How’s $70 million sound for a national landmark like Beale Street? That’s what appraisers for Performa Entertainment Real Estate, which operates the Beale Street district for Memphis, came up with when asked to assess the buildings along one of America’s most internationally renowned strips of real estate.

“We’re eight times bigger than Graceland,” says Performa CEO John Elkington. Actually, by number of visits, Elkington is understating things. The 600,000-plus tourists that pass through Graceland each year make it the most visited private residence in the world, but not as popular as Beale, which pulls some 8.5 million tourists a year.

“When the city signed our 52-year lease 27 years ago,” says Elkington, “I don’t think they ever thought we’d make money.” But with a $10 million investment from local and state government, Beale’s become a beloved cash cow. It now leases at $2,600 per square foot, annually generates around $47 million in beer and liquor taxes, and even makes a killing on Beale Street T-shirts ($1.6 million).

Out of space, sustaining that growth will be difficult, which is why late last year in a letter to Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, Elkington suggested that perennially cash-strapped Memphis might want to consider selling Beale properties to spur private investment. Then the trouble started.

Perception was that Performa wanted to take advantage of a city that in recent summers couldn’t even afford to cut the grass in its most popular parks. Elkington says he wanted to help his hometown with what would have been a sizable cash payment upfront followed by fairly impressive property tax revenues.

Herenton, responding to public outcry, vowed in interviews he’d never sell out Memphis’ musical heritage. (Herenton did not respond to calls to his office for comment in this article.)

“There’s a kind of aversion to selling any public entity,” Elkington reasons, pointing out the row Herenton found himself in when he floated the idea of privatizing the city’s utility company. “But people think this has to do with buying the street. It has nothing to do with the street; it has to do with the buildings next to the street. Most of the buildings are 80 to 100 years old. And people who own buildings will put more money back into them than people who rent.”

Elkington, 57, hasn’t pressed the issue. With undertakings reaching from Virginia to Jackson, Miss., Beale is not Performa’s primary source of income, just the most visible.

“We have a great relationship with the city,” says the Vanderbilt alum. “At least we’ve gotten them into a discussion. I think after the election the mayor will look at it again.” feedback: