Jamesbridge Apartments Sells for $7.2 Million in Foreclosure

The 432-unit Jamesbridge apartments at 3689 James Road in Raleigh sold to a special servicer for $7.2 million after a foreclosure.

A single-purpose entity called 215-39 Jamesbridge Holdings LLC – an affiliate of Bethesda, Md.-based CWCapital Asset Management LLC – bought the multifamily property in a Feb. 15 substitute trustee’s deed from R. Spencer Clift III of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.

A first-run foreclosure notice was filed in January against the former owner, Jamesbridge Group LLC, which had defaulted on a $13.5 million loan through Lehman Brothers Bank FSB dated Sept. 21, 2006, and later owned by LaSalle Bank NA.

This was the second foreclosure notice filed on the property for the same loan. Then-deed holder Bank of America brought foreclosure proceedings against Jamesbridge Group in 2009.

The Jamesbridge sits on 29.76 acres on the south side of James Road in Raleigh. Its addresses are listed as either 3689 James Road or 3815 Advantage Way Drive, between Jackson Avenue and Highland Road.

The complex contains 351,020 square feet and is dotted with lakes and pedestrian bridges. Its 2012 appraised value is $6.4 million, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.

Built in 1986, the complex has 24 three-story buildings, each with 18 one- and two-bedroom units. It also has a clubhouse/office building and swimming pool.

Jamesbridge Group bought the property in 2006 for $15.7 million from Jamesbridge Associates LP, financing it with the loan that went into default.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

City Council Approves Hickory Hill Intermodal Yard

The Memphis City Council approved Tuesday, Feb. 19, a 30-acre intermodal container yard in Hickory Hill for the storage of the containers by The Marino Group/Container Maintenance Corp., which is working with Chism-Hardy Enterprises LLC on the new facility that will employ 94 people.

The $4 million planned development drew opposition from several homeowners in an area that includes some residential subdivisions as well as warehouse and distribution centers, other intermodal facilities including a Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail yard.

Marino considered sites in Olive Branch and West Memphis as it contacted Carolyn Hardy of Chism Hardy last October about the Memphis location. Marino leases space in Memphis for a smaller operation that employs a dozen people.

In other action, the council gave city engineers the green light to designate some on-street parking spaces to be selected by the Downtown Memphis Commission for car-sharing vehicles in a three-year pilot project. The DMC has no agreement with a car-sharing vehicle company yet and no specific parking places picked.

Council member Lee Harris questioned why the DMC wouldn’t charge a company for the use of the spaces.

Council member Joe Brown complained that there should be more free on-street parking for Memphis City Council members and other elected officials. Brown complained of not being able to find a free parking place recently at the Greater Memphis Chamber offices.

City Council members have free parking at City Hall. City Hall is three blocks from the chamber offices on Front Street.

– Bill Dries

Parking Lot Guns Bill Charges Toward House Vote

A bill to allow handgun carry permit holders to store loaded firearms in their vehicles no matter where they are parked has cleared its final legislative committee before a full House vote.

The House Civil Justice Committee advanced the measure on a voice vote on Wednesday after supporters stressed that the measure would not stop employers from banning weapons on their property but would simply remove their ability to call for criminal charges against violators.

Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison of Cosby said his bill would also not apply to areas like airports, railroads or secure facilities governed by federal law.

The Senate approved its version 28-5 earlier this month as GOP leaders have sought to avoid a repeat of last year’s drawn-out fight between gun advocates and the business community.

– The Associated Press

Weaver Elevated to Fellow of AIA

Mark Weaver, principal with Hnedak Bobo Group, was recently elevated to a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

A past president of AIA Memphis and AIA Tennessee, Weaver was recognized for advancing the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education, training and practice.

Weaver has worked on numerous award-winning projects such as the Peabody Place Historic Block, Main Street Pedestrian Mall/Light Rail Trolley, the Allenberg Building, Fire Museum of Memphis, FedEx Corp. World Headquarters, Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, and Westin Memphis Beale Street Hotel.

The Fellowship program was developed to elevate those architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession.

The 2013 Jury of Fellows from the AIA elevated 122 members this year to its College of Fellows. Out of a total AIA membership of more than 83,000, there are just some 3,100 distinguished with the honor of fellowship and honorary fellowship.

The 2013 Fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2013 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in Denver.

– Sarah Baker

La Paloma Treatment Center Opens New Building

La Paloma Treatment Center, a Memphis treatment resource for substance abuse or co-occurring mental health disorders, has opened a new building for outpatient services at 1083 West Rex Road.

The new location of the outpatient center replaces the former locations on Brookhaven Circle. It will allow for an expansion of existing outpatient services and will more than double the current capacity.

The space will also include an expansion of existing family and alumni services as well as ongoing programming for co-occurring health and substance use disorders.

La Paloma was founded in 2007 and is part of Nashville-based Foundations Recovery Network, which owns and operates three inpatient and four outpatient treatment facilities across the country. La Paloma’s residential campus is located at 2009 Lamar Ave.

A grand opening celebration for the new location and ribbon cutting will take place in March.

– Sarah Baker

Butler Snow Attorney Named to Leadership Position

Attorney Amy Pepke has been named to a leadership position at the law firm of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada PLLC.

She’s now the appellate and written advocacy practice group leader.

Pepke focuses her practice on appellate litigation, complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, and class action and multi-party litigation.

She has been named in Mid-South Super Lawyers for civil litigation defense and The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation. Pepke is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, the American Bar Association, and also of the Memphis Bar Association. She also serves as an adjunct professor of legal methods at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

– Andy Meek

Fed Minutes Show Concerns About Bond Purchases

Several Federal Reserve policymakers were concerned last month about the risks of the Fed’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy by keeping borrowing costs low for the foreseeable future.

Minutes of the Fed’s Jan. 29-30 policy meeting showed that some officials worried about the Fed’s monthly purchases of $85 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage bonds. They expressed concern that the continued purchases could eventually escalate inflation, unsettle financial markets or cause the Fed to absorb losses once it begins selling its investment holdings.

In the end, the Fed voted to keep its bond program open-ended and at the same size. The Fed said in a statement that the bond purchases would continue until the job market improved substantially.

– The Associated Press