Front Street Property For Sale After Foreclosure

A first-run foreclosure notice on a multimillion-dollar property on South Front Street in Downtown Memphis appears in the Tuesday, Aug. 30, issue of The Daily News and also at The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.

The commercial class property is appraised at $2.9 million, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.

The 19,712-square-foot residence is billed as a home for “corporate retreats” with three separate apartments plus main living quarters. The assessor defines the property as an apartment garden.

The home went into foreclosure when the owner, New Renovations LLC, defaulted on a $2.7 million loan through Bank of Bartlett dated March 17, 2006. Stephen P. Hale signed the trust deed as managing member of New Renovations.

The property is also subject to “unpaid property taxes, assessments, subdivision restrictions, building lines, easements, and all prior liens and encumbrances of record superior in right to the Deed of Trust,” according to the notice.

Douglas M. Alrutz of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP was appointed successor trustee and will sell the property Sept. 21 on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.

The home is still listed with Keller Williams Realty for $3 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– The Daily News staff

Mosaic Shutting Down Its Memphis Office

The Memphis office of Mosaic, an agency that provides services to the disabled, is closing its doors.

Mosaic informed state officials that the local office at 2170 Business Center Drive is closing by Sept. 30 and laying off 85 people, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

Among other things, Mosaic’s work included advocacy for the disabled and providing “a life of possibilities through supports which are tailored to the individual’s needs and desires,” according to the agency.

– Andy Meek

City Police, County Sheriff Revive Joint Gang Unit

After years of separate efforts to fight gangs, the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office are about to bring back a joint gang unit that will also include participation by federal agencies and the district attorney general’s office as well as the Memphis City Schools system.

Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said he and leaders of the other agencies are about one meeting away from working out the details.

“Not to have a comprehensive gang unit is ridiculous,” said Armstrong, who became police director this past April. “All of the parties have agreed to some extent.”

“You’ll also see other law enforcement agencies – they’ll be invited to the table,” said Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham.

The combined unit was broken up as Memphis Police pursued the Blue CRUSH approach to statistics based crime fighting efforts in 2006. The Sheriff’s office maintained its own gang effort that focused on gang intelligence.

The split emphasized some of the bureaucratic barriers to such combined units where different policies for promotions in the two local law enforcement agencies come into play.

Armstrong said his office is committed to working through those kind of problems and making the unit more than the two departments.

U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton said the new unit will probably involve the U.S. Marshal’s Service as well as agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

All commented as U.S. Justice Dept. officials were in Memphis Monday, Aug. 29, to talk about a broader anti-gang strategy as part of the second phase of the nearly 5- year-old Operation Safe Community anti-crime plan.

Memphis is one of six cities that are part of the White House National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.

– Bill Dries

Baker Donelson Announces Scholarship Recipients

Memphis-based law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has announced the 2011 recipients of the Baker Donelson Diversity Scholarship.

They are law students Sharonda Childs, Jervonne Newsome and Bobbi Roquemore.

Childs is in her second year at the University of Alabama School of Law and will clerk in Baker Donelson’s Birmingham office next summer. She is a graduate of Columbia University and served in the U.S. Peace Corps for two years in Mozambique.

Newsome is in her second year at the University of Arkansas School of Law and will be a summer associate in Baker Donelson’s Memphis office. She’s a cum laude graduate of Arkansas State University and served as a judicial clerk for U.S. Dist. Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. in the U.S. Dist. Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Roquemore is in her second year at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and will be a summer associate in Baker Donelson’s New Orleans office. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Marquette University and worked as a journalist before enrolling in law school.

The three recipients were chosen from 185 applicants attending 87 law schools across the country.

Established in 2008, the Baker Donelson Diversity Scholarship Program awards annual scholarships to diverse law school students who have completed their first year of law school. The recipients get a salaried second-year summer associate position in one of the firm’s offices, and upon completion of the summer position, the recipients also get a $10,000 scholarship.

– Andy Meek

MAA Again Acquires Property in Birmingham

Memphis-based MAA, formerly known as Mid-America Apartment Communities, has acquired Birchall at Ross Bridge, a 240-unit upscale apartment community located in Hoover, Ala., outside Birmingham.

Birchall at Ross Bridge is a condo-quality community that was developed in 2009. The community offers a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans with an average unit size of 1,182 square feet.

Hoover is at the intersection of I-65 and I-459 roughly eight miles south of Downtown Birmingham. MAA also owns Eagle Ridge Apartments, located within Birmingham’s 280 corridor.

“Birmingham is home to several Fortune 500/1000 headquarters and hosts an extensive transportation network offering easy access to several other major markets,” executive vice president and chief financial officers Al Campbell said in a statement. “We believe the Birmingham economy will support strong leasing fundamentals for the foreseeable future.”

The acquisition was funded by common stock issuances through MAA’s at-the-market program and borrowings under our current credit facilities.

MAA is a self-administered, self-managed apartment-only real estate investment trust, which currently owns or has ownership interest in 48,426 apartment units throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S.

– Sarah Baker

Temple-Inland Reopens Bogalusa Paper Mill

Austin, Texas-based Temple Inland Inc. is preparing to restart its paper mill in Bogalusa, La., the company said in a Monday, Aug. 29, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A wastewater spill at the plant earlier this month caused the shutdown which Temple-Inland estimates cost it $20 million.

The spill and an unrelated $1 billion lawsuit filed this month over the failure of an Austin bank have complicated plans by Memphis-headquartered International Paper Co. to buy Temple-Inland.

IP executives made a tender offer to shareholders and the offer stands as the Temple-Inland board fights the move.

IP chief financial officer Tim Nicholls said last week his company is still pursuing the acquisition and watching developments in the lawsuit closely.

The Temple-Inland filing with the SEC repeats the company’s assertion that it has no liability for the bankruptcy of Guaranty Financial Group and its subsidiary, Guaranty Bank.

Temple-Inland spun off Guaranty in 2007 as part of a larger plan that included spinning off the company’s real estate group, Forestar Group Inc. and selling off 1.55 million acres of timberlands.

– Bill Dries

MBGH to Discuss Health Reform

Memphis Business Group on Health will host its third annual daylong conference Sept. 8 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn, 3700 Central Ave.

The conference, titled “Got the Health Reform Blues?” will offer participants insight from national and regional health reform thought leaders, including Peter Hayes, principal of Healthcare Solutions and secretary for the Center for Health Value Innovation; Suzanne Delbanco, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform; Laurie Lee, executive director of benefits administration for the state of Tennessee; and John Moses, principal at AON Hewitt.

The event will also include a panel featuring health care provider leaders.

Memphis Business Group on Health is a coalition of employers sharing solutions to manage the cost and quality of health benefits.
Visit www.memphisbusinessgroup.org to register.  

– Aisling Maki