Harbor Avenue Warehouse Sells for $200,000

     Patton-Tully LLC has bought a warehouse at 1314 Harbor Ave., financing it with two loans totaling $2.5 million.
     The limited liability company bought the property for $200,000 from Patton-Tully Transportation LLC doing business as PTT Transportation LLC.
     The property includes a 3,136-square-foot warehouse plus 2,112 square feet of warehouse office space built in 1961. It sits on 5.61 acres south of the Mississippi River and is connected to the north side of Harbor Avenue by a gravel road.
     Calls for additional information were not returned by press time.

NNN Healthcare/Office REIT Buys Lenox Office Park Building G

     NNN Healthcare/Office REIT Inc. announced on Monday the acquisition of Lenox Office Park Building G and two vacant parcels of land. The acquisition closed Friday.
     Lenox Park G is a four-story Class A office building totaling nearly 99,000 square feet of gross leaseable area in the seven-building Lenox Park office complex in Southeast Memphis near Tenn. 385 and Kirby Road.
     Lenox Park G is completely leased to Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co. The two vacant parcels of land also are located in Lenox Park and consist of about 7.2 acres for development. Lenox Park features a state-of-the-art technology infrastructure and access to major surface streets, including Interstate 240.
     Lenox Park G is the fourth acquisition by NNN Healthcare/Office REIT. NNN Healthcare/Office REIT has raised about $20.1 million through its public offering as of Thursday.
     NNN Realty Advisors Inc., the sponsor of NNN Healthcare/Office REIT Inc., is a nationwide commercial real estate asset management and services firm. NNN Realty Advisors and affiliates manage a growing portfolio of nearly 33 million square feet of real estate, including more than 7,400 apartment units, with a combined market value of about $4.3 billion.
     NNN Realty Advisors and affiliates currently are buying and selling properties throughout the United States, offering a full range of commercial real estate investments, including tenant-in-common (TIC) programs for investors structuring tax-deferred (like-kind) exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, real estate investment trusts (REITs), value-added property funds and institutional investments.

H.W. Durham Foundation Presents Grant to Foxbridge

     The H.W. Durham Foundation has presented Foxbridge Assisted Living Community with a $10,301 grant to help fund additional training of the Wellness staff.
     The grant will fund training for nurse aides who provide daily care to Foxbridge residents. The training will cover understanding the aging process, enhancing communication and documentation, preventing falls and protecting residents' rights.
     Sheryl Ludeke-Smith, regional director of the Mid-South chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, will provide the training.
     Foxbridge opened in 1988 under the name Fox Acres. The community consists of five buildings with 24 apartments each that are located on an eight-acre campus at 2180 Magnum Road.

Methodist Le Bonheur Names New Corporate Director

     Tracy Klingbeil has been named corporate director of recruitment services at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. She will begin in the new position April 9.
     Klingbeil began her career as a paramedic in the U.S. Air Force and used her clinical background to move into practice management and then into human resources and recruitment. She has worked for organizations including Homecare Concepts of America, Compucom, HCA, Tenet and most recently served as vice president/staffing manager for Citigroup.

Diane K. Vescovo to Speak At Women's History Observance

     The Honorable Diane K. Vescovo, U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of Tennessee, will be the featured speaker at a women's history observance held by the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The program will take place Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
     The public is invited to attend.
     For more information, call Jim Pogue at 544-4109.

London-Based Hospitality Giant to Launch Three Hotel Brands

     London-based InterContinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel chain and the operator of seven popular hotel brands, has a trio of projects on the drawing board for Memphis.
     Once they're all finished, IHG - which can trace its corporate history back to 1777 and to a small brewery business in England - will have brought a combined total of more than 460 new hotel rooms to the city. The company's local developments currently in the works include the conversion of an existing hotel in Downtown Memphis to a new brand, as well as the construction of two new IHG hotels at the fringe of the metropolitan area. The moves all apparently are part of a major push by the hospitality industry giant, which is aiming to grow its worldwide portfolio of hotel rooms by 50,000 to 60,000 through 2008.
     
Light a candle
     In a way, IHG's size already makes it something akin to the Coca-Cola of the hotel industry; as of Dec. 31, IHG boasted more than 556,000 rooms in 100 countries.
     First up for the company in Memphis this year is laying the slab for a new Candlewood Suites extended stay hotel at the corner of Centennial Drive and Hacks Cross Road. That will happen sometime this summer.
     The Candlewood brand, which IHG acquired in 2004, is designed to cater to guests whose travels require stays - and therefore appropriate accommodations - for at least a week. The new property in Memphis will have 96 rooms and include such amenities as complimentary fitness rooms, guest laundry rooms, fully equipped kitchens and free Internet access.
     A $2.8 million building permit was filed recently for the hotel site at 7950 Centennial Drive, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.
     "Candlewood has been a very successful brand for IHG," said Dr. Robert O'Halloran, professor and director of the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management at the University of Memphis. "It's a more economical, all-suites stay, but it has been successful in the markets that it's in."
     
A Crowne jewel
     IHG's next Memphis project will happen Downtown, which depends on business from tourists and other travelers and must keep ample hotel space to accommodate them.
     Later this year, IHG is converting the 230-room Wyndham Garden hotel, which sits across the street from the Memphis Cook Convention Center, into a Crowne Plaza. That brand, formerly known as Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, caters especially to business travelers who need an upscale venue where they can hold meetings.
     The Wyndham opened Downtown in 1999, at a time when the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau was eager to draw more first-class hotels near the convention center. The conversion of the Wyndham to a Crowne Plaza is expected to happen this fall.
     "This outstanding property is a welcome addition to our portfolio of hotels in the South," said Kevin Kowalski, vice president of brand management for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts North America. "We look forward to providing our industry-leading meetings service and a great night's sleep ... to our guests in Memphis."
     Lodging Hospitality magazine recognized Crowne Plaza recently as one of the industry's fastest-growing brands. As of Dec. 31, IHG's stable of hotels included 275 Crowne Plazas with more than 75,000 rooms.
     Said O'Halloran, "In my view, to go to a Crowne Plaza - I mean, they'll have to spend some money for upgrades in the existing Wyndham, but that should be a very positive thing for Downtown."
     
The mother of invention
     The third project IHG has in the pipeline for Memphis, meanwhile, is a new Holiday Inn at Interstate 40 and Germantown Parkway, for which ground will be broken in early 2008. That 143-room hotel, which will be built near the Wolfchase Galleria shopping corridor, is expected to open sometime in 2009.
     "Holiday Inn hotels are specifically designed for business- and family oriented leisure travelers in need of a full-service lodging experience, and this property fits well within that offering," said Mark Snyder, senior vice president of brand management for Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts.
     Residents of Memphis - the hometown of Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson - are likely already aware of the hotel chain's trailblazing character. It boasts, for example, a bundle of industry "firsts" that have happened over its corporate history, such as the fact that Holiday Inn was the first hotel company to sell a franchise and was the first to computerize its reservation system.
     Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in 1952 at 4941 Summer Ave. in Memphis. A homebuilder by trade, he came up with the idea for the hotel chain after returning from a family road trip that left him disappointed with the service and quality he encountered at motels he and his family stayed in along the way.
     The architect of Wilson's first hotel, Eddie Bluestein, had seen a recent Bing Crosby movie - "Holiday Inn" - and thought that might make a good name for the new venture.