PetSmart’s $1.2M Permit Filed for Ridgeway Trace

Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors has filed a $1.2 million permit application with the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement to build a PetSmart at the Ridgeway Trace shopping center in East Memphis. The 18,325-square-foot building’s formal address will be 5883 U.S. 72 (Poplar Ave.) according to the permit.

This will be the third Memphis store for the Phoenix-based company that specializes in pet supplies, accessories and products. Pet­Smart’s other stores are on Winchester Road and on Wolfcreek Parkway near Wolfchase Galleria.

PetSmart Inc. will join Target Corp., Best Buy Co. Inc. and Sports Authority as the four anchors in Ridgeway Trace, which sits on 30 acres at Poplar Avenue near Interstate 240 on the site of the former Ridgeway Trace apartment complex.

The 312,000-square-foot retail center debuted in the spring with the opening of the Target store. Best Buy and Sports Authority are under construction.

Weingarten, which operates locally as WRI Ridgeway LLC, filed a $1.7 million building permit for the Best Buy store in January and a $3.3 million building permit for the Sports Authority store in December 2008.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Eric Smith

New Mayor Ford Names Kuhn Policy Adviser

The Shelby County Commission now has two vacancies to fill on the 13-member body.

County Mayor Joe Ford took office Thursday before a standing room-only crowd at the Shelby County Administration Building. And one of his first acts was to name County Commissioner Matt Kuhn as his policy adviser.

Kuhn, who was appointed to fill out the remainder of the term of David Lillard, told The Daily News he plans to resign from the commission Tuesday. The timing means the commission could act to fill the vacancy at its first meeting of 2010.

Whoever wins the appointment will serve to Sept. 1, when the winner of the seat in the August county general elections will take office. Ford’s tenure as mayor also runs to Sept. 1.

“It was an opportunity to be involved in shaping policy,” Kuhn said. “It was an opportunity to work with all of the big ideas that I’ve been involved with on the commission – consolidated government, creating efficiencies between Memphis and Shelby County. I think we are at a very opportune moment in our history as two governments to work together.”

Kuhn was among those on the commission who supported Ford for the county mayor’s position through 26 rounds of voting. Kuhn said he and Ford did not talk about the policy adviser’s position until a week ago.

Kuhn’s appointment to the commission seat in a predominantly Republican district drew outrage from the Republican minority on the 13-member body. The former chairman of the local Democratic Party quickly announced he had no intention of running for a full four-year term in the seat in the 2010 elections.

In addition to Kuhn, Ford also announced Thursday that Pamela Marshall, who had most recently worked for the Greater Memphis Chamber, would serve as his chief of staff during his nine-month tenure.

The commission is scheduled to vote on filling Ford’s vacant County Commission seat at its Dec. 21 meeting.

And the commission is also preparing to appoint someone to fill the state House seat vacated by the death last month of veteran state legislator Larry Turner.

– Bill Dries

Smith & Nephew Plans Expansion

Smith & Nephew is planning a $42 million expansion of the global headquarters for its orthopedic division in Memphis.

The company will move some of its employees from leased facilities at 1769 Paragon Place and 1980 Nonconnah Blvd. to a new location in East Memphis that it has an option to buy. The new location at 7216 Goodlett Farms Road in East Memphis was formerly a division headquarters for Las-Vegas based Harrah’s Entertainment.

Smith & Nephew has applied for a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement with the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Economic Development. The company said it will add 160 jobs to the 2,171 people it already employs in Memphis. The $42 million investment includes $32 million for the real estate and $10 million for furniture, equipment and other property. Smith & Nephew said the move will make room for more investment and backfilling of employees into its Brooks Road campus near the Memphis International Airport.

The Goodlett Farms site will host the research, marketing and development functions of Smith & Nephew’s global orthopedics division. It also will be a training facility for the orthopedics sales team and the company’s sales team. The site has 285,000 square feet of office space as well as 40 acres for future growth and expansion.

Manufacturing and other consolidated corporate functions will continue to take place at the company’s Brooks Road and Holmes Road campuses, where expansions are possible, the company said in its application for the tax break.

– Tom Wilemon

Americans’ Net Worth Up For 2nd Straight Quarter

Americans got wealthier for a second straight quarter in the fall, as the economic recovery again boosted home values and investments.

Net worth – the value of assets such as homes, bank accounts and investments, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards – rose 5 percent from the second quarter to $53.4 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.

Even with the gain, Americans’ net worth remains far below the peak of $65.3 trillion reached before the recession began, underscoring the vast loss of wealth over the past two years. Their net worth would need to rise an additional 22 percent just to return to its pre-recession peak.

Investments provided the biggest boost in the July-September period. The value of corporate equities jumped $1.04 trillion, slightly less than the previous quarter’s rise.

That increase mirrored the stock market’s powerful showing. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a barometer of the market, rose 15 percent during the third quarter. But it still remained 32 percent off the peak of October 2007.

And stocks’ lofty performance isn’t expected to be duplicated any time soon. Even with an additional 4 percent gain so far in the fourth quarter, the S&P index is still about 30 percent off its peak.

– The Associated Press

US Foreclosure Filings Fall 8 Percent in November

The number of homeowners on the brink of foreclosure fell in November, the fourth straight monthly decline, as mortgage companies evaluated whether borrowers were eligible for help.

Nearly 307,000 households, or one in every 417 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice in November, down 8 percent from a month earlier, RealtyTrac Inc. reported Thursday. Banks repossessed about 77,000 homes last month, down slightly from October.

Millions of borrowers are still being evaluated for the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention effort. States are also trying to delay the foreclosure process, temporarily lowering foreclosure numbers.

But the foreclosure crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better.

“We don’t really believe the underlying problems have been resolved,” said Rick Sharga, senior vice president at the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing service. Many borrowers, he said, “simply aren’t going to qualify” for help.

Foreclosure filings were still up 18 percent from a year ago, and a new wave is expected next year as unemployment remains high and borrowers fall out of loan modification programs.

Nevada posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, followed by Florida, California, Arizona and Idaho. Rounding out the top 10 were Michigan, Illinois, Utah, Maryland and New Jersey.

Among cities, Merced, Calif., had the highest rate, with one in 83 homes receiving a foreclosure filing. It was followed by fellow California cities Stockton and Modesto, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.

– The Associated Press

Oregon-Based Airline Interested in Tupelo

SeaPort Airlines, whose parent company is based in Portland, Ore., has submitted a bid to provide air service in Tupelo, Miss.

Tupelo is now served by Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which has a hub in Memphis.

In July, Mesaba said it could no longer provide service unless it receives a federal subsidy through what is called the Essential Air Service Program. Mesaba submitted an EAS bid in November.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will choose which airline will receive the EAS subsidy.

SeaPort would provide service between Tupelo and Memphis and Tupelo and Atlanta.

It flies the Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The Swedish-built plane is a single-engine turboprop that seats nine passengers.

– The Associated Press

Madison Hotel Sells Ornaments To Benefit Le Bonheur

The Madison Hotel is selling hand-painted Christmas ornaments to raise money for Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.

The ornaments were painted by children being treated at Le Bonheur and members of its Teen Advisory Council. Each ornament costs $25.

The ornaments are displayed on the Christmas tree in the lobby of the hotel and will be sold until the end of December. The ornaments will be shipped to buyers at the end of the holiday season.

All proceeds from the sales of the ornaments will benefit the hospital.

For more information about purchasing the Le Bonheur Christmas ornaments, call 333-1224.

– Taylor Shoptaw