Atlanta Co. Pays $9.2M For Coventry Village

     The 470-unit Coventry Village Apartments at 1340 Winchester Road have sold to an Atlanta-based company for $9.2 million. Miles Properties Inc., working under the name MPI Coventry Village LLC, bought the property from Coventry Village Apartments Inc.
     MPI financed the sale with an $11.4 million loan through Legg Mason Real Estate Capital II Inc.
     The complex was built in 1969 and sits on 33.16 acres on the north side of Winchester east of Elvis Presley Boulevard. It has studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units in two-story buildings.
     The complex has been renamed Highland Creek, said leasing consultant Tori Jackson. Jackson said amenities include three swimming pools, two playgrounds, two laundry facilities, a fitness center and a tennis court.
     Coventry Village Apartments Inc. bought the property in December 1996 for $9.9 million. The Shelby County Assessor's 2007 appraisal was $5.4 million.
     Miles Properties Inc. is a privately owned company that develops, owns and operates multifamily properties. MPI also owns Highland Meadows Apartments at 5001 Airways Blvd. and Highland Pines Apartments at 3647 Outland Road, according to the company's Web site.
     MPI representatives were not available by press time.

Greystone Pharmaceuticals Files Suit Against XLHealth

     Memphis-based Greystone Pharmaceuticals Inc., which develops and sells wound-care products, has filed a lawsuit against Baltimore, Md.-based XLHealth Corp. for fraud and negligent misrepresentation.
     Greystone and XLHealth entered into an agreement in May 2005 whereby Greystone would assist XLHealth in developing patient pools for XLHealth's disease management programs, according to the suit. In return for access to Greystone's products and services, XLHealth would pay Greystone a percentage of the monthly patient revenues they received. The "participation fee" was to be paid to Greystone in quarterly arrears within 30 days of the end of the quarter.
     Greystone officials allege the company has upheld its end of the agreement providing its services and wound-care products, but that XLHealth has not lived up to its part of the agreement, according to the suit.
     "No payments whatsoever have been made by the defendant (XLHealth) to the plaintiff (Greystone)," Greystone officials state in court documents.
     Greystone officials further allege in the suit that XLHealth avoids any contact with them.
     Greystone is seeking a judgment for lost revenues, wages and other damages "to be shown at trial in an amount to be determined by a jury."
     Phone messages left at XLHealth were not returned by press time.

Will Vineyard Vines Open Memphis Store?

     Bill Levy, owner and president of Oak Hall, has filed an application for a $732,415 building permit at 6150 U.S. 72 (Poplar Avenue), according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com. Application for the permit has been filed but it has not yet been approved.
     The permit application lists Stamford, Conn.-based clothing company Vineyard Vines as the tenant. The contractor listed on the permit application is Priester & Associates Inc.
     The 6150 Poplar address is that of The Regalia shopping center at Poplar and Ridgeway Road. Oak Hall calls the shopping center home; other tenants include Owen Brennan's restaurant, Ruth's Chris Steak House and several clothing stores.
     Oak Hall is a men's and women's
     clothing retailer started in 1859 in Downtown Memphis. The company currently sells Vineyard Vines clothing, according to Oak Hall's Web site.
     Vineyard Vines is a nautical-themed clothing retailer started in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard by brothers Shep and Ian Murray. The company's annual revenue is about $37 million, according to a July 18 article at Forbes.com.
     The company currently has stores only in Massachusetts and Connecticut, in addition to its online store at www.vineyardvines.com.

Three Considered For Judge Axley's Spot

     Assistant District Attorney General John Campbell, Assistant Public Defender Garland Erguden and Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer John Fowlkes Jr. are being considered as possible appointees to fill the vacancy in Criminal Court Division VI, according to a Commercial Appeal news story.
          The three were narrowed down Tuesday from a pool of 18 candidates by the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission. Gov. Phil Bredesen will appoint Judge W. Fred Axley's successor.
          The vacancy was created when Axley retired last month.
          His retirement followed an incident in Destin, Fla., where he was barred from a resort after a complaint was filed against him by one of the workers alleging he sexually harassed her.Reportedly, it was the second time the judge had been accused of sexual harassment.      Axley's successor will serve until next year's general election in August, when that winner will serve out Axley's eight-year term which expires in 2014.

Tenn. Attorney Appointed Justice Dept. No. 2

     President Bush has appointed a Tennessee attorney to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. Justice Department.
     Craig Morford, the U.S. attorney in Nashville, is the acting deputy attorney general, replacing Paul McNulty, who stepped down in May amid the growing "U.S. attorney purge" scandal. Morford was one of several prosecutors appointed together as U.S. attorneys by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, although Morford did not replace any of the eight attorneys whose firings led to questions of politicization at the Justice Department.

CD&R Completes Acquisition Of ServiceMaster

     New York-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has completed the acquisition of The ServiceMaster Co., the companies announced Tuesday. ServiceMaster stockholders had approved the adoption of the merger agreement at a special stockholder meeting June 28.
     ServiceMaster plans to move its corporate headquarters this summer to Memphis from Downers Grove, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, bringing 165 jobs with an average salary of $137,200.
     The company's new owners will operate as ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc., a holding company owned by CD&R-managed funds and other investors.
     Pursuant to the merger, ServiceMaster's stockholders are entitled to receive $15.625 in cash, without interest, for each share of common stock they owned immediately prior to the effective time of the merger. The transaction is valued at $5.5 billion.
     George W. Tamke, a CD&R operating partner, has assumed the position of
     chairman of the ServiceMaster Global Holdings board of directors. J. Patrick Spainhour will continue to serve as CEO of ServiceMaster Co. and also will be CEO of ServiceMaster Global Holdings.
     The company employs about 2,400 people in Memphis and 39,000 worldwide, with expectations of creating an estimated 335 new jobs in Memphis over the next five years with an annual median salary of $67,300.

Northwest Cuts 1% From August Schedule

     Northwest Airlines said Tuesday it is trimming its domestic flight capacity by an additional 1 percent in August to reduce the number of hours pilots must fly and prevent another surge in flight cancellations like that experienced at the end of June.
     The Eagan, Minn.-based carrier, which canceled more than 1,000 flights in the last week of June, announced earlier that it would cut its August capacity by 3 percent. The airline operates a hub in Memphis.
     Chief Executive Doug Steenland said in a letter to employees that domestic pilots will fly a maximum of 86 hours next month, compared with 88 or 90 hours in June.
     As of Aug. 1, Steenland said all furloughed pilots who want to return to Northwest will have a date scheduled for retraining.
     Once all eligible pilots have been recalled, Steenland said Northwest will begin hiring new pilots.
     Northwest also is changing the way trips are made to and from large cities on the East Coast to minimize impact of weather and air traffic congestion, he said. And the carrier is using spare widebody planes normally used for
     international flights to serve some domestic routes.

Magic Johnson Leads List Of Freedom Award Recipients

     Former NBA star Magic Johnson, historian John Hope Franklin and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf were named as recipients of the National Civil Rights Museum's annual Freedom Awards.
     The museum will hand out the awards at an Oct. 23 banquet.
     The museum said it was honoring Johnson for his work since leaving the NBA on promoting economic development, improved health care and educational opportunities in low-income urban neighborhoods and "underserved communities throughout the United States."
     Johnson, 47, retired from the NBA after contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and became a campaigner for AIDS awareness. His Magic Johnson Foundation supports HIV/AIDS prevention and health care education in low-income communities.
     Franklin, 92, a prolific chronicler of civil rights history, was part of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team that helped develop the Brown v. Board of Education case which led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing racial segregation in public schools.
     Johnson-Sirleaf, 67, was inaugurated in January as president of Liberia.
     Known as "iron lady," she is her country's first elected female president. She was named by Forbes Magazine last year as one of the "100 Most Powerful Women in the World."