Fairwood Finances Hampton Inn Beale

Fairwood Investors, the entity that acquired Hampton Inn & Suites Memphis-Beale Street in early 2010, has filed a $15 million leasehold loan through Magna Bank for the hotel and adjacent parking garage.

Completed in 2000, the 144-room Hampton is at 175 Peabody Place, at the southwest corner of its intersection with South Third Street. The garage is adjacent to the west. The Shelby County Assessor’s 2012 appraisal for the two properties totals $17.5 million.

Fairwood, which financed the properties under the name FWH Memphis Beale Street LLC, leases the hotel from Memphis City Center Revenue Corp. through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement. Fairwood leases the garage from Peabody Place LP.

In late June, Fairwood LLC signed an agreement to acquire The Peabody Little Rock hotel, complete a multimillion-dollar renovation and rebrand the property.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Bank of Bartlett Reports $2M Profit for Q2

Bank of Bartlett reported its fourth straight profitable quarter for the three months ended June 30.

The Bartlett-based bank reported a second-quarter profit of a little more than $2 million, as well as an increase in consumer loans and new checking accounts. Bank president Harold Byrd said the quarter’s earnings are a result of the bank’s long-term strategic plan to cut expenses, control costs and continue to offer a high level of customer service.

Bank of Bartlett, which operates eight branches in Shelby County, was founded in Bartlett in 1980.

– Andy Meek

FedEx Ground Plans New Facility in Hattiesburg

FedEx spokeswoman Erin Traxal says FedEx Ground plans to build a 48,000-square-foot distribution center in Hattiesburg, Miss.

She tells The Hattiesburg American that people currently working in Hattiesburg will move to the new, bigger station, which will add jobs as needed.

The current facility has more than 20 full- and part-time employees.

Traxal says the new facility is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and improve speed. The company has opened 11 new hubs and expanded or relocated more than 500 local facilities since 2005.

– The Associated Press

Botanic Garden Named Forestry Center of Excellence

The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council has named Memphis Botanic Garden a Center of Excellence for the West Tennessee Region.

The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council recently announced the creation of a Center of Excellence Program to enhance urban forestry throughout Tennessee. Under the center’s umbrella, one Center of Excellence will be created and will operate under a strict set of defined criteria in each of the three regions of Tennessee.

Patrick Haller, president of the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council, said the Centers of Excellence will assist with arboretum development and certification, provide ongoing educational programs, and give citizens a local resource for arboriculture.

– Aisling Maki

IDI Marks Mid-2012 With Development in Memphis

Atlanta-based Industrial Developments International, also known as IDI, has begun inventory development in Memphis, Atlanta and Indianapolis, representing the first substantial speculative building by any industrial real estate company in these markets since 2008.

IDI development activity was most notable in the company’s Memphis market office with 1.9 million square feet under construction or completed in the past year at Crossroads Business Center in Olive Branch. The company delivered a 234,660-square-foot build-to-suit for Anda Distribution at Crossroads C in March and is expected to deliver a 615,305-square-foot build-to-suit for Milwaukee Electric Tool at Crossroads E in October.

Additionally, IDI is developing two inventory buildings at Crossroads (Buildings B and G) for 267,843 square feet and 869,892 square feet, respectively.

New leasing activity occurred in seven U.S. markets in 2012, and was most prevalent in Memphis with a new StyleCraft Home Collection Inc. lease at Airways Distribution Center totaling 167,000 square feet.

– Sarah Baker

Teleflex to Locate Distribution Center in Miss.

Medical equipment maker Teleflex Inc. has announced it is locating a distribution center in Olive Branch.

The lease signing was first reported July 17 in The Daily News.

The Limerick, Pa., company says it expects to employ 225 workers within four years of operation.

The company will locate into an existing 627,000-square-foot facility in Olive Branch.

The Mississippi Development Authority provided assistance through the Momentum Mississippi Incentives program and guidance on available tax incentives to support of the project.

Additionally, the city of Olive Branch is providing the company with local tax incentives to assist with the project.

Teleflex produces specialty medical devices for a range of procedures in critical care and surgery.

The 627,294-square-foot lease at Olive Branch Distribution Center, 11244 Distribution Cove, represents the largest lease since July 2010, when Hamilton Beach Brands Inc. took 1.2 million square feet in the former Pottery Barn space at 11624 S. Distribution Cove, also in Olive Branch Distribution Center.

– The Associated Press

Civic Leaders Dedicate Northaven Community Center

Shelby County leaders and Northaven residents dedicated a renovated community center Saturday, July 28, in what used to be the community’s fire station.

The community center will be operated by Impact Baptist Church with the building turned over by Shelby County government to the church.

The building has had a long life and several uses. It began as a convenience store that was adapted as a fire station.

The fire station has since moved out to a new fire station building just around the corner on Northaven Road that opened earlier this year.

The new fire station and the renovation as a community center of the old fire station are part of efforts to help the north Shelby County community emerge from years of crime and neglect problems.

– Bill Dries

Nashville, Memphis High in Young Traffic Deaths

The Centers for Disease Control ranks Nashville and Memphis high on the list of cities where young people are killed in traffic crashes.

According to The Tennessean, Nashville ranked third among major U.S. cities and Memphis was fourth in traffic deaths involving 15-24-year-olds. In Nashville, the death rate was 22.7 per 100,000 residents. Memphis had 22 deaths per 100,000.

Only Birmingham, Ala., and Jacksonville, Fla., had more deaths to rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

At Vanderbilt University’s Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, trauma prevention coordinator Purnima Unni said car crashes are the leading cause of hospitalization for patients 10-19 and nearly half of them were not in safety restraints.

– The Associated Press

New State Department Eyes Accreditation

Officials in the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities say gaining accreditation will make it an international model for providing service.

The three-year accreditation process begins in August. Jim Henry, department commissioner, said the goal is to lead the nation in offering services. A series of meetings will be scheduled across the state in August to initiate accreditation. The gatherings are targeted at providers, families, advocates and others.

According to a news release from the department, DIDD will contract with the Council on Quality and Leadership to consult about accreditation. DIDD became a stand-alone department in 2011.

– The Associated Press