Stand at the corner of Main and Union on a weekday morning and count the cranes. I counted four last Tuesday. Two more are visible from the roof of the Peabody. Downtown Memphis hasn’t seen this much construction activity since the FedExForum went up in 2004, and every single one of those projects needs security.
New hotels. Converted apartment buildings. Restaurant openings on South Main. The long-anticipated renovation of the Sterick Building. Mixed-use developments on the northern edge of downtown near the Pinch District. Money is flowing into the urban core at a pace that would have seemed absurd five years ago, and the private security industry is scrambling to keep up with the demand.
The Construction Security Boom
Before a downtown building opens its doors to guests or tenants, it needs months of construction security. The reasons are straightforward. Construction sites contain expensive equipment, copper wire, tools, and materials that attract thieves. An unguarded site in downtown Memphis is an invitation.
Most general contractors working downtown require security as a condition of their insurance policies. The typical setup involves one or two guards on overnight shifts, when the construction crew leaves and the site goes dark. Some larger projects run 24-hour coverage, especially after framing is complete and expensive mechanical and electrical systems are being installed.
I spoke with a project manager overseeing a hotel renovation near Court Square. He told me security costs run about 2% to 3% of his total project budget. On a $15 million renovation, that’s $300,000 to $450,000 over the life of the project. “It’s not optional,” he said. “My insurance requires it. My investors require it. And frankly, I’ve seen what happens to unguarded sites. We had copper stolen from a project in Midtown three years ago. Cost us $40,000 to replace and two weeks of schedule delay.”
The major security companies in Memphis have all benefited from this wave. Securitas and Allied Universal hold contracts on several downtown projects. Local firms have picked up smaller jobs, particularly on residential conversions and restaurant build-outs along South Main and GE Patterson.
South Main’s Transformation
South Main has changed dramatically over the past three years. What was once a quiet stretch of converted lofts and a few restaurants has become one of Memphis’s most desirable corridors. New restaurants, boutique retailers, and service businesses have opened. Residential occupancy rates in the area are strong. The South Main trolley line keeps foot traffic steady.
With that growth comes a new set of security challenges. Property owners along South Main have dealt with car break-ins, panhandling that occasionally turns aggressive, and the spillover effects of being adjacent to both Beale Street’s nightlife and the downtown homeless population.
Several South Main property owners have formed an informal coalition to address security concerns. They’ve discussed shared patrol services, where a single security officer covers multiple properties on a walking route rather than each business hiring its own guard. The model works in other cities and could be cost-effective for small businesses that can’t justify a dedicated guard.
One restaurant owner on South Main told me she pays $600 a month for a security company to check her property twice nightly and respond to alarm calls. “It’s worth it for the peace of mind,” she said. “We had a break-in at the restaurant next to us last fall. They lost a safe, a laptop, and a bunch of liquor. Our alarm company called the security patrol and they were on-site in eight minutes. Nothing happened to us.”
Beale Street and Entertainment District Security
Beale Street is its own animal. The three-block entertainment district between Second and Fourth Streets draws millions of visitors annually. On a busy Saturday night in the summer, the crowd can exceed 10,000 people. Managing security for that volume of people, many of them intoxicated, requires a coordinated effort between MPD, private security, and the Beale Street merchants association.
MPD maintains a significant presence on Beale, with officers stationed at both ends of the pedestrian zone and mobile patrols throughout. Private security companies provide door staff and interior security for individual clubs and restaurants. The merchants association coordinates certain shared security measures, including the access control points where bags are checked during peak hours.
The challenge is that Beale Street’s security needs have grown faster than the resources allocated to meet them. Violent incidents on or near Beale have made local and national news in recent years. Shootings near the intersection of Beale and Third. Fights that spill from clubs into the street. The atmosphere can shift from festive to dangerous in minutes.
Some Beale Street business owners I spoke with expressed frustration with the current security arrangement. They feel MPD’s presence is reactive rather than preventive, and that the cost of private security falls disproportionately on individual businesses rather than being shared across the district.
“I spend $4,000 a month on door guys and an interior guard,” said one club owner. “The bar across the street spends nothing and lets their problems wander over to my doorstep. There’s no equity in the system.”
FedExForum and Event Security
FedExForum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies, generates its own massive security footprint. Game nights require dozens of security personnel for crowd management, parking lot patrols, VIP protection, and perimeter security. Non-basketball events like concerts, college tournaments, and conventions create similar demands with different configurations.
The arena contracts with a national security provider for its core event staff, supplemented by MPD officers working off-duty details. On a sold-out Grizzlies night with 18,000 fans, the combined security force can exceed 100 personnel.
The blocks surrounding FedExForum on game nights present their own challenges. Restaurants and bars on Beale, Second Street, and G.E. Patterson fill up before and after games. Parking lots and garages need attendants and patrol coverage. Street closures redirect traffic and create pedestrian bottlenecks that require management.
For security companies, event-heavy periods are a staffing nightmare. The Grizzlies’ home schedule means roughly 41 regular season games, plus preseason and potential playoff dates. When a Friday night game coincides with a Beale Street event and a convention at the Cook Convention Center, the demand for guards spikes beyond what most firms can handle with their regular workforce. Companies end up pulling guards from other posts, hiring temps, or declining event contracts altogether.
The Permanent Security Market
The real prize for security companies isn’t construction sites, which are temporary. It’s the permanent contracts that follow. When a new hotel opens downtown, it needs 24/7 lobby security, parking garage patrols, and event support. That’s a multi-year contract worth six figures annually. A Class A apartment building needs door staff, package room monitoring, and parking lot coverage. Another long-term contract.
The downtown Memphis market for permanent security contracts has grown substantially. The Downtown Memphis Commission reported that over 3,000 new residential units have been added or are under construction in the greater downtown area. Each multi-family property represents a potential security contract.
Hotels are particularly security-intensive. The new Hyatt Centric on Beale, the renovated Central Station Hotel, and several boutique properties in the South Main and Edge districts all maintain security operations. A mid-size downtown hotel typically spends $150,000 to $250,000 annually on security, covering lobby guards, parking coverage, and after-hours patrol.
Who’s Winning the Downtown Contracts
The national firms have an advantage in the hotel and hospitality space because many hotel brands prefer contracting with companies that operate nationally. A Marriott property manager in Memphis can use the same Securitas or Allied Universal contract structure as a Marriott in Nashville or Atlanta. That consistency appeals to corporate decision-makers.
Local firms compete on responsiveness and relationship. A Memphis-based company with strong downtown knowledge can offer advantages that a national firm’s Memphis branch can’t always match. Knowing which blocks get trouble after midnight. Knowing which parking garages have blind spots. Knowing the MPD precinct commander by name. That local intelligence has real value for property managers who care about outcomes, not just filling a security requirement on paper.
GardaWorld, the Canadian security giant, has been quietly growing its Memphis presence and competing for downtown contracts. Their approach targets large commercial properties and offers integrated security solutions that combine guarding with technology.
What Downtown’s Growth Means for Memphis Security
The revitalization of downtown Memphis is the biggest demand driver for private security in the city right now. More buildings mean more posts. More posts mean more guards needed. More guards needed means more competition for an already strained labor pool.
For established security companies with trained workforces, downtown’s boom is an opportunity. For firms that can’t recruit and retain quality officers, it’s a missed one.
The construction cranes on Main Street won’t be there forever. What replaces them, the hotels and apartments and restaurants and offices, will need security for decades. The companies that position themselves now, building downtown relationships and proving their reliability on construction jobs, will be the ones holding those long-term contracts when the cranes come down.
Four cranes on the skyline. Four reasons the security business in Memphis isn’t slowing down anytime soon.