Vantage Point Golf Moves Ahead

Vantage Point Holdings LLC has filed a $1.5 million loan to build Vantage Point Golf Center – a driving range and 3,600-square-foot clubhouse – on Macon Road near Big Orange Road in the Grays Creek floodplain in Cordova. The limited liability company closed on the property and financed it in the past week, said the LLC’s manager/owner, Chris Thompson.

Thompson, who will also manage Vantage Point Golf Center, said the company hopes to break ground in the next couple of weeks and complete it by August.

The range will have 10 to 15 lighted and heated stalls, but the focus will be on grass driving. Because of the lighted area, Thompson hopes to keep the range open until about 10 p.m.

Overall, the property can handle 60 to 70 golfers at one time, Thompson said. The clubhouse will have a café, small retail area and flat-screen TVs.

Prime Contractors Inc. is the project’s contractor, the architect is SpiritArchitecture Group LLC and the civil engineer is Carlson Consulting Engineers Inc. – all local companies.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Dogwood Creek Apts. Sell for $26 Million

Dogwood Creek, a 278-unit apartment community constructed in 1997 in Collierville, sold to New York-based Somerset Partners LLC on Wednesday, Feb. 29, for $26 million, or $93,525 per unit.

Blake Pera and Tommy Bronson III with CB Richard Ellis Memphis’ Multifamily Division represented the seller, G & I V Dogwood Creek LLC, a joint venture between Memphis-based Fogelman Venture Partners and a fund managed by New York-based DRA Advisors LLC.

Dogwood Creek is a Class A property located on Houston Levee Road that comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom units that average 985 square feet. Occupancy at the time of closing was 97 percent.

“The purchaser knew the asset well and wanted to expand their market presence with one of the premier properties and locations in the market,” Pera said in a statement. “The seller had the property operating at a very high level, and the buyer will be able to build upon that steady performance through modest enhancements to the asset.”

– Sarah Baker

FAA Fines Colgan Over 2009 Crash

Colgan Air Inc., the regional airline owned by Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp., that was involved in a fatal crash in Buffalo, N.Y., would have to pay $153,000 for failing to give crews on other flights enough time to rest, under a fine proposed Friday, March 2, by the Federal Aviation Administration. The crash raised concerns about pilot fatigue.

Colgan Air Inc. operated 17 flights from June 2008 to February 2009 in which pilots and flight attendants were scheduled to work seven days in a row, the FAA said. Regulations require crew members be given 24 hours off after working six straight days. Also, Colgan didn’t give three flight attendants their required rest periods after scheduling them to work at least eight consecutive hours, the agency said.

And a pilot was scheduled for more than eight hours of flight time between rest periods, the agency said.

Continental Connection Flight 3407, which was operated by Colgan for Continental Airlines, crashed on Feb. 12, 2009, near Buffalo, killing 50 people.

– The Associated Press

Alrutz Joins Board of Law Institute

Doug Alrutz, a member of the bankruptcy and creditors’ rights service team at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP, has been elected to a five-year term on the board of directors of the Mid-South Commercial Law Institute.

Alrutz concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial litigation, foreclosure and collection. As a member of the MSCLI board, Mr. Alrutz will help the institute further the study of commercial and bankruptcy law and elevate its standards.

The Mid-South Commercial Law Institute is one of the legal profession’s preeminent resources of continuing legal education in the area of commercial and bankruptcy law.

– Andy Meek

MAA Announces Closing of Common Stock Offering

MAA announced Friday, March 2, the closing of a public offering of $1.955 million shares of common stock, including 255,000 shares issued and sold as a result of the full exercise of the underwriters’ overallotment option.

Memphis-based MAA received approximately $119.9 million in net proceeds from the offering after deducting the underwriting discounts and estimated expenses of the offering. MAA intends to use the net proceeds to partially fund acquisition and development plans for 2012, repay existing indebtedness and other general corporate purposes.

MAA is a self-administered, self-managed apartment-only real estate investment trust, which currently owns or has ownership interest in 48,537 apartment units throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S.

– Sarah Baker

Conservation Nominations Taken Through Tuesday

The Tennessee Wildlife Federation is accepting nominations through Tuesday, March 6, for conservation achievement.

Winners will be honored April 18 in Nashville. The federation has sponsored such annual awards since 1965.

Winners for their stewardship of wildlife and their habitat will be chosen by federation staff, board representatives, conservation professionals and members of the media.

Michael Butler, the federation’s CEO, said without the contributions of past winners, the organization would have failed in its mission.

A nomination packet is at http://www.tnwf.org.

The Daily News is a supporter of The Tennessee Wildlife Federation.

– The Associated Press

UTHSC to Raise Funds for Cancer Awareness

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will launch its inaugural Cancer Awareness Day Tuesday, March 6, with a fundraising drive.

Researchers will collect donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the General Education Building lobby, 8 S. Dunlap St. and outside the UTHSC bookstore in the Madison Plaza lobby, 910 Madison Ave.

The objectives of Cancer Awareness Day are to increase awareness about the prevalence of adult cancer and to raise money to support adult cancer research under way in Memphis. All donations will be used for the newly created UTHSC Cancer Research Fund.

– Taylor Shoptaw

Judge: Gov't Can 'Require' Union Posters at Work

A judge has ruled the National Labor Relations Board can require most private businesses to put up posters telling workers they have a legal right to form a union.

But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson limited how the board can enforce the requirement. She says simply failing to display the new NLRB poster isn’t automatically a legal violation without other evidence of anti-union conduct.

The new posters are required effective April 30. They explain workers’ rights to bargain collectively, distribute union literature and engage in other union activities without reprisal.

Berman’s ruling Friday, March 2, disappointed business groups that argued the poster is too one-sided and seems to encourage workers to join unions.

– The Associated Press

Build-A-Bear Celebrates 1 Yr. of St. Jude Support

Build-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive retailer of customized stuffed animals, is honoring the 1-year anniversary of its relationship with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Throughout the year, the company will help St. Jude with several initiatives.

Build-A-Bear guests can add $1 or more to their total purchase at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores and online at buildabear.com.

The “Cause for Celebration” party program was launched a year ago. So far, the program, which asks guests to donate $10 to the hospital, has raised more than $330,000. This year, Build-A-Bear’s Huggable Heroes program will award $100,000 in prizes to 10 young people who provide extraordinary service.

– Aisling Maki