Cedarwood Apartments Sells for $1.2 Million

Collierville-based Realty Investment Group LLC has bought Cedarwood Apartments at 2882 Beverly Hills Road from Cedarwood 80 LP, successor by merger with Cedarwood 80 Ltd., for $1.2 million. The deal closed April 1.

The purchase was financed with a $900,000 loan through Magna Bank.

Cedarwood Apartments is comprised of 80 units built in 1973 on about 4 acres. The complex is in Raleigh’s 38128 ZIP code, south of Stage Road between Beverly Hill Road to the west and Coleman Road to the east.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2010 appraisal was $504,000.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Land Use Board to Consider Cordova Space for Staples

Among the items on the agenda for Thursday’s Memphis-Shelby County Land Use Control Board meeting is site plan approval for a new Staples Inc. store on the north side of Market Plaza, adjacent to Kohl’s in the 130-acre retail development at Interstate 40 and North Germantown Parkway.

The setback variance is needed to accommodate “the size of the Staples prototype building,” the staff report cites.

In February, Framingham, Mass.-based Staples Inc. entered the Memphis market by signing a 17,945-square-foot lease at Ridgeway Trace at Poplar Avenue and Interstate 240.

“We don’t comment on any type of business plans that we may or may not have,” said Carrie McElwee with Staples’ corporate office.

The LUCB also is being asked to consider a special use permit to allow a pawn shop and jewelry store at the north side of Summer Avenue east of Waring Road; to add a restaurant with alcohol sales with extended hours a the northeast corner of South Highland Street and Cowden Avenue; site plan approval for a Family Dollar store on the west side of Kirby-Whitten Road; and to review the site plan for a new restaurant with a drive-thru window on the west side of Perkins Road south of Aloha Drive.

The meeting starts at 10 a.m. Thursday at City Hall, 125 N. Main St.

– Sarah Baker

First Horizon National Corp. Unloads Investment Unit

First Horizon National Corp., the Memphis-based parent company of First Tennessee Bank, is selling an investment advisory unit.

First Horizon has signed a deal to sell Highland Capital Management Corp. to Highland president Steve Wishnia, according to a First Horizon spokesman.

Highland Capital Management was founded in 1987. According to its website, the firm specializes in managing equity and fixed income portfolios and serves clients in the private, corporate and public sectors.

Also this month, insurer Brown & Brown Inc. said it has agreed to acquire First Horizon Insurance Group Inc. for an undisclosed sum from First Tennessee Bank. That deal is expected to close by the end of April.

– Andy Meek

Pinnacle Hires Spain and Breeding as Consultants

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. has hired its interim CEO and one of its directors as consultants as the regional air carrier works through the transition following the March resignation of CEO Phil Trenary.

In a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Alfred T. Spain will be a consultant to the company on safety, operations and “transition-related” matters at a fee of $27,100 a month.

Interim CEO Donald J. Breeding, who is also chairman of the Pinnacle board, will be paid the same monthly fee in an arrangement the company said is “customary for the chief executive officer of a publicly held corporation.”

The terms of Trenary’s departure provide for a two-year consulting fee of $1.7 million, which includes a one-year no compete clause.

– Bill Dries

MLGW Board Approves Vaughn’s New Roles

The Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division board of commissioners has approved the selection of Lashell Vaughn as MLGW’s vice president and chief technology officer.

Vaughn most recently served as the senior director of information technology for Hilton Worldwide, where she also held the position of vice president of information technology.

She has more than 25 years of experience in information technology, including client management, application development, data center operation, network and telecommunication, and security compliance for more than 25,000 team members and 3,000 hotels worldwide.

Vaughn serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Mississippi State University Bagley College of Engineering, as well as the Advisory Council Board for Girl Scouts Heart of the South.

In addition, she is a member of the Institute of Electronics Engineers Inc. and the American Society of Engineering Education.

Vaughn’s selection now will go before the Memphis City Council for approval.

- Taylor Shoptaw

Memphis Doctor Selected TMA’s President-Elect

Dr. Wiley T. Robinson, an internal medicine specialist and hospitalist from Memphis, has been chosen by the Tennessee Medical Association to serve as its 2011 president-elect and subsequently as president of the association in 2012.

TMA, Tennessee’s largest physician organization, works to improve the effectiveness of doctors to protect the health interest of patients.

Robinson, chosen by popular vote by TMA members, will be installed as president-elect this weekend during the organization’s 176th annual meeting in Nashville.

At that time, he will also hand over his gavel as speaker of the TMA House of Delegates, a role in which he has served for the past two years.

Robinson also currently serves on the organization’s Strategic Plan Oversight Committee, and previously served as a member of TMA’s Practice Management & Quality Committee, Futures II Workgroup and the Third-Party Insurers Committee.

He’s a member of the Independent Medicine’s Political Action Committee-Tennessee and the Memphis Medical Society’s political action committee. In addition, Robinson is a past president, secretary and board of trustees member for The Memphis Medical Society, as well as an MMS delegate to the Tennessee Medical Association, former chair of the Memphis Medical Society’s Memberships Committee and current member of the MMS Third Party Committee.

Co-founder and president of Inpatient Physicians of the Mid-South, Robinson is also vice-chairman of the board of trustees for MetroCare Physicians, a nonprofit independent physicians’ association. A staff physician at area hospitals, he also teaches students at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis.

Robinson received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Tennessee and his medical degree from St. George’s University. He remains active in his alma mater, Memphis University School, where he serves on the board of trustees.

– Aisling Maki

89.9 FM Hosts Spring Pledge Drive This Week

Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, WEVL 89.9 FM is continuing its Spring Pledge Drive through Saturday at 6 p.m.

This week, the Pledge Drive will feature live music, special guests and theme programs. Gift incentives – including the 35th Anniversary WEVL T-shirt by Memphis musician and artist Adam Woodard – are offered for pledges of $65 or more.

For the first time in more than three years, “Bashful Bob” Letson will host his “Sho-Nuff Country” show live Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Letson retired from his radio show two years ago, but will make the 200-mile round trip from his home in Mississippi for WEVL’s 35th anniversary.

Special programs on Thursday include: Kerry Crawford from ilovememphisblog.com at 8 a.m., a repeat of Mayor A C Wharton’s “My Ten Songs” show at 10 a.m. and live music from Valerie June at 2 p.m.

Folk/rock singer-songwriter Steve Forbert will perform live Saturday at 1 p.m.

– Sarah Baker

Youth Villages 5K Slated for Saturday

Youth Villages will hold its 29th annual YV5K at 9 a.m. Saturday at 1000 Ridgeway Loop, at the intersection of Briarcrest Avenue and the Ridgeway Loop in the Marsh Building.
The Memphis Area Association of Realtors is in its 29th year as a sponsor of the event.
“It’s a great cause and it promises to be a good time, too,” MAAR President Leon Dickson said in a statement. “We at MAAR appreciate the important service that Youth Villages provides for this community.”
Funds raised from the event will benefit Youth Villages’ mentoring, transitional living and spiritual life programs.
Runners and walkers can pre-register online through Wednesday at www.youthvillages5k.org, and packets can be picked up Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at MAAR, 6393 Poplar Ave. Registration also will be available on Friday and on the day of the event from 7 to 8 a.m.

– Sarah Baker

DeSoto County to Celebrate Earth Day

DeSoto County will celebrate the 41st anniversary of Earth Day April 30 from 8 a.m. to noon at the historic court square in Hernando.
The celebration will be held in conjunction with the opening of the 2011 Hernando Farmers Market season.
Sustainable living activities will include local farmers markets, community gardens, home gardening, DeSoto greenways and blueways (a river designated as a trail), and local sports and recreation programs.
Energy efficiency will focus on LEED-certified buildings, sites and neighborhoods, home and business energy savings, energy-efficient transportation and new energy technology.
Natural resource conversation activities will feature the DeSoto County Stormwater Committee, the DeSoto County Ozone Committee, I Tree results, native plant landscapers and more. To register for exhibit space, visit www.desotoms.com and click the Earth Day 2011 link to the right. 

– Taylor Shoptaw