Mississippi LLCs Finance Three Self-Storage Sites

Three limited liability companies affiliated with Gulfport, Miss.-based Tellus Equity GP have financed self-storage facilities the LLCs bought last year. All the loans were taken out through Standard Insurance Co. with a maturity date in March 2036.

TSRE III Kirby Raines LLC financed a facility at 6504 Raines Road near the northwest corner of Kirby Parkway and Raines Road for $1.3 million. The facility was built in 1995 on 3.73 acres. The Shelby County Assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $1.4 million. The company bought the property in July for $1.9 million

TSRE III Northwest LLC financed a facility at 3891 Thomas St. for $1.3 million. The storage facility was built in 1995 on 3.53 acres on the northwest side of Thomas Street between North Watkins Street to the north and Creston Avenue to the south, in Northside Commercial subdivision. The Shelby County Assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $1.7 million. The company bought the property in July for $1.5 million.

TSRE III Southern LLC financed a facility at 4720 Getwell Road for $1.1 million. The storage facility was built in 1998 on 4 acres on the east side of Getwell Road south of East Shelby Drive. The assessor’s 2010 appraisal was $1.5 million. The company bought the property in July for $1.4 million.

Tellus Equity GP is listed as the managing entity of the three LLCs.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Stax Holds First Online Auction

The Soulsville Foundation and the Memphis Grizzlies will launch for the first time an online Staxtacular auction to benefit the Stax Music Academy Tuesday.

The auction will include a variety of items from the music, sports and entertainment worlds.

The online pre-auction will lead up to the foundation’s largest annual fundraiser, Staxtacular, which will be held March 18 at 7 p.m. at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 E. McLemore Ave.

The fundraiser will include live and silent auctions, music by the Bo-Keys, food, an open bar and feature Grizzlies players Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.

Last year, the Staxtacular auction raised more than $20,000.

To view online auction items, visit www.soulsvilleusa.com.

For more information about Staxtacular or for tickets, call 261-6385 or visit www.staxmusicacademy.org/staxtacular.

– Taylor Shoptaw

Willow Lake Foreclosure Sale Slated for Friday

The foreclosure sale of the 17-building, mixed-use Willow Lake Business Park and Corporate Park in Hickory Hill has been postponed until Friday, March 4, at noon at the Shelby County Courthouse, 140 Adams Ave.

The foreclosure is being pursued because borrowers of the mixed-use property – listed as five separate Delaware limited liability companies related to Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate – defaulted on a $67 million loan through Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. dated Dec. 28, 2006. That loan was later assigned to LaSalle Bank National Association and then to U.S. Bank NA.

The property includes multiple addresses on Raines Road, Willow Lake Boulevard, Knight Road, South Perkins Road and Cromwell Cove. Included property descriptions list parcels in Willow Lake Business Park, Chickasaw Cession, Corporate Park and Hickory Hill Industrial Park.

Three of HSA’s top executives – Robert E. Smietana, John E. Shaffer and Melissa S. Pielet – are listed as sole members of the various Willow Lake properties on the Shelby County Register of Deeds.

HSA has more than 16 million square feet of property worth more than $2 billion in the U.S. Since 2007, HSA has spent close to $75 million on Memphis acquisitions that encompass about 2.6 million square feet, or 16 percent of its nationwide portfolio.

– Sarah Baker

Beale St.'s A. Schwab on the Market

The oldest business on Beale Street is for sale.

A. Schwab, a general store operating on the street since 1876, is on the market and is listed with Slovis & Associates LLC.

It and the Old Daisy theater are the only two parcels in the three-block entertainment district between Fourth and Second Streets not owned by the city of Memphis.

The Old Daisy is owned by Beale Street Development Corp., the non-profit entity the city established in the 1970s as the city’s middleman between it and the developer of the district.

Schwab, which is at 163 and 165 Beale Street, is owned by Le Sel Corp.

The sale of the store comes as the Wharton administration is preparing a game plan for the next step in the history and development of the entertainment district.

The store survived the dark days of urban renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s when much of the rest of the street was turned over to the city and some buildings were either demolished or fenced off.

The renovated Beale Street district opened in the fall of 1983 with Schwab continuing to sell sundry items as it had for decades before along with tourist items.

Beale Street developers had tried over the years to talk the store owners into staying open into the night without any luck.

– Bill Dries

Lita Rosario to Speak at Music Business Seminar

The University of Memphis’ Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission welcomes Washington, D.C., professor and attorney, Lita Rosario as guest speaker at a music business seminar.

The Legal Clinic, “LIVE,” kicks off Monday at 6 p.m. in the Wade Auditorium in the law school building, 1 N. Front St., and guests will learn about legal aspects and issues that impact today’s music industry. Rosario is president and CEO of WYZ Girl Entertainment Consulting, an entertainment law and consulting firm located in Washington. Rosario’s resume includes many well known names and brands in the entertainment and commercial industry, including Missy Elliot, Disney, Jeep, MAC and BET. Rosario has also worked with major motion pictures such as “Soul Food,” “Romeo Must Die” and “The Fast and The Furious.”

Rosario is also a member of the District of Columbia, New York and Massachusetts bar associations and Federal Court bars in The Southern District of New York and the District Court for the District of Columbia.

Visit www.memphismusic.org for more information.

– Allison Buckley

Two Memphis Malls Get New Leadership

Oak Court Mall and Wolfchase Galleria have been assigned new general managers, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. said Thursday.

Jeff Dozier will take over operations at Oak Court and Brian Hanson at Wolfchase. Both are new to the Memphis area.

Dozier and Hanson will oversee leasing, contract negotiation, staff operations, budgeting and monthly financial analysis and tenant public relations.

Dozier has held various positions at Kessinger/Hunter & Co.; Poag and McEwen Lifestyle Centers; Copaken, White & Blitt and at Simon Property.

Hanson worked in property management for Simon in both Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. He also has managed in Tyler and Austin, Texas.

Simon, which employs more than 5,000 worldwide, currently owns or has interest in 393 properties comprising 264 million square feet.

– Sarah Baker

Violent and Property Crimes Down For January

Major violent crime in Memphis was down 1.6 percent in January from January 2010 and major property crimes were down 10.7 percent compared to a year ago.

The monthly crime statistics from the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission show crime in all categories is down when compared to 2006, the year the city shifted its anti-crime strategy to Blue C.R.U.S.H., the statistics- and technology-driven approach to focusing police numbers and methods to crime hot spots.

By the 2006 comparison, major violent crimes were down 36.2 percent and major property crimes were down 33.8 percent.

Compared to January 2010, there was a 0.4 percent uptick in robberies, which was one more robbery than in January 2010.

And there was 5.7 percent jump in burglaries, which was 55 more burglaries.

– Bill Dries