Gardenwood Apartments Financed for $3.6 Million

Gardenwood Apartments LLC, the owner of Gardenwood Apartments at 4795 Hoover Drive, has financed the property for $3.6 million through Wells Fargo Bank.

The 152-unit, 139,000-square-foot apartment complex, which was built in 1983, sits on 10.1 acres at the northwest corner of Hoover Drive and Raleigh Lagrange Road in Raleigh’s 38128 ZIP code. Amenities include a pool, tennis court, exercise room and gazebo.

Gardenwood Apartments LLC bought the property from Bank of America NA in May 2010 for $2.9 million, financing it at that time for $2.2 million through Bloomfield Capital Partners Fund III LLC. Sale documents list the complex’s address as 4787 Garden Grove Circle.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2011 appraisal is $2.7 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Metropolitan Opening Second Memphis Branch

Metropolitan Bank is opening a new office in East Memphis.

The company’s new presence at 5264 Poplar Ave. is the former headquarters for Loeb Properties. Renovations are starting now for the office, which should open in November and is the bank’s second in Memphis.

As with the current location – Metropolitan’s Memphis headquarters at 1661 Aaron Brenner Drive – there won’t be any traditional teller lines, but the new location will include multiple drive-thru lines and a drive-up ATM.

The renovations were designed by Memphis-based Graham Reese Design Group. Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. will handle construction.

The new office will be an anchor for Metropolitan’s commercial and private client banking teams, according to a statement from the bank.

Metropolitan is co-headquartered in Memphis and Ridgeland, Miss.

Construction photos will be posted on the bank’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/themetropolitanbank .

– Andy Meek

Wright Medical Announces ArthroCare Distribution Deal

Wright Medical Group Inc. has announced a supply and distribution agreement with ArthroCare Corp., an orthopedic sports medicine company.

Based in Arlington, Wright Medical is a global orthopedic medical device company specializing in the design, manufacturing and marketing of devices and biologic products for extremity, hip and knee repair and reconstruction.

ArthroCare will supply Wright with products for soft-tissue fixation of the foot and ankle based on ArthroCare’s knotless suturing technology.

The agreement includes the exclusive distribution of a line of tissue-fixation devices based on ArthroCare’s Opus knotless suture fixation technology, which allows surgeons to affix tendons and ligaments to bony structures without the need to tie knots. ArthroCare’s fixation technology is widely used in rotator cuff repair, having been used in more than 100,000 clinical procedures worldwide since 2001.

– Aisling Maki

Miller Elected VP Of Commercial Bank and Trust

Commercial Bank and Trust Co. has announced Ted Miller as its new vice president in the bank’s Memphis operation.

Miller has more than 15 years of financial services and banking experience and will be focusing on commercial lending for Commercial Bank and Trust.

Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance and his master’s of business administration degree from the University of Memphis. Before becoming involved in the financial sector, Miller served in the United States Marine Corps. He is a graduate of Leadership Memphis and is married with three children.

Commercial Bank and Trust was chartered in 1877.

The bank now has branches in Memphis, Paris, Union City and Jackson, Tenn. Miller will be working at the Mendenhall branch and can be reached at 888-BANK or via email at tmiller@cbtcnet.com

– Houston Cofield

S. Memphis Farmers Market Turns 1, Announces Facilities

The South Memphis Farmers Market celebrated its one-year anniversary Thursday, July 14, at the market’s location on the northeast corner of Mississippi Boulevard and South Parkway. Over the past year, the market has served more than 7,500 customers and generated roughly $70,000 in sales for regional farmers.

With the successful first year of operation, The Works Inc., a community development organization and supporter of the farmers market, announced it has received $250,000 from the Plough Foundation to build a permanent facility for the market on the original site. The facility will include a permanent pavilion that will serve the outdoor farmers market, an indoor space that will serve as an education kitchen and a greengrocer space where farmers’ produce can be sold throughout the week. The SMFM expansion is also supported by St. Andrew AME Church, which has donated the use of its property for the permanent farmers market facility.

Individuals interested in becoming venders, as well as representatives of nonprofit organizations interested in distributing health and wellness information at the market, can contact Curtis Thomas, deputy executive director of The Works, at 946-9675 or curtis.thomas@theworkscdc.org.

For details about the South Memphis Farmers Market, visit its website at www.somefm.org.

– Houston Cofield

U of M Law School Dean Emeritus Smoot Dies

James R. Smoot, the dean emeritus of the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, died Tuesday, July 12.

Smoot, dean from 2004 to 2008, was instrumental in the law school’s move from the university to the old U.S. Customs House Downtown. A memorial service and reception is planned for Aug. 8 at 5 p.m. at the law school.

A memorial scholarship fund has been established in Smoot’s name at the law school through the University of Memphis Foundation.

Smoot earned his law degree in 1974 from Yale Law School where he was executive editor of The Yale Law Journal.

He joined the University of Memphis law school faculty in 1990 but left to teach at another law school. He rejoined the Memphis faculty in 1998.

He taught banking law, contracts, corporate finance, international finance and securities regulations. He also wrote about financial institutions and markets.

– Bill Dries

Construction Materials Prices Slip 0.1 Percent in June

In a small sign of good news for the nation’s builders, prices for construction materials slipped 0.1 percent in June, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s Producer Price Index report released Thursday, July 14. However, construction materials prices increased 2.3 percent over the last quarter, and jumped 8.3 percent over the last 12 months.

Also trending lower, iron and steel prices fell for the first time since last October, down 0.5 percent in June. Steel-mill product prices fell 1.7 percent but still increased 1.5 percent for the quarter and 7 percent from June 2010.

Concrete product prices slipped 0.1 percent for the month, while prices inched up 0.1 percent for the quarter and decreased 0.2 percent year-over-year.

In contrast, prices for prepared asphalt, tar roofing, and siding jumped 4 percent for the month and are 4.3 percent higher than the same time last year.

Softwood lumber prices increased 1.8 percent in June, but were down 5.3 percent for the quarter and down 3.2 percent year-over-year.

Prices for plumbing fixtures and fittings increased by 0.6 percent for the month, up 0.2 percent for the quarter and up 13.2 percent from the same time last year. Nonferrous wire and cable prices rose 0.4 percent in June, up 0.2 percent in the second quarter and 13.2 percent higher over the last 12 months.

Prices for fabricated structural metal products inched up 0.2 percent for the month, 1.2 percent higher for the quarter and up 5.3 percent from June 2010.

Crude energy prices decreased for the second straight month, down 4.1 percent.

Overall, the nation’s wholesale goods prices decreased for the first time in a year, slipping 0.4 percent for the month. For the second quarter, wholesale goods prices increased 0.6 percent, while prices are 7 percent higher than June 2010.

– Sarah Baker