Redeemer Church Buys Collierville Property

Redeemer Evangelical Church of Memphis has bought a church and surrounding property at 2896 Houston Levee Road in Collierville from The Diocese of West Tennessee for $2.5 million. The purchase was financed through the diocese for $2.5 million, with the loan maturing Aug. 1, 2016.

The church is on seven acres at the southeast corner of Houston Levee and Frank roads in Ragsdale Acres subdivision, according to a property listing by Jan Jaeger, vice president of Crye-Leike Real Estate Services. The listing quotes a $2.9 million price tag.

The site is roughly across the street from Ridgeway Country Club.

Redeemer Evangelical Church currently is at 7011 Poplar Ave. in Germantown.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Buckeye Posts Record FY Earnings, Sales

Memphis-based Buckeye Technologies Inc. this week announced record fiscal-year earnings as well as a quarterly cash dividend of 6 cents a share.

The manufacturer and marketer of fibers and non-woven materials said it had record sales and earnings for the 2011 fiscal year that ended June 30.

Net sales for the fiscal year were $905 million, up 20 percent from fiscal 2010. The increase in sales was driven mostly by higher prices.

Adjusted net income was $90.8 million, also attributable in part of higher selling prices.

For the quarter that ended June 30, Buckeye had record net sales of $256 million, a 25 percent increase from the same quarter of 2010. While higher selling prices were a factor, so was an increased shipment volume.

The 6-cent quarterly dividend will be payable Sept. 15 to investors of record as of Aug. 15. It is a 20 percent increase from the dividend paid last quarter.

– Bill Dries

New Uptown Financing Clears City Council

After weeks of delay, the Memphis City Council this week approved two resolutions that create the financing for the next round of development in the Uptown area including the Uptown West area north of The Pyramid by the Wolf River and the Wolf River Harbor.

The resolutions include raising the maximum grant or loan amount from the city administered Uptown Commercial Rehabilitation program from $50,000 to $500,000. That would allow for a loan to finance construction or renovation of a long-planned supermarket in the area.

The redevelopment agency created by the tax increment financing district designation in Uptown would also issue $32 million of bonds financed by the revenue from incremental property tax increases in the area.

Council member Joe Brown, who sought the earlier delays, said he was concerned about a planned renovation of the Greenlaw Community Center by Uptown developers Belz-Turley.

The community center is leased by the city to Memphis Athletic Ministries. Detrick Golden of MAM, who grew up in the area, said the renovation is needed because “everything else around it is being renovated.”

“It looks like a prison,” he said.

“Greenlaw still belongs to the city of Memphis,” Brown said. “I’m trying to find out where the line is.”

Council member Wanda Halbert argued the Downtown area was again getting an unfair share of city finance renovation as other areas were left out.

Uptown is one of two TIF districts in the city. The other is the Highland Row development near the University of Memphis.

– Bill Dries

Funding Approved for Study of Bridge Boardwalk

The Memphis City Council Tuesday, Aug. 2, accepted and approved a combined $210,000 in funding for architecture and engineering services for a Harahan Bridge Boardwalk for bikes and pedestrians to cross the Mississippi River.

Of the total, $171,000 comes from city bond money. The remaining $39,000 comes from Aerobic Cruisers Hybrid Cycles LCC, the bicycle company owned by Charles McVean. McVean has spearheaded the construction of the boardwalk on the north side of the rail bridges.

The bond money is part of $371,000 in funding the city had planned to use for bluff repairs near The Metal Museum but is now reallocating to several other projects.

McVean sought the engineering and architecture study to determine what is needed to support the boardwalk on the steel frame of an old “wagon way” on the 19th century rail bridge that once supported wagons as well as automobiles before the opening of the nearby Memphis-Arkansas Bridge in the 1940s.

The city of Memphis, officials from Crittenden County, Ark., McVean and Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the bridge, have been in talks about the boardwalk. The railroad has already hired engineering and architecture experts as part of the talks.

– Bill Dries

Minority Business Council Honored as Advocate

The Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum, a Memphis-based economic development agency, will be honored with the Advocate of the Year Award at the 2011 Minority Enterprise Development Week in Atlanta.

The 29th annual awards banquet will be Aug. 11.

The MMBC Continuum works to grow scalable minority businesses that can meet the needs and demands of corporate America. The “Dial-Up” process, a phrase coined by the agency, works to connect minority business enterprises with corporations to provide quality goods and services.

The organization also hosts the highly attended annual Minority Economic Development Fair Downtown. The fair focuses on diversity, inclusion and supporting the growth of minority- and women-owned businesses to serve the needs of major corporations.

“This award is monumental in that it affirms the work of the organization and speaks to the importance of growing scalable minority firms in Memphis to create jobs, impact inner-city communities and expand the taxpayer base, which creates wins for the community,” said Luke Yancy III, MMBC president and CEO. “This is also a great nod for Memphis by being recognized for our efforts and the value placed on minority-business growth.”

– Aisling Maki

Baker Donelson Awards Bearman for Pro Bono Work

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has named David Bearman its Memphis Pro Bono attorney of the year.

A shareholder in the firm’s Memphis office, Bearman has represented pro bono clients in landlord-tenant disputes, contract disputes, will contests, employment disputes, wrongful death actions, and child-support and custody matters, among others.

He recorded more than 200 hours of pro bono work in 2010.

Bearman is a member of Baker Donelson’s business litigation group, where he has extensive litigation experience in state and federal courts, representing clients in a wide variety of matters including complex business and contract disputes, interstate water rights, defamation, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, personal injury and property loss.

– Andy Meek

nexAir Adds Propane Filling Plant

Memphis-based nexAir has added a new propane filling plant to its production plant and distribution facility at 1211 N. McLean Blvd.

The new propane plant increases nexAir’s propane cylinder fill capacity by 400 percent. Currently nexAir’s propane volume is up 52 percent and is expected to continue to grow.

In addition to the increased volume capacity, the system provides a safer operating and filling environment.

nexAir’s propane filling tank system was custom-designed by LCI Construction and installed by Paul Akers Inc., based in Greenfield, Ind. The plant also is protected by a fire suppression system that pumps water at 20 gallons a minute.

nexAir is one of the largest distributors of atmospheric gases and welding supplies in the U.S. The company sells, packages and distributes atmospheric gases, including medical, specialty, industrial and welding gases. The company also sells related products, including specialized medical and welding equipment and dry ice.

– Taylor Shoptaw