.

 

11)The new hotel will have a top tier company to buy the naming rights (such as Marriott or Ritz Carlton) that are a resort style hotel chains.

 

12)The plans call for the city and state to get involved financially to upgrade the businesses that are in that area and to buy up land to sell to high investors.

 

13)Expect breathtaking landscaping like that of Disney and Epcot in Orlando with beauitful array of flowers and flower beds and possibly water fountains. The mind can't even imagine what a beautiful attraction this is going to be. I will bet my house that it will not in any way degrade or disrespect EP or his memory and will only brighten the image and the man's legacy he left behind.’