TSG Sells Four More TIC Interests In U.S. 64 CarMax Location

     The Chicago-based real estate investment company that bought Memphis and Nashville CarMax locations in July has sold four more tenants-in-common (TIC) interests in the Memphis property.
     TSG Real Estate LLC, which paid $17 million last year for the CarMax at 7771 U.S. 64, sold 15.13 percent interest in the site to four limited liability companies (LLCs) in separate transactions totaling $3.3 million. Three of the LLCs - located in Memphis, Washington state and California - each bought a 2.75 percent interest; the fourth LLC, also based in California, bought a 6.875 percent interest.
     A TIC investment is one in which investors each buy a percentage interest in a commercial or investment property, allowing them to invest in properties they might not otherwise be able to afford.
     The 46,875-square-foot Memphis CarMax dealership and service center was built in 2003. It sits on about 15 acres on the south side of U.S. 64 near the west side of Kate Bond Road.
     Since TSG's purchase last year, the company has sold at least 35 percent interest in the Memphis CarMax in deals totaling more than $6.5 million, according to documents filed with the Shelby County Register's Office through press time.
     Roxanne Larcher, TSG vice president, marketing & communication, said she didn't have figures on how much interest had been sold.
     However, she said, "I do know we fully expect it to sell out very quickly - any day now."
     TSG's niche is TIC ownership, Larcher said. It was founded in 2001 by Rob Hannah.
     The company has sponsored 25 TIC transactions to date, representing 32 properties in 15 states with an aggregate value of $554 million, she said. The portfolio includes office, retail and automotive properties, "and actually, automotive, such as the CarMax, is really kind of where we're headed."
     In his April publication titled "Why Auto Dealerships and Why Now," Hannah said automotive properties present a unique investment opportunity. Among the nine reasons he cited: Auto dealerships are located in high-traffic areas and occupy large parcels of land.

Baker Donelson Pledges $300,000 For U of M Downtown Law School

     Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has pledged a contribution of $300,000 to the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.
     The money will support the law school's relocation to the historic U.S. Customs House and Post Office facility in Downtown Memphis. The contribution will include donations pledged by the firm, a friend of the law firm and Baker Donelson attorneys who are University of Memphis alumni.
     As an acknowledgement of Baker Donelson's early commitment to the project, the new building will include the Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz classroom in honor of Lewis R. Donelson III, the co-founder of the firm and a shareholder in its Memphis office.
     The U of M began negotiations with the U.S. Postal Service in March 2005 in an effort to acquire the Downtown Post Office building for the law school. Classes are expected to begin at the new law school in fall 2009.

Pinnacle Awards Given To Top Commercial Realtors

     The Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council honored the top performers in commercial real estate for 2006 at the sixth annual Pinnacle Awards gala Thursday at the University of Memphis.
     The top honorees were Commercial Hall of Fame inductee Henry Turley of Henry Turley Co. and Commercial Broker of the Year Brad Kornegay of Colliers Management Services LLC.
     The Commercial Hall of Fame recognizes a commercial broker who has been actively involved in the real estate community throughout his or her career. As founder of Henry Turley Co., Turley has been instrumental in the redevelopment and revitalization of Downtown Memphis since 1977.
     The Commercial Broker of the Year award is presented to an active broker with significant accomplishments within the industry over the past year and who has been active in the community at large throughout his or her career.
     Kornegay, president and CEO of Colliers Management Services, focuses on industrial and investment properties and currently oversees the leasing and/or management of more than 14 million square feet. Kornegay joined Colliers in 2004 after spending 12 years with Trammell Crow Co.
     In addition to Pinnacle Awards given to the 25 highest-producing commercial brokers based on sales and leasing activities last year, Broker of the Year awards were presented to the top producers among those 25 in seven categories. Visit www.maar.org/commercial/pinnacle.asp for a complete list of award winners.
     Also, Legacy Award winner J. Bayard Boyle Sr. was honored posthumously for his visionary planning and forethought in developing East Memphis into the center of commercial activity that it is today. Paul Boyle, Henry Morgan Jr. and Bayard Morgan accepted the award in their grandfather's honor.

Community Encouraged to Support Families Affected by Apt. Blaze

     ABetterMemphis.com, a community-based Web site, is leading an effort to help families that were affected by the fire at the Avery Park Apartments.
     Last Tuesday, a fire at the Raleigh apartment complex claimed the lives of one adult and three children from Liberia.
     Abrose Weah, 40, and his 6-year-old son, Andy, who has a twin sister, died in the fire, along with 5-year-old Michael Logan and a cousin, Josephine Logan, 8.
     Eight other family members were injured during the fire.
     "We feel it is the responsibility of the residents of Raleigh to rally together to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of our fellow citizens that are the victims of a tragedy such as this," said Antonio '2Shay' Parkinson, founder of abettermemphis.com and a lieutenant with the Shelby County Fire Department. "To this end, we have partnered with First South Credit Union to establish the Raleigh Fire Fatality Fund to accept monetary donations for the families that lost loved ones."
     A donation center has been established at Breath of Life Christian Center, 3795 Frayser-Raleigh Road. It will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., accepting items such as food, clothes, toiletries, school supplies and other household items.
     For more information, call 383-5511 or 372-8925, or e-mail abettermemphis@aol.com.

Westin Beale Street Hotel Opens for Business

     Downtown Memphis welcomed a new tenant Friday with the opening of a Westin Hotel at 170 Lt. George W. Lee Ave., across from the FedExForum.
     The 203-room Westin Beale Street Hotel is the first Westin in Tennessee and the first upscale hotel built in the Memphis metro area in more than 20 years. The hotel will specialize in catering to business and social events, emphasizing its ballroom and hi-tech meeting rooms with wireless Internet capability and audio/visual equipment.
     A special floor has been built in the hotel with a focus on taller individuals such as NBA players, with higher ceilings and doors, shower heads mounted higher and a suite configuration to serve the needs of a basketball team.
     "We selected the Westin brand because it has by far the most to offer," said Dave Jones, president and CEO of Senate Hospitality Group, the manager of the hotel, in a statement. "Their amenities are incomparable in the industry."
     Westin Hotels and Resorts is owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. Starwood owns about 850 properties in more than 95 countries.

Businesses, Individuals Getting Hands On at Servathon

     Joyce McKinney knows the value of serving the community. It's something she wants her co-workers at Tunica's Gold Strike Casino to know as well.
     McKinney, who joined Gold Strike in September as director of community and public relations, was one of 11 children sharing a three-bedroom house with her mother and father.
     "So our house was like school, where you have the boys' bathroom and the girls' bathroom, and we slept everywhere," McKinney said. "But we never really knew how bad our situation was because our mother constantly embedded in us there is always somebody out there who has it worse than you, and when you see a place where you can help somebody else, do it."
     
Lesson in action
     McKinney said she believes that volunteering helps people, businesses and nonprofit groups on so many levels. This year, the employees of Gold Strike will join hundreds of other volunteers from around the Mid-South in Hands On Memphis' annual Servathon.
     The event, in its 13th year, takes place Saturday. It offers volunteer opportunities to suit just about every taste.
     On just one day, the event generates almost 2,000 hours of volunteer service for various nonprofit agencies and schools in the Memphis area.
     Volunteer opportunities this year include organizing craft projects for The Children's Museum of Memphis and painting and yard work at sites around the city, such as the Tennessee Baptist Children's Homes. Volunteers also will have the opportunity to build wheelchair ramps for Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association or build a fence at the DeNeuville Learning Center.
     Ashley Harper, program director for Hands On Memphis (HOM), said this year's Servathon will be a little different than previous years because of the merger of HOM and Volunteer Memphis that occurred the first of the year. The Servathon celebration will be held at First Congregational Church in Midtown and will be smaller than it has been in years past, Harper said.
     "This year the activities surrounding the event have been scaled down to reflect a focus on service," she said. "In the future we'll be revamping the celebration and making it bigger than it has been in the past several years with the transition."
     Volunteers who participate in Servathon make a $20 donation ($25 the day of the event). Included in that registration fee are a T-shirt and lunch from Back Yard Burgers. Since Servathon is the largest fundraiser HOM does each year, the money raised covers all of the organization's programming for the year.
     
Opportunity for business involvement
     Because of the fee, Harper said Servathon is often a good opportunity for businesses to pay for their employees to get out and serve their community. Local companies such as AutoZone Inc. and Hilton Hotels Corp. regularly participate in Servathon.
     "Since we opened our doors nearly 28 years ago, AutoZone has operated on the belief that the community is one of our customers," said Trina Poquette, AutoZone's director of community relations and communications. "Participating in Servathon is one of the many ways our AutoZoners give back to our community. With Memphis as our hometown, we actively participate in economic development initiatives. By volunteering with great agencies like Volunteer Memphis, we are helping Memphis continue to be an attractive place to live and work.
     "We encourage other local businesses to get involved and do the same."
     Harper said the event also is a great way for a company's employees to interact together outside of the office.
     "It usually gives people a chance to bring their family out as well. Since it is on the weekend, they can spend some time with their family, too," she said.
     It also helps expose people to agencies they may have never heard of while at the same time giving the company or business that the volunteers work for some visibility.
     McKinney, who has been involved with Servathon for several years, said everyone benefits when companies like Gold Strike get their employees out to volunteer.
     "When an employee goes out into the community to do a service like we do through Hands On Memphis, it helps the community, it helps the organization that we are serving and it helps the employee," she said.
Written by Amy O. Williams