Frayser Shopping Centers Sell for $19 Million

     Three shopping centers on Frayser Boulevard have been bought for $19 million. Tenalok Partners Ltd. bought Frayser Village shopping center at 2590 Frayser Blvd. from Belz Investco GP for $13.8 million, Frayser Plaza at 1770, 1780 and 1784 Frayser Blvd. from Union Realty Co. for $2.3 million and Frayser Plaza at 2126-2188 Frayser Blvd. from Union Realty Co. GP for $2.9 million. Hardam S. Azad signed in Houston as president of Tenalok.
     Frayser Village, on 17.9 acres at the northwest corner of Frayser Boulevard and Range Line Road, has two buildings. The first was built in 1968, is about 84,600 square feet and was appraised by the Shelby County Assessor in 2006 at $3.9 million. The second is about 64,800 square feet, was built in 1972 and was appraised at $2.8 million.
     Frayser Center is on 3.4 acres at 1770, 1780 and 1784 Frayser Blvd. It has a 25,699-square-foot and a 4,900-square-foot building, both built in 1965. The assessor's 2006 appraisal was $963,500.
     The $2.9 million purchase is of Frayser Plaza on 12 acres at 2126-2188 Frayser Blvd. at the northwest corner of University St. It includes a 95,000-square-foot shopping center building built in 1963, a 5,300-square-foot restaurant outparcel built in 1965 and a 7,000-square-foot outparcel built in 1979. The 2006 appraisal was $4.1 million.
     A $21.7 million mortgage was filed through CIBC Inc. securing properties in Tennessee and elsewhere. The value of the Tennessee collateral is $20.8 million and the value of collateral everywhere is $27.9 million.

ServiceMaster Relocation Decision Still in Limbo

     The Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board has approved two options for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) freeze for Downers Grove, Ill.-based ServiceMaster while the company contemplates a move of its world headquarters from Illinois to Memphis.
     At an IDB evaluation committee meeting earlier this month, ServiceMaster officials said moving the headquarters to Memphis would bring 165 high-level jobs in 2007 and that it would create approximately 335 new jobs over the next five years, with median wages of $67,300.
     The IDB Wednesday approved a 12-year PILOT for the company if officials decide to move into Ridgelake Center, where it already has offices, and a 15-year PILOT if the company decides to construct a new building at an as-yet-undetermined site.
     The 12-year PILOT would save the company $8 million a year and the 15-year PILOT would save it $18 million.
     Phone calls to ServiceMaster were not returned by press time.
     Company officials have said they will present their decision to city officials by the end of the month.

Demolition Continues At Annex Building

     Chandler Demolition has started demolishing one of the buildings on Court Square that was damaged in the Oct. 6 fire that destroyed or damaged three others.
     The 50,400-square-foot Court Annex building at 110 N. Court St. was destroyed during the fire and deemed unsafe.
     "We've been down there since the day the building caught fire," vice president Tim Chandler said.
     He said workers already have taken down dangerous walls and now are hauling them away. He hesitated to give a timeline for how long the demolition will take.
     "There could be other variables involved in it," he said.
     The Court Annex was part of a mixed-use development project planned by developers C. Yorke Lawson and William Chandler.
     The Court Square Center project was to include Court Annex at 110 N. Court St., the former Lowenstein/Rhodes Jennings building at 66 N. Main St. and the 22-story Lincoln-American Tower at 60 N. Main.
     Developers plan to move ahead with their plans for Court Square Center at Main Street and Jefferson Ave.
     For more information about those plans, read The Daily News' Oct. 16 Trends & Analysis story at www.memphisdailynews.com.

Music Foundation Begins Search for President

     The Memphis Music Foundation's board of directors has formed a search committee that is now accepting applications for the position of president.
     Former president Rey Flemings resigned in September as president of the foundation, reportedly to join pop star Justin Timberlake and his associates, who plan to resurrect Stax Records.
     The search committee members include Phil Trenary, president and CEO of Pinnacle Airlines Inc.; Blair Taylor, president of Memphis Tomorrow; John Fry, president of Ardent Recording Studios; Jim Lattimore, director of investment banking for Thompson Dunavant PLC; Sandra McQuain, partner of Howell McQuain Strategies LLC; Deanie Parker, president of the Soulsville Foundation; and Antonio (2-Shay) Parkinson, chairman of the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission.
     The application deadline for the position is Oct. 27. Resumes may be submitted via e-mail to mmf@howellmcquain.com or by mail to MMF President Search, c/o Howell McQuain Strategies, 1715 Aaron Brenner Drive, Ste. 716, Memphis, TN 38120.
     More information can be found at www.memphismusic.org.

Nucor Corp. Reports Record-Breaking Sales

     Nucor Corp. has had a record-breaking year so far, company officials have reported.
     In the first nine months of 2006, Nucor's consolidated net sales increased 19 percent to $11.28 billion compared to $9.49 billion during the same period last year, the company announced Thursday.
     Company officials also reported record earnings for the third quarter ending in September. Consolidated net earnings for the third quarter were $517.6 million or $168 per diluted share, compared to $291.9 million or 93 cents per diluted share during the same period in 2005.
     In the company's steel mills segment, officials said steel production increased 14 percent to 17.3 million tons in the first nine months of 2006, compared to 15.1 million tons produced in the first nine months of 2005.
     The company, based in Charlotte, N.C., recently announced plans to open a Special Bar Quality Products steel mill in the Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park south of Downtown Memphis. Construction of the new plant, which is expected to cost about $230 million, should begin in the first quarter of 2008. The new mill is expected to employ more than 200 people.

U of M to Host Chinese Researchers

     The University of Memphis on Oct. 23-24 will host a group of 20 Chinese researchers, engineers and government administrators studying the United States' waterway system.
     Sponsored by the China Ministry of Communications, the group is on a study tour of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Buffalo and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation in Washington.
     "Memphis is one of the leading intermodal centers in the U.S., and waterway transportation is a vital component of our area's economy," said Martin Lipinski, chair of the University of Memphis' civil engineering department.
     Topics of the presentation at the U of M include power generation, flood control, environmental concerns, economics of waterway transportation, as well as the planning, design and construction of waterway channels and locks.