Helen of Troy Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of household products, has finalized plans to build a 1.3 million-square-foot distribution facility in Olive Branch.

The $37 million facility will be constructed on a 77-acre site in the Whispering Woods development on Polk Lane in DeSoto County. CB Richard Ellis Memphis brokers Patrick Burke, Tommy Jackson and Jim Mercer represented Panattoni Development Co. in the land sale and build-to-suit negotiations to Helen of Troy, which closed on Dec. 28.

2. Changing Market - Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Much of 2012’s commercial real estate deals could be summed up in one of three phrases: speculative construction, institutional buyers and unusual transactions.

The first quarter was kicked off when Industrial Developments International Inc. revealed plans to add one build-to-suit and two speculative buildings in its Crossroads Distribution Center in Olive Branch – marking the area’s first spec construction since 2008.

3. Tax Factor - Monday, June 11, 2012

A few months ago, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. was recounting to an audience of businessmen a recent breakfast he’d had with a site location agent.

That agent had a client out of California looking at sites in the Memphis area for a project. The location agent had drawn up what the financials for the project might look like – and it included $25,000 in attorney’s fees.

4. ‘A Different Place’ - Friday, December 09, 2011

In Memphis’ small commercial real estate network, it’s not uncommon for brokers to be on opposite sides of the negotiating table one hour then clinking beers in celebration at Jim’s Place East the next.

5. Mercer Ready to Steer MAAR Commercial Council - Monday, November 28, 2011

John Mercer does not take over as 2012 president of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council until Jan. 1, but he is already working hard planning several big MAAR events for early next year.

6. CMOM Names Roberts Marketing, Fundraising Coord. - Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Carrie Callaway Roberts has been named marketing and fundraising coordinator at The Children’s Museum of Memphis.

7. Mississippi Muscle - Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Since the 1950s, Memphis has been building industrial space for users to benefit from the city’s transportation amenities, which now includes five Class 1 railroads, several interstate highways, the nation’s fourth-busiest inland waterway port and the world’s second-largest cargo airport.

8. Ambulance Co. Signs New Lease, Ups Space - Friday, May 20, 2011

A Nashville-based health care company is expanding its Memphis presence. First Call Ambulance Services LLC has signed a three-year, 13,500-square-foot lease at 5155 Wilfong Road, more than doubling its existing space on Federal Avenue.

9. Pinnacle Awards Honor City’s Best Brokers - Monday, April 11, 2011

As emcee Dan Conaway noted in his opening address Thursday night at the 10th annual Pinnacle Awards, “OK is the new great.”

10. Pinnacle Awards Honor City's Best Brokers - Friday, April 08, 2011

As emcee Dan Conaway noted in his opening address Thursday night at the 10th annual Pinnacle Awards, “OK is the new great.”

11. Myers Tire Finds ‘Ideal’ Spot in Miss. - Friday, April 01, 2011

Airways Distribution Center at 8474 Marketplace Drive in Southaven is nearly at capacity with a new lease.

12. New Plants Bode Well for Industrial Sector - Monday, March 07, 2011

Although the overall commercial real estate market is soft, Memphis’ industrial sector appears to be gathering more steam than any other category.

With the arrival of such large projects like the Electrolux and Mitsubishi plants and Norfolk Southern Corp.’s new Fayette County intermodal yard, industry professionals hope ancillary business will bolster the industrial market by sparking new development, attracting new investors and enhancing the area’s economy.

13. 'User Friendly' - Tuesday, October 19, 2010

With significant commercial real estate progress in 2010, DeSoto County’s stamina has no end in sight, industry professionals say.

DeSoto County is similar to that of other areas with a handful of submarkets that continue to do well and bolster the rest of the region. One of the county’s most prominent firms, Chuck Roberts Commercial Real Estate, has seen thriving submarkets that are located just a few miles from struggling ones.

14. MAAR Commercial Council Welcomes New Board Members - Monday, August 16, 2010

The Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council held its annual board of directors meeting Thursday, approving three new members for its 2011 board.

Greg deWitt of Grubb & Ellis Co. will take over one of the council’s director seats next year before becoming the council’s vice president in 2012. He will inherit the seat occupied by John Mercer of Highwoods Properties in 2011.

15. Cautious Optimism - Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Industrial real estate, which thrives whenever companies choose one of the city’s numerous warehouses and distribution centers to store their goods, plays a significant role in Memphis’ economy.

So as the recession improves and consumerism rebounds, the industrial sector is bound to show improvement as will the city’s financial climate.

16. The Cost of Progress - Monday, March 08, 2010

The development of Norfolk Southern Corp.’s $112 million intermodal yard on a former cattle ranch in Fayette County has polarized the community for more than a year.

17. Negative Absorption Dings Market - Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The strength of Memphis’ commercial real estate market is its industrial sector, but the city’s bread and butter suffered a rare misstep in 2009, the most recent data show.

Memphis saw negative absorption of 352,797 square feet during the fourth quarter and negative absorption of 913,871 during 2009, according to a year-end report from CB Richard Ellis.

18. Fayette Rail Yard Expected to Spark Business Activity - Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Don Culbreath has about 200 acres for sale in Chickasaw Trails Industrial Park, a 2,600-acre site in Marshall County, Miss., but so far no one has shown any interest in buying the land.

19. U of M Law School Appoints Kritchevsky to Director of Advocacy - Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Barbara Kritchevsky has been appointed to the newly created position of director of advocacy at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphrey’s School of Law.

Kritchevsky has been a law professor at the university since 1983, and for the past 20 years has served as a faculty adviser to the school’s Moot Court Board and also served as the school’s associate dean for academic affairs.

20. Numbers Show Industrial Real Estate Taking Plenty Of ‘Licks’ - Friday, June 19, 2009

A healthy industrial real estate market is imperative for Memphis to live up to its longtime moniker of “America’s Distribution Center” or its new one of “America’s Aerotropolis.”

In other words, a viable warehouse sector – which bolsters the city’s ability to store goods before they’re distributed and supports the city’s robust transportation assets – is mission critical no matter how the city’s marketing is phrased.

21. Industrial Real Estate Shows Rare Q1 Weakness - Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Industrial real estate in many ways is the backbone of Memphis’ economy, providing warehouse and distribution space to the myriad transportation companies that move freight in and out of the city.

That sector began 2009 by showing rare signs of weakness, suffering its first three-month period of negative absorption since late 2007. The Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area saw a loss of 521,677 square feet in the first quarter, according to quarterly data released last week by the Memphis office of CB Richard Ellis.

22. Commercial Real Estate Still Dropping, Stanton Says - Thursday, February 19, 2009

Janice Stanton, managing director of investment research for Cushman & Wakefield in New York, discussed the global financial crisis and how it has impacted commercial real estate at Wednesday’s Commercial Property Forecast Summit, at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre and sponsored by the Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council.

23. DeSoto Tops for Industrial Real Estate - Friday, January 09, 2009

Sale after sale, lease after lease, DeSoto County in 2008 retained its role as the area’s dominant player in industrial real estate with a host of high-profile transactions.

The submarket notched a metro-wide high of 1.1 million square feet in positive absorption in the third quarter of 2008, according to the most recent data from CB Richard Ellis. All year, however, DeSoto County saw big deals get inked as companies either moved into the area from outside the region or relocated to the county from Memphis.

24. Warehousing Sector Reacts to Retail Woes - Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The economic slowdown is taking its toll on Memphis businesses in the form of layoffs and store closures, sagging real estate values and rising foreclosures. But the logistics and distribution industries are weathering the storm as well as any sector – for now, at least.

25. Cordova Industrial Site Bound for Auction - Wednesday, July 30, 2008

It’s not every day that a 10-acre industrial site is put on the auction block – selling absolute to the highest bidder, no less – but a Cordova property zoned for heavy industrial use and about 80 percent occupied goes to bid next week.

26. Events - Wednesday, April 09, 2008

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will present Dr. Howard Brody from the University of Texas, who will present "Using Race to Sell Drugs: Pharmaceutical Marketing and Challenges to Medical Professionals" today at 8 a.m. in the North Auditorium of the Coleman Building, 956 Court Ave.

27. Events - Tuesday, April 08, 2008

The Memphis Rotary Club will meet today at noon at the Memphis Cook Convention Center, 255 N. Main St. The speaker will be the Rev. Jim Lawson. Cost is $18 at the door. R.S.V.P. to Taylor Hughes, 526-1318 or taylor@memphisrotary.org.

28. Events - Monday, April 07, 2008

The Engineers' Club of Memphis Inc. will meet today at noon at the Holiday Inn-University of Memphis, 3700 Central Ave. The cost is $12 and no reservations are required. Joseph M. Spain, Tennessee regional manager at Contech Bridge Solutions, will speak about "Prefabricated Bridge Solutions."

29. Memphis Industrial Market Experiences 'Flat' 3rd Quarter - Monday, November 19, 2007

One large and lingering transaction resulted in a poor showing for Memphis' industrial leasing market during the third quarter of 2007.

Carrier Corp. formally vacated the 500,000 square feet it once occupied in the Southpoint Distribution Center in South Memphis to move to Holly Springs, Miss., in Marshall County.

30. 'Memphis is Still A Safe Bet' - Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Bolstered by nearly 1 million square feet of absorption in the Southeast submarket, industrial real estate in Memphis registered a steady second quarter, according to the latest report by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Memphis.

31. Different Incentives Drive Different Results in DeSoto, Shelby Counties - Tuesday, October 10, 2006

When large companies such as ServiceMaster and Nucor Steel start looking for possible sites to open facilities or relocate their headquarters, the first thing they often consider is available incentives.

32. 'Cautious Optimism' Permeates Industrial Market - Monday, August 21, 2006

After a few dark years followed by a tentative climb, the Memphis-area industrial development market is creeping further into the light.

With net absorption reaching about 5 million square feet in 2005 and on track for similar growth in 2006, developers are holding out hope that last year's market turnaround could have staying power, said Jim Mercer, executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis Memphis.

33. 30 BIG ONES - Friday, May 12, 2006

The sale this month of three industrial properties in southeast Memphis, whose more than 880,000 square feet were snapped up for $30 million, illustrates a peculiar truth about the local market.

While some Memphis residents are incapable of seeing past suburban sprawl, election drama, taxes, crime statistics, school consolidation or the city's four-term mayor, that's not necessarily true for national real estate investors.

34. Consultants Complete PILOT Study - Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Major marketing campaigns have been responsible for launching some of the most recognizable themes of Memphis: a booming Downtown, large-scale public arenas and high-profile music festivals.

So why not add one of the area's most significant economic development tools to that list?

35. Area Industrial Market Fuels Optimism - Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The debate is heating up over a possible shake-up in the way tax breaks are handed out locally. But the idea doesn't appear to have roiled the industrial real estate market or sent developers and landowners scurrying over the county line just yet.

36. Memphis Industrial Market Begins to Rebound - Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Optimism and recovery are key words for Memphis' industrial real estate market, with vacancies on the decline and a healthy level of new product being delivered in the market.

"The overall national economy has finally turned the corner," said Jim Mercer, executive vice president of industrial services with the Memphis office of CB Richard Ellis. "We feel momentum will continue through the end of this year."

37. Archived Article: Kajima (lead) - Monday, September 08, 2003
Lead

Work Starts on New Chickasaw Building

Last big building in industrial park underway

LANCE ALLAN

The Daily News

Kajima Construction Services started work last week on a 437,000-square-foot new shell warehouse in southeast Memphis ...

38. Archived Article: Indus (lead) - Monday, August 25, 2003
Lead

Industrial market shows signs of improvement

By LANCE ALLAN

The Daily News

For any number of reasons signs of economic improvement, a perceived decline in interest in the situation in Iraq, and so on conditions look to be slowly but...

39. Archived Article: 01building (lead) - Thursday, January 31, 2002
2001 new building falls drastically from year before 2001 commercial construction falls drastically By SUE PEASE The Daily News The number of building permits filed for new commercial construction fell by almost half last year compared to the number...

40. Archived Article: Belz (lead) - Tuesday, December 04, 2001
Belz DC gets final touches

Furniture distribution center nears finish

By SUE PEASE

The Daily News

Belz Enterprises is putting the finishing touches on a 227,500-square-foot, built-to-suit distribution center in Southeast Memphis for Cali...

41. Archived Article: Law Focus - Thursday, July 26, 2001
Mid South industrial growth continues despite slowing economy Mid-South industrial market reflects national slowdown By MARY DANDO The Daily News Although Memphis still holds the top spot as the premier distribution center of the United States, the ...

42. Archived Article: Real Focus (r-up) - Tuesday, December 26, 2000
Real Estate Focus Year 2000 Roundup Overall, 2000 was a good year for Memphis real estate By MARY DANDO The Daily News What a long, strange year its been. It was a phenomenal year for home sales, according to the Memphis Area Association of Realtors...

43. Archived Article: Marketplace - Monday, November 06, 2000
Industrial growth breaking records Industrial growth on record-breaking pace By SUE PEASE The Daily News For most of the last decade, Memphis has seen incredible growth in the industrial marketplace. Local industry representatives say it doesnt look...

44. Archived Article: Idb (lead) - Tuesday, May 16, 2000
By Stacey Wiedower SBC plan to bring 124 jobs to county By Stacey Wiedower The Daily News Several projects that would create jobs and add industry to the Memphis area are scheduled for consideration by the Industrial Development Board at its monthly...

45. Archived Article: Real Review Lj - Tuesday, April 04, 2000
Former Hamilton Beach Former Hamilton Beach facility purchased Collierville Business Center LLC has purchased the 125,000-square-foot Hamilton Beach facility for $2.7 million, according to a special warranty deed filed in the Shelby County Registers...

46. Archived Article: 4q Warehouse - Thursday, February 18, 1999
The warehouse and industrial construction market is alive and well in Shelby County Industrial growth strong, incentives are concern By KATHLEEN BURT The Daily News The warehouse and industrial construction market is alive and well in Shelby County....

47. Archived Article: Memos - Wednesday, April 08, 1998
J J. Russell Phillips Jr. has joined Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC as an associate. Prior to joining the firm, he was a partner at Carpenter and Phillips in Macon, Ga. He received his bachelors degree from the University of Mississippi and his la...

48. Archived Article: Back - Thursday, August 21, 1997
ASICS to open hub ASICS to open hub in DeSoto County ASICS TIGER Corp., a manufacturer of performance driven athletic shoes, apparel and accessories, soon will break ground on a new distribution center in DeSoto County. ASICS TIGER will be the first...

49. Archived Article: Calendar - Monday, April 21, 1997
April 21 April 21 East Memphis Business and Professional Women will meet at the Lulu Grille, 565 Erin Drive. Networking begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. The speaker will be Laurel Niday, owner of Family Connection. The cost is $15. For rese...

50. Archived Article: Calendar - Monday, April 14, 1997
April 14 April 14 Professional Secretaries International will meet at 6 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel, 2625 Thousand Oaks Blvd. The cost is $13. For more information, call Jo Meadows at 224-9662. April 15 Memphis Human Resources Association will meet a...