Tennessee Courts

The Tennessee Supreme Court will today hear the case of Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. Et Al. v. City of Memphis Et Al. The appellants, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., EPPF, LLC, and Guesthouse at Graceland, LLC (collectively referred to as 'EPE'), sought approval in 2014 for the Graceland Economic Plan in which it proposed to construct a hotel, convention center, theater, concert venue, and museum facility in Memphis/Shelby County. The plan was first approved by the Economic Growth Development Engine ('EDGE') and then approved by Memphis City Council, the County Commission, and the State of Tennessee, and the plan was granted certain tax incentive funding. In 2017, EPE sought to supplement its previous proposal to include a 6,200-seat arena and to increase its tax incentive funding. Approval of the supplemental plan stalled. Thereafter, EPE filed a complaint against the appellees, City of Memphis ('City'), Shelby County, Tennessee ('County'), and Hoops, LP, the predecessor of Memphis Basketball, LLC ('Memphis Basketball'), for a declaratory judgment and claiming intentional interference with business relations. EPE alleged that Memphis Basketball caused the delay of their plan because it allegedly threatened to sue the City and County on the basis that the supplemental plan would violate a previous agreement related to FedEx Forum (the 'Arena Use Agreement').