Cypress Buys T-Mobile’s Union Avenue Store

Memphis-based Cypress Realty Holdings Co., a private real estate investment trust managed by Joe Jarratt and Price Ford, has bought the retail/billboard site at 1860 Union Ave. in Midtown for $950,000. Operating in the transaction as Cypress Realty Holdings Co. II LLC, the company acquired the property Nov. 10 from Louisville, Ky.-based Elvi Partners LLC.

The 0.34-acre parcel is home to a T-Mobile USA Inc. freestanding store and a Clear Channel Outdoor Inc. billboard. Both companies have long-term leases, Jarratt said. The Shelby County Assessor of Property lists the building as 4,080 square feet, although Jarratt said the store is 2,500 square feet.

Jarratt and Ford are principals with the eponymous Ford Jarratt Realty and Development Co., which represented Cypress Realty Holdings in the acquisition. Dan Cooper of Cleveland-based Cooper Commercial Investment Group represented the seller.

J. Mark Blieden signed the warranty deed as manager of Elvi Partners, which bought the property for $400,000 in May 2008, developed the site and built the T-Mobile store. Danny Buring of Memphis, managing partner of The Shopping Center Group, was involved with Elvi Partners.

Built in 2008, the property sits at the northeast corner of Union Avenue and South McLean Boulevard, next door to Starbucks Coffee. The site, formerly home to Scruggs Lighting, has a 2009 appraised value of $378,500, according to the assessor.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Eric Smith

Attorney’s License Reinstated After Second Suspension

Memphis lawyer Michael Edward Latimore has been reinstated to the practice of law by an Order of the Tennessee Supreme Court entered Nov. 3, according to the state Board of Professional Responsibility.

Latimore in September was temporarily suspended for failing to respond to a disciplinary complaint of ethical misconduct.

On Sept. 21, he filed a Petition for the Dissolution of the Temporary Suspension, and on Oct. 23, a hearing panel entered a recommendation dissolving the suspension.

The suspension was not Latimore’s first. In May 2008, the state Supreme Court temporarily suspended his law license after the BPR petitioned the court following Latimore’s failure to respond to a disciplinary complaint of ethical misconduct – the same offense. His license was reinstated after the first suspension in September 2008.

Latimore has been licensed to practice in Tennessee since 1999, following graduation from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

A message left with the BPR for more information was not returned by press time.

– Rebekah Hearn

Wharton Not Ready For Police Leadership Move

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. doesn’t appear likely to change the leadership of the Memphis Police Department anytime soon.

He told The Daily News his answer to the lingering question about whether he’ll keep Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin will be made “at the right time” and that he wants to zero in on several points of interest before he makes any decision about the department’s leadership.

Among Wharton’s priorities are determining what the department’s mission should be, whether the department is executing on that mission and if it has the resources it needs.

“At the right time, we’ll take stock and see how well equipped (the department) is to see what the solution entails,” Wharton said.

– Andy Meek

Area McDonald’s Raise Funds For RMHC of Memphis

During the month of November, Mid-South area McDonald’s restaurants are participating in McDonald’s global fundraising event, which will support Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis.

Residents can show their support for RMHC through the “Give a Hand” fundraiser by purchasing a colorful paper hand at McDonald’s restaurants. Each hand costs $1 and proceeds will go to RMHC.

In addition, on Friday, McDonald’s restaurants will hold “McHappy Day” and donate $1 from the sale of breakfast and beef sandwiches on its Extra Value Meal menu.

Last year McDonald’s restaurants in the Mid-South raised nearly $92,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis, which supports families and their children receiving care at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

For more information or to make donations, visit www.rmhmemphis.org.

– Taylor Shoptaw

Estate Planning Seminar Set for Professional Advisers

Steve R. Akers, managing director at Bessemer Trust Company NA in Dallas, will address next month’s “Estate Planning for 2010 – Changes and Challenges.”

The event for professional advisers offers three hours of continuing education credit. It will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Hilton Memphis, 939 Ridge Lake Blvd.

Akers is a member of the Advisory Committee to the University of Miami Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. He serves as the chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law. He is co-author of “A Planning Guide to Buy-Sell Arrangements.”

The seminar is presented by Allied Professionals Sponsors: Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Estate Planning Council of Memphis, Financial Planning Association of the Mid-South, Planned Giving Council of Greater Memphis and the Society of Financial Service Professionals, Memphis.

– Tom Wilemon

Weather Takes Toll On Mississippi Cotton

A federal report has confirmed concerns about cotton production losses in Louisiana and Mississippi due to the wet fall.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week lowered production estimates from October, a month that brought abnormally wet weather to parts of the region, delaying harvest and lowering the quality of many farmers’ cotton.

Farmers also began the year with fewer cotton acres, a continuation of a trend away from the costly-to-produce crop to corn and soybeans that offered better prices.

Based on Nov. 1 conditions, USDA estimates production in Louisiana will hit 360,000 bales. That’s up from 2008’s hurricane-affected crop but would still be one of the lowest production years since 1975.

In Mississippi, USDA estimates production will be at its lowest level since 1868, with 500,000 bales. Harvested acreage is expected to hit a record low.

– The Associated Press