3 Hickory Hill-Area Apts. Sell for $10 Million

Bellevue, Wash.-based Emerald Apartment Group LLC has bought three apartment complexes in the Hickory Hill Road/Knight Arnold Road area for a total $10 million. They include Emerald Square Apartments at 6100 Knight Arnold Road Extension for $4.1 million, Emerald Pointe Apartments at 3338 Summer Place Lane for $2.6 million and Emerald Park Apartments at 3350 Hickory Hill Road for $3.3 million.

Wilson Management Inc. is the managing entity behind Emerald Apartment Group.

The sellers were Emerald Square LLC, Emerald Pointe LLC and Emerald Park Apartments LLC, respectively. All three entities are based in Georgia.

All the purchases were financed through Protective Life Insurance Co.: Emerald Square for $3.7 million, Emerald Pointe for $2.3 million and Emerald Park for $3 million. The loans mature in March 2037.

Emerald Square Apartments is a 97-unit complex built in 1974. It sits on 11.9 acres on the north side of Knight Arnold west of Ridgeway Road. The Shelby County Assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $4.2 million.

Emerald Pointe Apartments is a 92-unit complex built in 1975. It sits on 7.5 acres on the west side of Hickory Hill Road south of Knight Arnold Road. The complex uses the address 3338 Summer Place Lane, but the assessor lists it at 3315 Hickory Hill Road. Its 2010 appraisal was $3.2 million.

Emerald Park Apartments is a 157-unit complex built in 1973. It sits on 14.9 acres on the east side of Hickory Hill south of Knight Arnold. The assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $3.5 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Memphis Leaders Urge Donations to Japan

The Japan-America Society of Tennessee has established the “Tennessee Tomodachi Fund” as a relief drive in response to the widespread and deadly natural disasters that recently struck Japan, crippling infrastructure and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

In partnership with the Japanese Traders and Manufacturer Association of Memphis and the Greater Memphis Chamber, donations to the fund are now being accepted at all First Tennessee branches. Contributions will be directed in full to the Tennessee Tomodachi Fund.

One hundred percent of donations will be directed to relief efforts implemented by recognized and reputable Japanese relief organizations engaged in the affected areas now and during recovery.

Go to www.jastn.com for more information.

– Andy Meek

SunTrust Celebrates Women’s History Month

SunTrust Bank Memphis is celebrating Women’s History Month with a women’s career and leadership seminar event March 29 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Blount Auditorium at Rhodes College.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature Rose Jackson Flenorl, FedEx manager of Corporate Social Responsibility, who will give a speech titled “Write Your Own History–Ten Essentials of Success.” A graduate of the University of Mississippi, she was the first black female named to the student Hall of Fame and was chosen by Glamour Magazine as one of the Top 10 college women in the U.S.

She manages FedEx’s Global Citizenship operation, where she focuses on programs and relationships with national and international community outreach organizations. In that role, she directs corporate resources toward initiatives in the areas of disaster relief, pedestrian and child safety, environmental sustainability, education and diversity.

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Katie Maxwell at 681-4178 or rsvpmemphis@suntrust.com.

– Andy Meek

MIFA Asks Memphians to Skip Meals, Donate

Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association is asking Memphians to consider going without one or more meals, desserts, snacks or gourmet coffees during Lent and instead donating the money that would have been spent to support MIFA’s Meals on Wheels program.

Friends, families and faith congregations are asked to participate in MIFAST to promote unity and awareness and to help feed the growing number of hungry people in Memphis.

MIFA will focus on MIFAST during its annual Day of Reflection and Service on April 2, when the organization honors volunteers and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, who fasted regularly.

On the same day, diverse faith groups at the University of Memphis will participate in an “un-lunch,” during which students will be asked to make a $5 donation and forego eating lunch to instead discuss hunger and poverty in Memphis.

Through the office of Chaplain Walt Tennyson, Rhodes College students and staff are engaging in a MIFAST project involving fasting during Lent, Ramadan and Yom Kippur. Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith group leaders will work together during these seasons, delivering Meals on Wheels for MIFA and participating in a communal meal to discuss the experiences of fasting and meals delivery in the light of larger issues of hunger and poverty and their associated spiritual teachings.

The Parish Ministry program of the Catholic Diocese is also promoting MIFAST, and high school students at Temple Israel will participate, as well.

For more information, visit www.mifa.org/mifast.

– Aisling Maki

River City Brewers to Hold Festival

The 2nd Annual River City Brewers Festival in Handy Park on Beale Street will be held Saturday with tasting sessions at noon and 6 p.m.

Admission includes samples from the best local, regional, national and import breweries.

Session A entertainment will be provided by The Mulch Brothers and Session B entertainment will be provided by Ghost Town Blues Band.

Entry fee in advance is $30, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Mid-South Autism Society.

All online ticket sales will end Friday at 5 p.m. Tickets purchased at the gate are $40 and will only be available pending no sell out.

For tickets or a detailed list of participating breweries visit www.rivercitybrewersfestival.com.

– Taylor Shoptaw

Amendment Proposed to Tenn. Shariah Bill

Sponsors of legislation that would make it a felony to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as Shariah are hoping a proposed amendment that strips out any reference to a specific religion will appease Muslims outraged by the original bill.

Muslims, who say the original measure is too broad, fear it would outlaw central tenets of Islam, such as praying five times a day toward Mecca, abstaining from alcohol or fasting for Ramadan.

Republican Senate sponsor Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro said the amendment reflects sponsors’ “original intention to prevent or deter violent or terrorist acts, but does so without any room for misinterpretation regarding the language’s effect on peaceful religious practices.”

“It basically just identifies any terrorist group ... that may organize,” Ketron said. “I think it’s going to be acceptable.”

House Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny of Tullahoma said he’s “received positive feedback regarding the revised amendment from those in my community who were concerned about the bill.”

Remziya Suleyman, policy coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said the group is still reviewing the amendment.

Sponsors said the legislation builds on the Terrorism Prevention and Response Act of 2002, which passed the Tennessee General Assembly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

They said that law only addressed terrorist acts after they occurred by prescribing criminal penalties for those who are convicted under the act. But they said the proposed measure helps prevent terrorist behavior by cutting off the avenues of support that often enable the violence.

“The amendment provides a powerful counterterrorism tool to state and local law enforcement, enabling them to act decisively before acts of terrorism are committed,” Matheny said. “We have to get it right every time; they only have to get it right once.”

Shariah is a set of core principles that most Muslims recognize as well as a series of rulings from religious scholars.

It covers many areas of life and different sects have different versions of the code they follow.

At least 13 states have bills pending that would bar judges from considering Shariah in legal decisions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

– The Associated Press

Plough Foundation Helps Facing History

A $400,000 gift from the Plough Foundation has given the Memphis office of Facing History and Ourselves a major step forward in its efforts to successfully meet a $1 million challenge from an anonymous benefactor.

The donation puts Facing History more than halfway toward its target of matching the amount needed to land a $1 million grant from the anonymous donor who stipulated he would donate $1 million if Facing History could raise the same amount by September. The offer was announced last November.

If the challenge is successfully met, it would result in a $2 million endowment that would allow Facing History to reach a greatly increased number of students and teachers in the Mid-South. The organization currently reaches about 190,000 students in portions of Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry.

“This generous gift from Plough Foundation is an extraordinary endorsement of the relevancy of Facing History and Ourselves in Memphis,” senior director of the Memphis office Rachel Shankman said in a statement.

The amount offered in the grant would be the largest gift ever received by Facing History’s Memphis program.

– Sarah Baker

United Housing Inc. Honors Realtors

Despite the negative news about the housing market, United Housing Inc. has seen more of its clients purchase homes in the last three years than in any other three-year period since 1994, and the organization wants to thank the real estate agents who have made this success possible by inviting about 300 Realtors to a Realtor Appreciation Party.

”Our achievements wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have such great real estate agents in this city,” Craig Locke, development director for United Housing, said in a statement. “As an organization, we’ve always known how important real estate agents are to our business. These agents are doing this every day and in such hard economic times. They deserve recognition for the work that they’ve been doing to make Memphis neighborhoods better places.”

Carrie Evans Hanlon, a real estate agent with Hobson Realtors and supporter of United Housing, said the event highlights the work that the agents have done to further the mission of United Housing and making a huge impact on the local real estate economy.

“United Housing uses its funding as it promises, to help families buy a home,” Hanlon said. “They give the families who work hard and support our city an opportunity to have ownership, participate in the community and have pride in living in Memphis.”

The event will be held at the United Housing office at 51 N. Cooper St. from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.

– Sarah Baker