Sterick Building

Located at the northeast corner of Third and Madison Avenue in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the Sterick Building has long punctuated the city skyline with its soaring Gothic tower. Its architectural significance lies in its massive scale, strong vertical lines, and dominating presence on the cityscape. Referred to in 1929 as one of the “Seven Wonders of Memphis,” the Sterick Building was a joint venture of two Texans, Ross E. Sterling of Houston, and his son-in-law, architect Wyatt C. Hedrick of Fort Worth. Sterling owned the Houston-Post Dispatch and served as Chairman of the Board of Humble Oil and Refining Company, one of the companies that later merged with Standard Oil to form ExxonMobil. Hedrick’s skyscraper dream was made possible by Sterling’s financial support. Sterling invested his oil fortune in numerous other ventures, including railroads, banks, newspapers, and real estate, and he served as Governor of Texas from 1930–1932. The Sterick Building was one of Sterling’s rare investments outside of Texas. A combination of the names “Sterling” and “Hedrick” gave rise to the name “Sterick.”

Wyatt Hedrick’s other notable projects include the Polk Building at Western State Mental Hospital in Bolivar, the Merchant’s Bank and Trust Company in Jackson, Mississippi, and the Shamrock Hotel in Houston. Hedrick worked in a variety of styles, and his Art Deco skyscrapers are his most famous. In the Sterick Building, Hedrick combined Art Deco and Gothic styling. In 1926, several years before construction began, Hedrick signed a 99-year lease with Olivia Hill Grosvenor and her husband Charles Niles Grosvenor for a half-acre site at 8 North Third Street. They requested monthly rent be paid to them in gold or in the equivalent currency of the time, to avoid the long-term ravages of inflation. Gold was selling for about $20 an ounce at that time. This unusual agreement would later further complicate redevelopment plans. Congress nullified the part of the lease calling for payment in gold by banning gold as the currency of the land in 1935. Decades later, a 1975 lawsuit by the landowners sought to recalculate the rent at the then-current price of gold, or roughly $13,500 per month, however, that was unsuccessful. Under the terms of the lease, ownership of the building was originally set to shift to the Grosvenor family in 2025.

Charles N. Grosvenor, Jr. announced in June 1928 that a 26-story skyscraper would be built on the old Grosvenor property. According to the announcement, construction was slated to begin on August 1, 1928. However, before construction began, Wyatt Hedrick modified his design, adding additional stories to stretch the tower to 29 stories allowing it to become the tallest building in Memphis upon completion. At 365 feet, the $2.5 million Sterick Building became the second-largest office building in the South and the tallest structure in West Tennessee. Coincidentally, Charles Grosvenor, Jr. died in 1930, the same year as the Sterick Building opened. Before the building opening, Wyatt Hedrick predicted that within 30 years the Sterick Building would become obsolete. He thought that by the 1960s Memphis would have skyscrapers reaching 70-stories.

The structure of the Sterick Building is steel, encased in concrete for fireproofing, with massive concrete footings that are visible in the basement. From the ground to the third floor, Minnesota granite is used as the base course followed by Indiana limestone. Artificial Tennessee marble covers the remaining 26 stories. The original color of the Sterick Building was the light grey of this stone. In the early 1960s, the entire façade was coated with a waterproofing material, followed by a coat of white paint. The north and east facades, except for one bay each at the northwest and southeast corners, are clad in buff-colored brick masonry with projected headers. At the top of the first floor is the first of many cornices expressing the ground floor commercial rental space. Between the columns are large rounded flat-arched plate glass windows.

Known as the Queen of Memphis or the Queen of the South, it was the tallest building in Memphis. It was superseded in 1965 by the 100 North Main Building with 38 stories. Today, the Sterick Building remains the fifth tallest building in the city. The massive building has tiered setbacks typical of the Commercial Gothic style. These setbacks which occur at the roof levels of the 13th, 18th, and 22nd stories, create a powerful image reminiscent of a craggy mountain peak. Originally, such setbacks were mandated by zoning laws designed to allow adequate air and sunlight to penetrate the sidewalk below. The building, which turns its broad side to Third Street, is U-shaped in plan up to the 13th-floor level where it becomes a slender two-tiered tower. This U-shaped plan, opening to the east, affords light and fresh air to interior office spaces.

The Sterick Building runs north and south parallel to Third Street enabling views of the Mississippi River and east Memphis to be maximized. This orientation also gives the building a greater sense of mass when seen from the skyline or from the river on the west. It is also seen from the principal suburban areas to the east. On the top floor, the final cornice was originally crowned with Gothic finials which have since been removed. The Sterick Building has a mansard roof with an ornamental crest. A strong sense of structural hierarchy is expressed in the facades. This is where the columns continue from the sidewalk to the various setback parapets where finials top them. Between the columns are more delicate vertical mullions which add a human scale to the building while dividing the structural frays. This emphasizes the façade’s verticality. These strong vertical elements interrupt the horizontal spandrel panels, affording a dominant upward aspect to the massive proportions.

Below the lobby level are two basement floors that house maintenance and mechanical equipment such as three original Kewanee Portable boilers and the original air compressor. There is also a small parking garage. Other original mechanical equipment included a water well, a complete filtering plant, an ice-making and refrigerating plant, a high-pressure fire pump, an ice-water delivery system for each floor, and an automatic aerator for purifying water. The typical office floor of the first 13 stories is U-shaped with a central core containing elevators, toilet rooms, and other service facilities. Special features of the building included a barber shop, a ladies’ lounge complete with showers, and a law library for Sterick tenants. At the top of the skyscraper was the upscale Regency Room restaurant.

Initially, the lobby detailing was Renaissance style with Italian pink and Belgian black marble walls and floors, vaulted corridor ceilings, and intricate chandeliers. The 1950s remodel introduced coral red, black with red, and solid black marble. In addition, a suspended ceiling was added, and the original chandeliers were removed. The lobby floor features a geometric maze pattern in black and pink marble and pink granite. Other details of note in the lobby include a solid brass mailbox and intricate stair rails to the second floor, decorated with cast iron cupids.

The floors above ground level included wainscotting of pink marble with red granite trim, terrazzo floors, elegant Art Deco water fountains, plaster lath ceilings, and brass hardware with Gothic ornamentation. The original 878 offices were all finished in quarter-sawn white oak with office partitions of plaster and obscured glass, ceiling fans, and Venetian blinds. Each office occupied one structural bay so that the façade structural bays expressed the office spaces within. Radiators heat all but the 13th floor which has electric heat.

A quarter of the building’s 250,000 square feet of office space was leased before the dedication. One of the first tenants was the federal government. It leased the entire 12th floor and a large portion of the ground level during renovations and expansions to the downtown federal building. Numerous offices including the U.S. Marshals, Secret Service, narcotics agents, steamboat boiler and locomotive inspectors, collector of customs, district attorney, Prohibition Administration, Department of Agriculture, and the Game Warden were located on the 12th floor. The northeast corner of the ground floor was used as a federal courtroom. The government offices remained in the Sterick until the remodel in 1932.

Financing in the early days included a $1,500,000 mortgage on the building by Jesse Jones Bankers’ Mortgage Company. Against this mortgage $1,500,000 in first mortgage bonds were issued, one million dollars of which were sold to the St. Louis National Bank, Mr. Jones retaining $500,000 worth. In 1932, Sterling & Hedrick sold the Sterick Building at a public auction to Madison Avenue Realty Company. This company was formed with the sole purpose of purchasing the Sterick for $1.3 million. Col. James Hammond, the former publisher of The Commercial Appeal, obtained control of the building in 1943. Attorney Frank M. Gilliland later gained control of the building and, in June 1952, sold the building to the Mid-Southern Foundation. In 1956, the 27-year-old building was purchased for $3.8 million by Lawrence A. Wein, a New York City attorney of Wein, Lane, Klein, & Purcell from the Mid-South Foundation. Soon after the purchase, Mr. Wein commissioned architects Hanker & Heyer to design a $200,000 modernization of the main lobby.

Besides virtually every department of the federal government, other tenants throughout the building’s history included many prominent doctors, dentists, lawyers, and insurance companies. Some tenants spent their entire careers working in the Sterick Building. Attorney Arthur J. Gemignani occupied an office in the landmark building in 1941 and was the last tenant to move out in 1989. This was when the building was slated for renovation. Gemignani considered himself a “Sterick lifer”. He handled the building sale twice. Dr. Hugh Hyatt, a dentist who practiced in the building for over 50 years, was another Sterick lifer. Similar to Gemignani, Hyatt viewed the skyscraper’s construction and moved in as one of its early tenants. Dr. Hyatt was also friends with noted playwright Tennessee Williams who stayed at his residence while in town. Dr. Hyatt became so enamored with the Sterick Building that he told patients his middle name was Sterick. Patients called his office asking for Dr. Sterick.

In the 1940s, the Sterick Building was considered the most prestigious office address in Memphis. As many as 10,000 people passed through the front doors each day. The building was like a city within a city. More mail was sent and received at the Sterick Building than in some small towns. You could see a lawyer, doctor, merchant, beautician, or car salesman. You could get a tooth pulled, buy a steak, or shop for hearing aids, or glasses. You could have a suit custom tailored, deposit your money in a bank, or even arrange to be buried.

Radio station WHHM, the city’s fifth radio station, came on the air from a studio on the 4th floor in 1946. By 1951, every office was leased, and the building was full. The Commercial Appeal noted that the Sterick received more daily mail than some small nearby towns. With more than 2,000 employees, the building’s daily population was larger than Cotton Plant, Arkansas, or Como, Mississippi. One of its largest tenants at the time, Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company took over the 4th floor in 1957. In addition, it occupied half of the 5th floor. Other past tenants include the Hunter Fan and Motor Company, Western Union Telegraph Company, The HumKo Company, and LaSalle Extension University. In 1960, the top floor was converted into the Regency Room restaurant. It has views of three states; Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee from 23 newly installed plate glass windows that can withstand 80 MPH gusts. The restaurant is formal dining, had 125 tables, and was open to the public.

In the early 1960s, the Sterick Building fell victim to the urban blight that affected much of downtown Memphis. For the better part of two decades, the old landmark languished in disrepair and eventually disrepute, as tenants squared off against landlords in a court battle over modernization and maintenance. The Sterick Building changed hands twice in the 1970s, with each owner promising repairs and renovations that never materialized. In 1978, the Sterick Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

A former night maid filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court in March 1979 against the Sterick Building Corp. and Westinghouse Electric Corp. claiming she was permanently injured when an elevator fell 24 floors with her inside. Mrs. Lula Bell Williams said she was riding the elevator to the top of the building when the elevator began a free fall which ended only when she reached the bottom shaft. The lawsuit asked for $100,000 in damages.

In March 1981, the building was purchased by the Florida-based Norwood Management Co., at the time tenants occupied little more than a quarter of the building. The firm was determined to refurbish the Sterick and repolish its image with a $4.5 million to $5 million renovation. In October 1981, a 17-man crew from a restoration company specializing in the rejuvenation of historic buildings began sandblasting and cleaning the building’s exterior. Work continued until cold weather brought a four-month layoff. One hundred tons of sand were used for cleaning the building’s exterior and for removing the peeling coat of white paint applied some 20 years prior. After cleaning off a coat of dark gray waterproofing material that was covered by white paint, the Sterick was ready to be repainted in May 1982. Two thousand gallons of pale yellow (actually called “buff”) paint was used to cover the exterior during the restoration. The mansard roof, originally of green tile, was painted an orange-copper color with dark brown and maroon trim around the windows.

The color change received a mixed reaction from Sterick aficionados. James F. Williamson, the Memphis architect who wrote the nomination for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, strongly disagreed with painting the building. “In my opinion, they really blew it with that paint job. They’ve ignored any kind of historical consistency. The Sterick Building was never intended to be painted. They had to paint it after they put the waterproofing on because it looked so terrible, and apparently, you can’t get it off once it’s on there. The idea originally was that the three-dimensional ornamentation would cast a shadow when the sun shone on it. That was what gave the building its texture. But for the ornamentation to stand out, the shadow must be cast on a light surface. The color they’ve painted the building now is too dark so that all you see from a distance are squares of brown paint.” Inclusion on the National Register is desirable because it entitles a building’s owners to an investment tax credit of 25 percent on large-scale restoration and repairs. A building can be dropped from the register if restoration work does not conform to standards. Other than that, nothing prevents them from painting it in any color they choose. The owners never applied for certification under the program and therefore were exempt from its restrictions. Even before the historically inaccurate color scheme, the owners had already broken one of the cardinal rules for restoration – sandblasting.

As tenants moved out, entire floors were left empty. A woman employed by a law firm in the building filed a $2 million lawsuit in 1982 against Norwood Management after she was sexually assaulted on the 23rd floor. She said thefts and robberies were reported in the building and several requests had been made that elevators be fixed mechanically so they would not stop at vacant floors, however, these requests went ignored. The woman stated that at about 1:00 P.M. on April 3, 1981, she was returning to her office after filing documents for her law firm. She said she got on the elevator and pushed the button for the 26th floor, where the law offices are located. She said the elevator stopped on the 23rd floor, a vacant floor, and that it was dark and unattended by authorized personnel. When the elevator door opened, a man standing in wait entered the elevator and seized her. She said the man beat her, assaulted her, molested her, and attempted to rape her. Four building workers, alerted by her screams, came to her rescue. The man wrestled with the workers and attempted to escape but fell from a window and landed on the 14th floor ledge. He was killed.

In February 1982, Memphis Police received a call about a possible burglary at the ground level bank in the Sterick Building. The intruder took a ladder off a truck and climbed through a window of a storage room in the bank. Two officers answered the burglary-in-progress call on a Cushman scooter. As they rode around the alley to the back of the building, they spotted a man standing in a doorway. He tried to slam the doors and when officers forced their way inside, he attacked them with a 6-foot metal pole. One of the officers drew his pistol and the suspect began fighting the officer for his gun, attempting to shoot the officer. During the struggle, one of the patrolmen noticed a pistol in the intruder’s back pocket. The two officers and the suspect continued struggling, rolling out the door into the alleyway. The intruder broke free and headed for another officer who also answered the call. At that point, one of the officers fired a shot striking the suspect in the shoulder. However, the shot did not stop the struggling man. He fought all three officers thirty or forty feet down the alley. It took all three patrolmen to subdue him. It was only after they subdued him that they realized he had been shot.

By 1983, Norwood Management had fallen behind in payments and faced foreclosure. To add to their list of troubles, the IRS placed a $48,000 lien against the property. Although they announced a full restoration of the interior and exterior, very little had been done to the interior. A year later, in August 1984, Sterick Tower Partners, a Tennessee limited partnership, purchased the remaining leasehold for $4.45 million. The principals of Sterick Tower Partners included EMSI Corp. of Miami, FL, and Algernon Blair Services Corp., a subsidiary of Algernon Blair International, a Montgomery, Alabama-based general contractor, and developer. The new buyers planned a $24 million overhaul which included returning the building to its original colors and installing new electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, and heating systems. In preparation for the renovation, the owners allowed leases to expire to empty the building. Although plans to renovate were outlined, financing became elusive. In 1991, the Sterick Building went up for auction at The Peabody Hotel with a minimum bid of $1.5 million. A local investor purchased it with a winning bid of $6.3 million.

Today, more than 30 years after the last tenant vacated the building, the Sterick remains empty. In 2006, the Memphis Center City Commission placed the Sterick Building on its list of “Top Ten Center City Redevelopment Sites”. A year prior, the property was appraised at $419,200. While the local desire to see the building redeveloped has been expressed, the difficulties of the undertaking have also been noted, including the large size of the property, the height of the floor plates, lack of adequate duct work, environmental issues, and the need to bring the building up to current seismic standards. Further complications toward redevelopment include legal entanglements regarding the ground lease. The land and the building were always owned separately, until recently.

In March 2023, Memphis developer Stuart Harris announced that his team had purchased the building and had resolved the ground lease issue that had separated the building from the land it occupies since its construction. Harris praised the “local and national investors who share our commitment to making sure this historic building sees a bright new future.” The Downtown Memphis Commission helped facilitate the deal, and historic tax credits are a possible source of funding. Most of the building is expected to be devoted to housing. Harris estimates the renovation will cost upwards of $100 million.

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