The Greater Memphis Chamber has applied for state improvement grants for nine economic development sites in Memphis as the first step in a “Sites and Buildings Plan.”

The list of Memphis sites includes the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. plant site in North Memphis, which is one of eight applying via the chamber to be part of the Tennessee Site Evaluation Program.

2. Slide in banks, energy firms weighs on US stock indexes - Friday, August 24, 2018

Stocks drifted mostly lower in late-afternoon trading on Wall Street Thursday, on track to add to the market's modest losses a day earlier. A slide in banks and energy companies offset solid gains for the technology sector. Homebuilders also declined following new data showing sales of new U.S. homes slumped in July.

3. Memphis Speculative Industrial Building Will Be First in a Decade - Thursday, August 23, 2018

An Atlanta-based real estate development and acquisition company next month plans to start building Memphis’ first speculative industrial space in more than decade, the company announced Wednesday.

4. Economic Development Experts Set Sights On Memphis - Thursday, August 23, 2018

Site selectors from across the country spent time in Memphis this week as local economic development teams touted the area’s available land, industrial and office space for potential companies.

5. Firestone Fallout - Saturday, August 18, 2018

The red letters grow fainter as the years pass in North Memphis. The Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. plant’s smokestack, once a symbol of the industrial base that defined North Memphis, has become a different kind of symbol in the 35 years since the tire plant closed.

6. Long, Winding Road - Saturday, August 4, 2018

Considered by many to be the main artery of Memphis’ robust logistical and distribution network, the Lamar Avenue Corridor has long been clogged by its own narrow lanes and outdated capacity. 

7. Poplar Corridor TIF Gets First Green Light - Thursday, July 26, 2018

The board of the city-county Economic Development Growth Engine approved a tax increment financing, or TIF, district for the Poplar Avenue business corridor Wednesday, July 25, after a debate about the use of city and county property tax revenue in a corridor with an estimated $1 billion in appraised property.

8. Germantown Retail Center Sells for $13M, Orion Files Permit for New HQ - Monday, July 23, 2018

1245 N. Germantown Parkway,
Cordova, TN 38016

Sale Amount: $12.6 million

9. Frayser Bauhaus Draws Preview Crowd of 300 - Monday, July 16, 2018

The investor developer of a Bauhaus-style home from the late 1940s in Frayser says the area is the “next frontier” in Memphis real estate.

“I’m super passionate about Frayser. When I came out here and saw the beautiful rolling hills, I’m like, ‘This is the next frontier,’” Dana Gabrion told a group of 300 people outside the house at 3590 Thomas St. at Floyd Avenue Thursday, July 12.

10. Heat Wave - Saturday, July 14, 2018

After what was a banner year in many ways for Memphis commercial real estate in 2017, projections for this year were bullish. But at the halfway point of 2018, have expectations in the area risen with the temperatures or have they begun to dry out under the sweltering summer heat? 

11. Stocks Skid as Trade War Worsens With New Tariff Threats - Thursday, July 12, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — Global stock indexes are sinking Wednesday after the Trump administration released a list of $200 billion in goods that could be hit with tariffs and China said it would retaliate. The dollar is climbing and oil prices are plunging. Industrial and materials companies are also falling.

12. The Push for Place - Friday, June 8, 2018

By the end of July, the group that works to connect the dots among the city’s community development corporations plans to have a report that looks at how other cities are connecting the dots in a much broader way.

13. $71.2M Federal Grant Awarded for Long-Sought Lamar Avenue Upgrade - Wednesday, June 6, 2018

A $71.2 million federal transportation grant announced Tuesday, June 5, in Washington, D.C., will fund long-planned and awaited infrastructure updates to the city’s major freight corridor.

Funding under the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation goes for repairs and upgrades to Lamar Avenue from Getwell Avenue to the Mississippi state line.

14. Gibson Building Owners to Partner with Orgel Family - Monday, April 30, 2018

The new owners of the Gibson Guitar Factory building in Downtown Memphis have partnered with a prominent local family to bring the prime parcel of land back to life. 

On Monday, April 30, New York-based real estate investment firm Somera Road Inc., which purchased the 150,000-plus-square-foot building and showroom located at 145 Lt. George W. Lee Ave. for $14.4 million in January, announced it would be partnering with Billy and Benjamin Orgel’s Orgel Family LP to redevelop the guitar factory.

15. Memphis Army Depot, CA Building Get New Owners - Monday, April 30, 2018

2028 Memphis Depot Pkwy.
Memphis, TN 38114

Sale Amount: $50 million

16. Memphis Industrial Park Sells for $50 Million - Saturday, April 28, 2018

The 4.2 million-square-foot Memphis Depot Industrial Park just north of Memphis International Airport has sold for $50 million.

Atlanta-based Ares Management and Mt. Kisco, New York-based Diamond Properties bought the 43-building industrial park and former U.S. Army supply depot from Mayfield Properties, the Dallas company that had owned it since 2011 under the name Memphis Depot Associates LLC.

17. Memphis Industrial Park Sells for $50 Million - Thursday, April 26, 2018

The 4.2 million-square-foot Memphis Depot Industrial Park just north of Memphis International Airport has sold for $50 million.

Atlanta-based Ares Management and Mt. Kisco, New York-based Diamond Properties bought the 43-building industrial park and former U.S. Army supply depot from Mayfield Properties, the Dallas company that had owned it since 2011 under the name Memphis Depot Associates LLC.

18. Memphis Depot Industrial Park Sells for $50 Million - Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The 4.2 million-square-foot Memphis Depot Industrial Park just north of Memphis International Airport has sold for $50 million.

Atlanta-based Ares Management and Mt. Kisco, New York-based Diamond Properties bought the 43-building industrial park and former U.S. Army supply depot from Mayfield Properties, the Dallas company that had owned it since 2011 under the name Memphis Depot Associates LLC.

19. Cooper-Young Overlay OK’d With Footnote - Thursday, April 12, 2018

Memphis City Council members gave final approval Tuesday, April 10, to a historical overlay district for Cooper-Young – the first historic district status granted by the city in 20 years.

But the 7-3 vote on third and final reading will require approval of a companion ordinance further defining what can and cannot be built there or how properties can be changed so the local Landmarks Commission can properly enforce terms of the overlay district.

20. City Council Grants Historic Overlay Status to Cooper-Young - Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Memphis City Council members gave final approval Tuesday, April 10, to a historical overlay district for Cooper-Young – the first historic district status granted by the city in 20 years.

But the 7-3 vote on third and final reading likely isn’t the end of the discussion about how decisions will be made by the local Landmarks Commission enforcing terms of the overlay that govern what can and cannot be built there or who it can be changed.

21. China Raises Tariffs on US Pork, Fruit in Trade Dispute - Tuesday, April 3, 2018

BEIJING (AP) – China raised import duties on a $3 billion list of U.S. pork, apples and other products Monday in an escalating dispute with Washington over trade and industrial policy.

22. New TCAT Campus to Address Workforce Development - Friday, March 16, 2018

Planning for the new Tennessee College of Applied Technology satellite campus in Bartlett is moving forward, with a projected construction start date early next year.

The Greater Memphis Medical Device Council helped TCAT get the funding for the 48,000-square-foot campus, which will include a state-of-the-art medical device training center and the ability to train 350 to 400 students. Construction could get underway by next spring at the northwest corner of Appling Road and Brother Boulevard.

23. Lake District, Raleigh Springs Town Center Moving Forward with Transformative Projects - Monday, March 5, 2018

3536 Canada Road
Lakeland, TN 38002

Tenant: The Stock Market

Landlord: Gilad Development

24. New Construction North Of State Line Highlights Busy Q4 - Friday, March 2, 2018

A flurry of large-scale build-to-suit projects north of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line – the first of their kind in a decade – capped off a busy 2017 for the Memphis industrial market, which closed the fourth quarter with 665,896 square feet of net absorption, according to Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors’ latest Marketbeat report.

25. Plaskolite Buys Lucite Business, Memphis Plant - Saturday, February 17, 2018

Acrylic sheet products manufacturer Plaskolite LLC announced that it is acquiring Lucite International Inc.’s continuous cast acrylic sheet business, which includes general-purpose and sanitary sheets used in making spa and bath products.

26. Lucite Business, Local Plant Being Acquired by Plaskolite - Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Acrylic sheet products manufacturer Plaskolite LLC announced late Monday that it is acquiring Lucite International Inc.’s continuous cast acrylic sheet business, which includes general-purpose and sanitary sheets used in making spa and bath products.

27. Last Word: Higher Ed Pushback, 50 Years Later and Attack Ads in the Race for Gov. - Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The idea that higher education is primarily about getting people into jobs as soon as possible is getting some push back. And it comes several years into an emphasis at the state level on associate degrees and trade certifications. Rhodes College president Marjorie Hass said several times during our talk on “Behind The Headlines” that she isn’t downplaying the importance of trade skills and the education necessary for those skills.

28. Lucite’s Memphis Facility Part of Business Acquisition by Plaskolite - Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Acrylic sheet products manufacturer Plaskolite LLC announced late Monday, Feb. 12, that it is acquiring Lucite International Inc.’s continuous cast acrylic sheet business, which includes general-purpose and sanitary sheets used in making spa and bath products.

29. Christine Staples Joins Buckman As VP of Water Technologies - Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Christine Staples recently joined Memphis-based Buckman as global vice president of water technologies. She comes to Buckman from Ecolab, where she held a number of executive leadership positions in both the water and energy industries.

30. Staples Joins Buckman As VP of Water Technologies - Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Christine Staples recently joined Memphis-based Buckman as global vice president of water technologies. She comes to Buckman from Ecolab, where she held a number of executive leadership positions in both the water and energy industries.

31. Trader Joe’s, H&M, Mempops Announce New Locations - Monday, January 29, 2018

2130 Exeter Road, Germantown, TN 38138: It looks like the Memphis area is finally getting a Trader Joe's. A $750,000 building permit application that lists Trader Joe’s as a tenant has been filed with the Office of Construction Code Enforcement.

32. Rolling on the River - Saturday, January 27, 2018

Despite being the fifth-largest inland port in the United States, the Port of Memphis often gets outshined by its counterparts like Memphis International Airport and BNSF Railway’s intermodal facilities. 

33. MEGA HYPE - Saturday, January 27, 2018

In physics the larger an atom is, the more polarizing it can become. The same can be said of real estate development. So it’s not surprising that something referred to as a megasite can incite a range of opinions that are as vast as the site itself.

34. Corporate Park Nearly Ready to Break Ground - Tuesday, January 23, 2018

With the completion of 1-269 around the corner, dozens of acres of undeveloped land near Collierville have been primed for future development. Looking to capitalize on the increased access, Grace Development is planning Glen Farms Corporate Park, a sprawling new industrial park that straddles the border of Shelby and Fayette counties.

35. Possible Trader Joe’s Update, New $35M Airport Facility - Monday, December 18, 2017

In this week’s Real Estate Recap, a new development in the saga of Germantown’s Trader Joe’s, Memphis International Airport begins work on a new $35 million facility, and Central BBQ announces a new a location...

36. Piece by Piece: Construction Projects Flourishing Throughout Mid-South - Saturday, December 9, 2017

With $11 billion spread out among more than 300 active projects in the Memphis area, according to data from brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors, it’s safe to say business in the region is good.

37. Shelby Farms Draws $142 Million, 71-Acre Development - Monday, November 13, 2017

Elmington Capital Group has submitted plans for a 71-acre senior housing, apartment and single-family development next to Shelby Farms Park. Dwell at Shelby Farms is a new $142 million development to be located on the north side of Raleigh-LaGrange Road near the intersections of Trinity and Fischer Steel roads.

38. U of M Files $33.5M Permit for Land Bridge - Monday, October 23, 2017

570 Houston St. 

Memphis, TN 38111

Permit Amount: $33.5 million

Owner: University of Memphis

Details: The University of Memphis has filed a $33.5 million building permit application with the Office of Construction Code Enforcement to move forward with a parking garage and a long-awaited land bridge over the Southern Avenue railroad track.

39. DHL Planning New Memphis Distribution Facility - Monday, October 2, 2017

0 Tchulahoma Rd.
Memphis, TN 38118

Tenant: DHL Supply Chain

Landlord: Belz Enterprises

40. DHL Planning New Memphis Distribution Facility - Thursday, September 28, 2017

International shipping giant DHL Supply Chain is planning a massive new development just north of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line.

The global logistics division of Germany’s Deutsche Post DHL Group is looking to build a 580,000-square-foot distribution facility on 55 acres of vacant land east of Tchulahoma Road and west of Meltech Boulevard on the northern border of the state line.

41. Last Word: Back From Jury Duty, ASD Changes and Southern Heritage Classic Is Here - Thursday, September 7, 2017

Back from a very short-lived jury duty on a short week for the courts – criminal and civil. Even a slow week at the Criminal Justice Center is a learning experience about not only our criminal justice system but also the Constitutional framework that puts those notices in the U.S. mail and results in several hundred citizens at a time showing up in a jury assembly room after the adventure of trying to find parking Downtown.

42. Lakeland's Lake District on Hold after 'Surprise' Foreclosure Notice - Friday, August 18, 2017

Despite unveiling a new look and layout for the proposed Lake District development at a special meeting late Thursday, developer Yehuda Netanel’s plans were put on ice by Lakeland’s Industrial Development Board. That is at least until the matter of a “surprise” foreclosure notice could be sorted out.

43. Fully Loaded - Saturday, July 29, 2017

It’s almost like the first half of 2017 was a decade in the making, at least when it comes to commercial real estate. Throughout all four major sectors of the Memphis-area commercial real estate market – industrial, office, retail and multifamily – figures are consistently reaching or exceeding pre-recession marks.

44. Memphis Music Initiative To Occupy Old Downtown Firehouse - Thursday, July 27, 2017

198 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Memphis, TN 38103

Tenant: Memphis Music Initiative

45. Memphis Retail Brokers Preparing for Largest Event of the Year in Vegas - Monday, May 22, 2017

This week more than 37,000 retail real estate professionals from 58 countries will gather in Las Vegas for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual RECon convention.

At the event, which will run May 21-24, there will be no shortage of representatives from the Bluff City who run the gamut from brokers, developers and landlords looking to attract the next big restaurant, hotel or store, to Memphis-based companies like AutoZone and FedEx Office looking to grow their global footprint.

46. Last Word: Popovich's Tip, Strickland's Budget and Haslam's Jump Start on Roads - Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Game 5 goes to the Spurs in San Antonio 116-103 over the Grizz who are back here Thursday. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is not effusive in his comments to the media, which is fun to watch, but it does make tracking down and veryifying this next story a bit difficult. A credit card receipt showed up on Redditt that appears to show Popovich left a $5,000 tip on an $815.73 bill at McEwen’s Friday night between the two Memphis-based playoff games.

47. Millington Pouring Funds Into Projects To Attract New Businesses, Residents - Saturday, March 11, 2017

Millington, the smallest city in Shelby County, has some unique advantages and is making a comeback with millions of dollars in grants to fund infrastructure projects and a collective commitment from city leaders to revive the community and attract new businesses.

48. Events - Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Talk Shoppe will meet Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in NovaCopy’s conference room, 7251 Appling Farms Parkway. Leadership development coach Shelley Baur will present “Creating Honest Conversations to Build Better Relationships.” Cost is free. Visit talkshoppe.com.

49. Events - Saturday, February 4, 2017

The second We Mean Business Symposium, hosted by the City of Memphis Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, will be held Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Tower Center at Clark Tower, 5100 Poplar Ave., 33rd floor. The primary focus is to share upcoming city bid opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses. Companies also will learn about the certification and registration process and how to leverage the city’s diversity programs. The first J.E. Walker Breaking Barriers Awards Luncheon will follow. Cost is free; RSVP required. Register at eventbrite.com.

50. Events - Monday, February 6, 2017

NAWBO Memphis will present “Selling for Business Owners” Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Seasons 52, 6085 Poplar Ave. Shawn Karol Sandy, chief revenue officer of The Selling Agency, will share the three-point plan that builds your own selling program and positions your company in front of your ideal customers. Register at nawbomemphis.org.

51. Riding Momentum - Saturday, December 31, 2016

Around this time each year, everyone tends to start fetishizing the blank slate a bit, with its attendant allure of reinvention and that sweeping away of the old order to make way for what comes next.

52. Midtown Retail Property Sells for $5 Million - Thursday, December 29, 2016

1625 Poplar Avenue

Memphis, TN 38104 

Sale Amount: $5 million

Sale Date: Dec. 21, 2016

53. Large Deals, Office Construction Among Memphis' Commercial Real Estate Trends - Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Coming off of a strong year in 2015, the commercial real estate market in the Memphis metropolitan area continued to do well in 2016.

Larry Jensen, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors, said his company was tracking approximately 6 million square feet of net absorption in the industrial market headed into the last week of 2016, as compared to 8.4 million in 2015.

54. Memphis Chamber Announces Program to Assist Minority-, Women-Owned Businesses - Friday, December 16, 2016

At a press conference fittingly held at the National Civil Rights Museum, The Greater Memphis Chamber announced their newest pilot program Thursday, Dec. 15: the Ascend Memphis Business Development Pilot Program.

55. Evolving PILOT Programs in Memphis Look to Restore Competitive Balance - Saturday, December 10, 2016

When the Memphis-Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine approved its Fast Track payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program earlier this year, it was with the hopes of bringing back a competitive balance between Memphis and North Mississippi.

56. Kirk-Ivy Named 2016 Mississippi Commercial Realtor - Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Bambi K. Kirk-Ivy, a commercial Realtor and marketing director at Olive Branch-based Utley Properties, recently was recognized as the 2016 Mississippi Commercial Realtor of the Year at the annual Mississippi Realtors Convention and Expo.
As a landlord representative for all of Utley’s properties, most of Kirk-Ivy’s work has been in retail; however, she says the company is now focusing on light industrial-type flex spaces consisting of office, showroom and warehouse uses.
In 2017, she also will serve as the northern district director on the Mississippi Commercial Association of Realtors board of directors. 

57. Gill Seeks $25 Million Permit For New MAA Headquarters - Thursday, November 24, 2016

6815 U.S. 72

Germantown, TN 38138

Permit Amount: $25 million

Future Tenant: MAA

58. EDGE Board Approves Fast Track PILOT - Friday, November 18, 2016

The Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County approved an incentives request from International Distributors USA to relocate from Olive Branch and expand in Memphis.

The Fast Track payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) clears the way for International Distributors to move from its current 165,000-square-foot location in Olive Branch to a 510,310-square-foot facility at 4770 Hickory Hill Road in South Memphis.

59. St. Jude Planning Renovation Of Tri Delta Place - Thursday, November 17, 2016

350 N. Third St.

Memphis, TN 38105

Permit Amount: $3.5 million

Application Date: November 2016

60. Olive Branch Operation Eyes Relocation to Memphis - Thursday, November 17, 2016

International Distributors USA Inc., which distributes automotive filters under the brand Premium Guard, has applied for a 10-year Fast Track PILOT to move its national distribution center out of Olive Branch and into Hickory Hill.

61. Experts: Memphis Competitive on Commercial Real Estate Front - Saturday, November 5, 2016

Incentives are an indispensable tool for attracting major corporate tenants to Memphis. Memphis industrial real estate activity is hot, there’s something of a war for office sector talent and there’s been good absorption of multifamily space in Memphis this year.

62. Commercial Real Estate Market On Strong Run - Wednesday, November 2, 2016

When it comes to commercial real estate, Memphis is on a tear at the moment.

That’s according to Andy Cates, president and CEO of brokerage services for Colliers International in Memphis. Looking back on 2016, he’s ebullient about the abundant new construction that has characterized the year, as well as the large amount of capacity still in place and the promise of what’s to come in 2017.

63. Industrial Real Estate Competition Heats Up Between DeSoto, Marshall - Saturday, October 29, 2016

A North Mississippi industrial park more than 10 years in the making is reaching the finish line. By next May, Hillwood Investment Co. will wrap construction on a 947,000-square-foot warehouse on the final parcel in the DeSoto Trade Center.

64. Spate of Big Deals Among CRE Trends In 2016 - Friday, October 28, 2016

Ask CBRE senior associate Gray Fiser to sum up the commercial real estate market in Memphis over the course of 2016, and he’s ready with a few quick bullet points by way of reply.

Fast forward, say, five years from now, he explains, and these are the things likely still being talked about:

65. Construction Set to Begin on 5-Mile Trail in West Memphis - Tuesday, October 11, 2016

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Crittenden County officials said a proposed 5-mile walkway along the Mississippi River wetlands will generate more tourism revenue to West Memphis and encourage industrial development.

66. Last Word: Rallings on Protests, New Home Sales Numbers and Special Session Over - Thursday, September 15, 2016

$10 million goes a long way toward establishing a new school.

But Crosstown High School was not among the new high schools that garnered grants Wednesday from the XQ Super School Project.

67. Nonconnah Center Sale Could Boost Market - Friday, September 2, 2016

In what is sure to be one of the top commercial real estate transactions of the year, the majority of the 1.2 million-square-foot Nonconnah Corporate Center has sold. ReMark Trust, an out-of-town investment group, purchased the property for $57 million.

68. More Student Housing For University District - Thursday, May 12, 2016

3557 Mynders Ave. 
Memphis, TN 38111
Permit Amount: $15.5 million

Completion: Fall 2017
Owner: 908 Group
Tenant: The Nine
Architect: BDG Architects
Details: A student housing tower near the University of Memphis has taken a step forward nearly two years after a development on that site was first announced.

69. Memphis MSA Industrial Sector Has A Strong First Quarter After Record 2015 - Saturday, May 7, 2016

The Memphis MSA industrial sector had a strong first quarter after a record-breaking year in 2015.

Last year saw a record absorption rate of 8.4 million square feet, which is 2 million square feet higher than 2006’s pre-recession levels.

70. RegionSmart Details How to Prevent Erosion of Talent, Population - Monday, May 2, 2016

During his three terms as mayor of Pittsburgh, Tom Murphy had to assume a great deal of risk in transforming the city’s economy from an industrial to an entrepreneurial base.

71. Dodging a Disaster With Volkswagen? - Saturday, March 26, 2016

Next month will mark five years since the first Passat rolled off the assembly line at Chattanooga’s Volkswagen plant. Most anniversaries are a cause for celebration.

But as Chattanoogans blow out the candles on this particular milestone they’ll be hoping that Volkswagen’s diesel emissions troubles will soon be extinguished, too, and that the new SUV model they’ll start producing this year will help VW emerge from the crisis a better and stronger company than before.

72. Last Word: Cubits Anyone, The G-Word and The TV News Crime Block - Thursday, March 10, 2016

How long is a cubit? After a day in which many of you got about four to five inches of rain and more to come Thursday, it seems an appropriate and timely question.
And yes, there is a cubit conversion chart on line for converting that and other really old units of measurement no longer in use like the mina, drachma or the synodic month.
So the average cubit, which is supposed to be the length of a forearm, is 18 inches or a foot and a half. That’s 0.4572 of a meter, which might as well be an ancient unit of measurement.
Someone had to say it.
According to biblehub.com – I’m not making up websites – the book of Genesis sets God’s instructions to Noah as an arc with the dimensions of 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits tall. And it was to be made out of gopher wood and covered inside and out with pitch.
The New Living Translation and Holman Christian Standard Bibles convert that to an arc 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

73. Last Word: 901Fest, First Tennessee Sues Pinnacle and EDGE Responds - Thursday, February 18, 2016

U of M Tigers 73 – UCF Knights 56 at FedExForum and on ESPN Wednesday evening.

As that was underway, Vice President Joe Biden was on his way out of the Memphis area after a visit to the Norfolk Southern intermodal facility in Rossville.
Here’s the basic web story account from Wednesday evening of Biden’s visit which comes on the seventh anniversary of the enactment of the federal stimulus act.
More on the larger themes in the visit and three-city tour by Biden in the print version that hits online Thursday afternoon.

74. Memphis City Council to Get Police Body Camera Update - Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Memphis City Council members are to get a timeline Tuesday, Feb. 16, on the roll out of police body cameras from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland as well as some idea of the additional cost.

75. Last Word: Clinton in Whitehaven, Changes to Parkside and The Replacements Book - Friday, February 12, 2016

The Presidential primary caravan has arrived.
Former President Bill Clinton was in Whitehaven Thursday evening to campaign for his wife, former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton.
And it was a reminder of his political potency as well as his popularity in a city that went for Barack Obama over his wife in the 2008 Tennessee Presidential primary but which was solidly behind him in both of his successful bids for the White House in the 1990s.
Clinton spoke in a packed Whitehaven High gymnasium to more than 700 people for almost an hour and then worked the crowd that gathered near the podium for another 25 minutes before sprinting out a door to a waiting car.
We’ll be busy this weekend with the opening of the local Bernie Sanders campaign headquarters and we’re still waiting on that promised Donald Trump Memphis appearance.
And we expect to encounter lots of Republican presidential partisans at the local GOP's annual Lincoln Day Gala on the 20th.

76. Collierville Board Grants FedEx Tax Break Extension - Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen ratified a 20-year tax break for the FedEx World Technology Center during its Monday, Jan. 25, meeting.

FedEx will pay nearly $25.2 million over the period and will save about $75.5 million. As part of the retention PILOT agreement, FedEx will invest $40 million in real property and personal property upgrades.

77. Last Word: Kroger Disses Clarence Saunders, Mud Island Plans and The Australians - Tuesday, January 26, 2016

What is old has become new again. And judging by your reaction to Andy Meek’s story on the Kroger plans for online ordering of groceries, what is old has gone viral as well.
Here are the basics:
You order from a list of items and Kroger fills the order and has it waiting for you to pick up.
When you think about the idea of supermarkets, which originated here in Memphis with Piggly Wiggly, it’s enough to make the Piggly Wiggly founder himself, Clarence Saunders, spin in his grave.
Before he came up with the idea of taking store shelves from behind the counter and putting them out there for you to get your own stuff from them, you would tell your grocer what you wanted and he would write it down on a paper bag and get it for you, wrap it up and present it to you.
Saunders changed all of that as you know if you’ve seen the Pink Palace’s child-sized replica of a Piggly Wiggly store from the start of the 20th century.
A century later, no paper bags and you can still walk among the shelves if you wish.
Perhaps this isn’t that extreme. Maybe this is simply a swing of the pendulum, back toward the middle ground.
Saunders tried to push it even further with his Keedoozle stores that followed Piggly Wiggly. In those stores, the items were lined up in what amounted to vending machines with shoppers releasing an item from the vertical row with a key.
Here Saunders went too far. He mashed the bread.

78. International Real Estate Firms Find Purchase Potential in Memphis - Tuesday, January 26, 2016

International investors and developers are increasingly looking to Memphis because the market is stable and the returns are high, according to a variety of real estate professionals doing business locally.

79. Olymbec Compiling Airport-Area Office Park - Thursday, January 21, 2016

Olymbec USA LLC is gaining critical mass near Memphis International Airport with the planned purchase of a 133,600-square-foot office building at 2600 Nonconnah Blvd.

80. Collierville Assisted Living Facility Sells for $17 Million - Tuesday, January 12, 2016

601 Wolf River Blvd.
Collierville, TN 38017

Sale Amount: $17 million

Sale Date: Dec. 29, 2015

81. Mall of Memphis Property Bought by Trucking Company - Tuesday, January 5, 2016

113-Acre Former
Mall of Memphis Site
Sale Amount: $3.9 million

Sale Date: Dec. 29, 2015
Buyer: TAG Real Estate Holdings LLC
Seller: Memphis Industrial Properties LLC (Johnson Development Associates Inc.)
Loan Amount: $23 million
Loan Date: Dec. 29, 2015
Lender: Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC
Details: The 113-acre former Mall of Memphis property has a new owner. TAG Real Estate Holdings, an affiliate of Memphis-based TAG Truck Enterprises LLC, paid $3.9 million, or $34,513 an acre, to buy the property from Johnson Development Associates Inc., acting as Memphis Industrial Properties LLC.

82. Memphis, North Mississippi Competition Raises Questions - Saturday, December 5, 2015

When leaders of the city-county Economic Development Growth Engine didn’t grant developers a $24 million tax abatement to build an industrial park on the site of the former Mall of Memphis, some saw it as more kindling for competition between the industrial markets of North Mississippi and Southeast Shelby County.

83. LEDIC’s High-Tech HQ To Be LEED Certified - Wednesday, November 18, 2015

LEDIC’s new East Memphis headquarters will aim for a LEED-certified silver status and bring high-speed fiber optic Internet to the area, according to documents recently submitted to the Memphis-Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine.

84. Crosstown Developer: Complicated Projects Can Be Transformative - Monday, November 9, 2015

The Memphis-area commercial real estate market continues to trend upward, industry leaders say. All asset classes are trending toward pre-Recession levels, and Memphis is taking on more complicated projects like the Crosstown Concourse redevelopment.

85. Andy Cates: Memphis in ‘Pivotal’ Time - Thursday, November 5, 2015

When more than 100 of the city’s most prominent developers and real estate professionals got together Tuesday, Nov. 3, at the Crescent Club in East Memphis, much of the focus was on a list of more than two dozen real estate projects.

86. Public Housing Site Approved For Municipal Complex - Saturday, October 31, 2015

The razed site of the Walter J. Simmons public housing development at Lamar Avenue and Knight Arnold Road gained approval to be rezoned from residential to municipal/industrial use.

At a Oct. 28 meeting of the Board of Adjustment, chairman Frank Colvett said in his approval of the rezoning that,“The good part about this site is that it hasn’t been used. It’s being developed because we are combining our services so there’s an economy of efficiency and we can create a campus-like environment.”

87. Office, Industrial Real Estate Enjoy Strong Third Quarter - Saturday, October 31, 2015

Memphis’ industrial and office sectors are seeing healthy activity, and some areas are experiencing record fundamentals.

At the Crescent Center building in East Memphis, prices per square foot have reached $30.50, a level that hasn’t been seen before in the Memphis market.

88. Public Housing Site Approved For Municipal Complex - Friday, October 30, 2015

The razed site of the Walter J. Simmons public housing development at Lamar Avenue and Knight Arnold Road gained approval to be rezoned from residential to municipal/industrial use.

At a Oct. 28 meeting of the Board of Adjustment, chairman Frank Colvett said in his approval of the rezoning that,“The good part about this site is that it hasn’t been used. It’s being developed because we are combining our services so there’s an economy of efficiency and we can create a campus-like environment.”

89. How Training Can Sabotage A Sales Team - Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Institute training. This is number six of 14 key points W. Edwards Demings offers managers to improve effectiveness in an organization.

Demings is the father of the modern quality movement and is best known for helping Japan rise out of the ashes of WWII to become a major industrial power, and for his belief that 94 percent of workplace problems are caused by management. In his landmark (though now dated) book “Out of the Crisis,” Demings poignantly states, “We have neglected this extremely important function to the extent that too many Western workers do not know how to do their jobs.” It’s become an epidemic dragging down companies across our nation.

90. Developer Long on Downtown Memphis, Short on Specifics - Thursday, October 22, 2015

Three Downtown properties are now owned by an Atlanta-based affiliate of an Australian real estate investment and development company, which is giving little in the way of clues about its Memphis plans.

91. McLean Wilson To Address Crosstown’s Resurgence - Monday, October 19, 2015

Four years ago, the Sears Crosstown building started on a complete transformation into becoming a vertical urban village as Crosstown Concourse. It hasn’t been an easy journey for McLean Wilson, leader of the abandoned building’s $200 million redevelopment, but it’s one that has the potential to uplift other disinvested areas in Memphis commercial real estate.

92. City Divisions To Relocate As Memphis Trims Its Footprint - Friday, October 2, 2015

The city of Memphis is trimming its footprint with plans to consolidate municipal departments in three buildings across the city.

The Donnelley J. Hill State Office Building in Civic Center Plaza soon will be home to several municipal organizations, including the Memphis Police Department, the division of Housing and Community Development and some human resources and law offices.

93. Developers Seek $24.4 Million Tax Break for Mall Site - Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The owners of the former Mall of Memphis property are seeking a 15-year tax break for a $112.7 million “Aerotropolis development.”

Huntington Industrial Partners of Atlanta and Johnson Development Associates Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C., have applied for the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement for a speculative industrial building on the 113-acre site at American Way and Perkins Road.

94. $113 Million Development Planned for Mall of Memphis Site - Saturday, August 15, 2015

The owners of the former Mall of Memphis property are seeking a 15-year tax break for a $112.7 million “Aerotropolis development.”

Huntington Industrial Partners of Atlanta and Johnson Development Associates Inc. of Spartanburg, S.C., have applied for the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement for a speculative industrial building on the 113-acre site at American Way and Perkins Road.

95. Onyx Equities Expands Operations to Memphis - Saturday, August 15, 2015

A New Jersey-based real estate investment, management and development firm has added a Memphis office to accommodate its growing management portfolio of real estate owned (REO) and receivership properties.

96. Onyx Equities Expands Operations to Memphis - Thursday, August 13, 2015

A New Jersey-based real estate investment, management and development firm has added a Memphis office to accommodate its growing management portfolio of real estate owned (REO) and receivership properties.

97. 'En Fuego' - Saturday, August 1, 2015

When Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite took office in June 2013, one of the first tasks that landed on his desk was a long-planned regional outlet mall.

The outlet mall, planned for a roughly 33-acre site at Church Road and Interstate 55 in the DeSoto County city, had been on the drawing board for some time, but the recession and its aftermath caused developers and Mississippi officials to put it on hold.

98. Memphis Sole - Saturday, July 25, 2015

The football field measurements are perhaps inevitable in describing just how big Nike’s Northridge distribution center in Frayser is after its $301 million expansion.

The 2.8 million-square-foot facility – the equivalent of 49 football fields – is Nike Inc.’s largest distribution center in the world.

99. New Oak Ridge Airport Awaits Review by DOE - Saturday, April 25, 2015

For years, area business leaders and aviation enthusiasts have advocated the need for a general aviation airport in Oak Ridge to complement commercial air service provided by McGhee Tyson Airport, the largest commercial airport in East Tennessee.

100. Office, Industrial Real Estate Rebounds in First Quarter - Thursday, April 23, 2015

In a sure sign that the local economy is in rebound mode, the Memphis-area commercial real estate market is heating up with the industrial and office sectors producing strong gains.

Fueled by strong demand and tightening of available space, rental rates for Class A space in East Memphis, the city’s primary business district, are approaching pre-recession levels, according to a new report.