Bartlett Warehouses Sell for $15M in Foreclosure

CMLT 2008-LS1 Wolf Lake Drive LLC, an entity affiliated with Miami Beach, Fla.-based LNR Partners LLC, has bought 10 parcels comprising 15 addresses in Bartlett Logistics Center at a foreclosure sale for $15 million. CMLT 2008-LS1 Wolf Lake Drive LLC was the current lender for the property.

All the properties are flex-warehouse space.

The addresses are 3080 Stage Post Drive, 3110 Stage Post Drive, 3111 Stage Post Drive, 3144 Stage Post Drive, 3150 Stage Post Drive, 7850 Stage Hills Blvd., 7856 Stage Hills Blvd., 7876 Stage Hills Blvd., 8024 Stage Hills Blvd., 8370 Wolf Lake Drive, 8380 Wolf Lake Drive, 8390 Wolf Lake Drive, 8400 Wolf Lake Drive, 8410 Wolf Lake Drive and 8500 Wolf Lake Drive.

Orangevale, Calif.-based Bartlett Logistics One LLC bought the properties in May 2007 in a few transactions totaling $26.9 million.

The company paid $20.7 million for 8370, 8390, 8400 and 8410 Wolf Lake Drive, 8024 Stage Hills Blvd. and 8500 Wolf Lake Drive, as well as 8380 and 8420 Wolf Lake Drive, both of which were under construction. It paid $9.4 million for 3110, 3144 and 3150 Stage Post Drive; $2.9 million for 7850 and 7876 Stage Hills Blvd.; $1.2 million for 3080 Stage Post Drive; and $1.5 million for 3111 Stage Post Drive.

Those purchases were financed with a $34.7 million loan through LaSalle Bank NA.

That loan was assigned to Bank of America NA, which assigned it to Wells Fargo Bank NA, which assigned it to current lender CMLT 2008-LS1 Wolf Lake Drive LLC.

LNR Partners LLC, through various entities, has previously bought foreclosed Memphis properties, including the 460-unit Winbranch Apartments in June 2009, a Class A office building at 6555 Quince Road in July 2009 (which it later sold to In-Rel Management Inc.) and the 252-unit Overlook Apartments in Frayser in October 2009.

LNR’s website lists two local Class B retail properties for sale, pending contract: the 363,333-square-foot Cross Creek Shopping Center at 3565 Riverdale Road, which is 79 percent occupied; and the 49,781-square-foot Trinity Place shopping center at 7990 Trinity Road, which is 61 percent occupied.

The listing price for Trinity Place is $3.5 million; no price is listed for Cross Creek.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Kate Simone

Fogelman Joint Venture Buys Ga. Apt. Complex for $17.4M

A joint venture between Fogelman Venture Partners and New York-based DRA Advisors LLC announced it recently acquired the 350-unit Legacy Key Apartments in Sandy Springs, Ga., a community in the Atlanta metro area, for $17.4 million.

Rick and Mark Fogelman of Memphis-based Fogelman Properties are the principals of Fogelman Venture Partners.

Built in 1979, Legacy Key was substantially renovated by the prior owner from 2008 to 2009.

The property offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans ranging from 544 to 1,400 square feet, with rental rates ranging from $549 to $919 a month.

Community amenities include two lighted tennis courts, two swimming pools, a business center and a fitness center.

The property was 95 percent occupied at the time of the acquisition.

“The Atlanta apartment market is showing signs of strengthening due to a combination of an improving local economy and a multi-decade low number of new apartments being built,” Rick Fogelman said in a statement.

“With an attractive location in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, Legacy Key is poised to benefit from these improving trends. We have owned and operated multifamily assets in Atlanta for the past 25 years, and are pleased to add Legacy Key to our local Atlanta portfolio.”

Fogelman Management Group will manage the newly acquired property. Founded in 1963, the firm presently manages 63 apartment communities totaling more than 20,000 apartments in the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest regions of the country.

– Sarah Baker

Purple Door Comes to Cooper-Young

The Cooper-Young neighborhood has a new business: The Purple Door, which occupies an address between Java Cabana and Loudean’s on Young Avenue.

The shop “celebrates the everyday sacred providing a place to gather, to play and to practice the creative arts, the Art of Tea, and the art of being alive,” according to the Cooper-Young Business Association.

The store is a collaboration between Chere Labbe Doiron and Sharon Pavelda.

They “host creative art experiences encouraging uninhibited discovery.” Using “a guided collaborative manner, they offer opportunities to create that include theoretical and gentle instruction in a fun and open environment.”

The Purple Door is at 2172 Young Avenue. Call 652-3885 for more information.

– Andy Meek

FedEx Freight Honored for IT Work

FedEx Freight has been honored for its operational and strategic excellence in information technology.

FedEx Freight, a division of Memphis-based FedEx Corp., has won a 2011 CIO 100 award from CIO Magazine.

FedEx Freight was recognized for integrating FedEx Freight and FedEx National LTL into one company: FedEx Freight.

CIO Magazine is aimed at chief information officers and other information technology leaders.

– The Associated Press

Construction Employment Edges Higher in May

The U.S. construction industry added 2,000 jobs in May, according to the June 3 employment report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Year over year, seasonally adjusted construction employment was unchanged.

Non-seasonally adjusted construction unemployment stood at 16.3 percent for the month, down from 17.8 percent in April and 20.1 percent from the same time last year.

Nonresidential building construction added 600 jobs for the month, but has lost 7,200 jobs, or 1.1 percent, year over year, settling at 657,500 jobs in May.

The specialty trade contractor sector added 4,300 jobs compared to April, but is down 5,600 jobs, or 0.2 percent, from the same time last year.

Heavy and civil engineering construction employment grew by 3,100 jobs in May, for a total of 34,400 jobs added over the last 12 months, a growth of 4.2 percent.

Residential building construction employment dropped by 5,900 jobs compared to April and has declined by 21,400 jobs, or 3.7 percent, since May 2010.

Across all nonfarm industries, the nation added a disappointing 54,000 jobs in May, with the private sector adding 83,000 jobs and the government shedding 29,000 jobs for the month.

Year over year, the nation has added 870,000 jobs, or 0.7 percent, and unemployment remains at 9.1 percent.

“After April’s surprisingly solid employment performance, May’s performance represents bitter disappointment,” Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist Anirban Basu said in a statement. “This is not good news for construction. While it is true that nonresidential construction added jobs in May, much of that job growth is a continuation of the economic recovery that had been in place prior to the most recent soft patch.”

– Sarah Baker

Wal-Mart Holds Annual Shareholders Extravaganza

Actor Will Smith is hosting the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shareholders meeting at Bud Walton Arena on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

The event caps a week of manager meetings that the world’s largest retailer uses to plot its strategy for the coming year.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company is starting a test of a small-format store called Wal-Mart Express.

The Wal-Mart Express store format is a smaller version of its Neighborhood Market grocery stores.

It is less than one-tenth the size of a Walmart Super Center. Most Wal-Mart Express locations will have a pharmacy inside.

The company is testing an urban version of the stores in Chicago. A rural version is to open next week in Gentry, Ark., and is also being tested in North Carolina.

– The Associated Press