Boyle Files Permit For SunTrust Installation

SunTrust Banks Inc. has taken another step in its move to East Memphis.

Boyle Investment Co., operating as Boyle 999 Shady Grove LLC, has filed a $1.9 million application for permit with the city-county Department of Construction Code Enforcement to complete tenant installation for SunTrust at Boyle’s 155,000-square- foot office building at 999 S. Shady Grove Road.

Calls to Boyle executives were not returned.

The company last June filed a $24 million construction loan for the office building, slated to house consolidated offices for Atlanta-based SunTrust. The building was one of two office structures planned in Boyle’s Ridgeway Center near Poplar Avenue and Interstate 240.

SunTrust in early 2007 announced plans to leave its 170,000-square-foot space at One Commerce Square at Main Street and Monroe Avenue and lease 50,000 square feet on three floors of the 999 S. Shady Grove building – to be called the SunTrust Building – with plans to occupy the space in early 2009.

The SunTrust Building and the neighboring building will occupy the last site in the 200-plus-acre, mixed-use Ridgeway Center development, according to a Boyle news release.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Theological Seminary, Hotel Waiver On Tap at Today’s Council Meeting

A public hearing is slated to be held during today’s Memphis City Council meeting for a resolution concerning a planned development on the southeast corner of Union Avenue and East Parkway South.

Memphis Theological Seminary has requested a permit to build a college on 6.49 acres at the intersection.

Council members also will consider a request for a hotel waiver for one of the hotels closed earlier this year as a nuisance.

The Royal Inn & Suites at 3685 American Way is requesting council members approve a hotel waiver for their property.

The property was closed for allowing drug-related and prostitution-related offenses to take place at the hotel. The property has been closed since February after an undercover investigation.

Hotel waivers are a routine request when hotel owners want to re-brand their property, with the one requirement usually being that it will not operate as an hourly motel.

The request by Royal Inn & Suites’ owners is expected to be approved.

Another hotel on American Way closed following the undercover investigation, Garden Inn & Suites, reopened a week ago.

Quality Suites at 8166 Varnavas Drive in Cordova also is requesting a hotel waiver.

The meeting begins at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, 125 N. Main St.

Luminetx Forms New Div. To Provide Clinical Support

Luminetx Corp. has formed a clinical operations division, which will be led by David Pennington.

The new division will provide continuing clinical support and research-based information to Luminetx sales and marketing team members, as well as the client base, as the company markets its VeinViewer technology.

The VeinViewer, Luminetx’s signature product, allows patients’ veins to be projected on top of the skin so medical professionals are able to insert needles more accurately.

As one of its first projects, the clinical division – known as Clinical Ops – has launched a new course to offer health care professionals continuing education credit and help them better understand how to use the VeinViewer.

University Place to Hold Dedication Ceremony Wed.

A grand opening ceremony will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. for the University Place Senior Building, part of the new University Place development on the site of the former Lamar Terrace public housing property.

The University Place Senior development is the first rental housing phase at University Place and consists of 118 rental units of affordable housing for senior residents 62 and older. Eighty-two of the units are designated for public housing residents.

The new building includes community space, a fitness area, billiards room, beauty salon and a visiting physician’s medical exam room.

The new three-story senior building, at 600 Somerville Drive, will be dedicated with city, business, and community leaders on hand to talk about the revitalization efforts and the $20 million HOPE VI grant awarded to Memphis Housing Authority from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The University Place HOPE VI revitalization is part of a broad public/private initiative involving the City of Memphis, Memphis Housing Authority, The Memphis BioWorks Foundation and the Memphis Medical Center.

Following the ribbon cutting, residents will lead tours of the new building.

Weekend Powwow Addresses State Employee Cuts

State House members held private meetings over the weekend to discuss Gov. Phil Bredesen’s proposal to cut 2,000 state employees through voluntary buyouts.

Democratic House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh talked about the weekend discussions during a House committee meeting on Monday. Also attending the secret budget meetings were state Comptroller John Morgan, Treasurer Dale Sims and Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz.

Complaints from several House Democrats about a lack of detail about the buyout proposal delayed the expected conclusion of the legislative session last week.

No public announcement was made of the weekend meetings.

The Legislature is exempt from the state Sunshine Laws requiring government bodies to hold open meetings.

Hickory Hill Welcomes New Environmental Court

The new Hickory Hill Environmental Community Court will begin hearing cases this week.

The court, which will be inside the Memphis Police Department’s Ridgeway Station, is part of an effort to crack down on crime in the Hickory Hill area, including code violations.

A grand opening ceremony will be held Thursday at 1 p.m., with Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter hearing cases immediately following the ceremony.

The MPD Ridgeway Station is at 3840 Ridgeway Road. ?Law enforcement officials announced at a community meeting last month the court would be opening.

Potter will hear cases for code enforcement violations such as graffiti, leaning fences, automobiles parked on the grass and trash left on the curb. The cases will be heard at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

Medical Malpractice Suits Limited by New State Law

Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed into law a bill seeking to limit frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits by requiring experts to vouch for a case’s merits.

The law also will require plaintiffs to give 60 days’ notice before filing a lawsuit.

The bill sponsored by Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris of Collierville does not cap damages that could be awarded to victims of malpractice.

The new law came about after the resurrection of a bipartisan effort on a measure that fell apart in the House last year. The disagreement was over proposed changes on which medical experts may testify in malpractice trials.

The new law contains no changes for experts’ qualifications.

Community Foundation Gives To Local Nonprofit Orgs

The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis is giving $195,000 in grants to eight local nonprofit groups through the Community Partnership Fund. The Foundation’s Board of Governors approved distributing the money last week.

United Cerebral Palsy of the Mid-South will receive the largest Community Partnership Fund grant of $50,000.

Strengthening Communities, which is an initiative involving the Community Foundation, the University of Memphis and United Way of the Mid-South, will receive $40,000.

The Mid-South American Humanics Collaborative and Tennis Memphis Inc. each will receive $25,000 grants.

The Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence, The Community Development Council and Partners for the Homeless each have been chosen to receive $15,000, and Volunteer Memphis will receive $10,000.

In addition to approving the grants, the Board of Governors approved a 7 percent increase for the Community Partnership Fund budget, bringing it to $820,000 for fiscal year 2009.