Oakhaven Warehouse Sells for $11.3 Million

The 398,992-square-foot warehouse at 5155 Citation Drive in Oakhaven has sold for $11.3 million.

Exeter 5155 Citation LLC, an affiliate of Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Exeter Property Group, bought the Class A industrial facility in a May 21 special warranty deed from DCT – Shelby 18 LP, an affiliate of Denver-based DCT Industrial.

Built in 2001, the warehouse sits on 21.6 acres along the west side of Citation Drive, at the northwest corner of Citation and East Holmes Road. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $11.9 million.

In conjunction with the purchase, Exeter 5155 Citation filed an $8.4 million loan through The Prudential Insurance Co. of America

Timothy J. Weber signed the trust deed as secretary/treasurer of Exeter – Core Industrial REIT LLC, the sole member of Exeter 5155 Citation.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Mud Island Apartments Sell for $43.6 Million

A large apartment community on Mud Island has sold for $43.6 million. Riverset, a 500-unit apartment community constructed in 1988 and 1990, sold on May 31 for $43.6 million, or $87,200 per unit.

Blake Pera and Tommy Bronson III with CB Richard Ellis’ Memphis multifamily division represented the seller, Auction Street Associates LP, in the sale to TMF II Riverset LLC.

The property offers a wide range of amenities, including five pools, three tennis courts, a putting green and a racquetball court.

“Opportunities to acquire quality product downtown are rare, and Riverset was very well received by buyers recognizing the property’s truly special location and available upside,” said Pera, executive vice president with CBRE.

-Amos Maki

Commission OKs Land Sale for ‘Penny’ Hardaway Courts

Shelby County Commissioners approved Monday, June 3, the transfer of nearly 10 acres of land in Cordova on the west side of Herbert Road at Fischer Steel Road to Gameday Health Kids Foundation as the location of “Penny’s Fast Break Courts Sports Facility” – the children’s basketball site named for NBA and University of Memphis basketball star Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway.

In other action, the commission approved $5.9 million in state transportation grant money to go toward the $9 million replacement of the Raleigh-Millington Road Bridge over the Loosahatchie River in North Shelby County.

The bridge replacement contract with Ford Construction Co. includes $2.9 million in city of Memphis funding the Memphis City Council was to vote on Tuesday in addition to $559,929 in county capital funding.

The commission also approved second reading of a set of three ordinances that would delay the start date of new seismic requirements for residential and existing buildings form July 1 to the end of 2013.

Several members of the West Tennessee Structural Engineers group spoke against a delay while Greater Memphis Chamber leaders urged the commission to approve the later effective date because of its expected impact on construction projects.

And the commission approved new memorandums of understanding with the cities of Millington and Arlington for Shelby County to provide emergency dispatching services for them.

- Bill Dries

Porter-Leath Opening Location in Hickory Hill

Porter-Leath, whose mission is to help struggling children and families, is extending its reach into the community by opening a satellite location at Hickory Ridge Mall Towne Centre Community Services Plaza.

Porter-Leath will host an open house at the new location Wednesday, June 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“This partnership will allow Porter-Leath to reach underserved individual in a community that is seeing a vast increase in number of youth and senior citizens,” said Sean Lee, president of Porter-Leath.

A representative from Porter-Leath will be on hand varying days Monday through Saturday.

- Amos Maki

Smith Joins Doug Carpenter Firm as Workflow Manager

Sandy Smith has joined Doug Carpenter & Associates, an advertising, PR and consulting firm.

She’s in the newly created position of workflow manager. As such, she’ll be responsible for the internal flow of work throughout the agency and will help the account management director in the day-to-day management of accounts.

Smith most recently was a senior specialist of brand management at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

- Andy Meek

US Home Prices Jumped in April by Most in 7 Years

U.S. home prices soared 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since February 2006, as more buyers competed for fewer homes.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic says prices rose in April from the previous April in 48 states. Prices also rose 3.2 percent in April from March, much better than the previous month-to-month gain of 1.9 percent.

Prices in Nevada jumped 24.6 percent from a year earlier, the most among the states. California’s gain was next at 19.4 percent, followed by Arizona’s 17.3 percent, Hawaii’s 17 percent and Oregon’s 15.5 percent.

More people are looking to purchase homes. But the number of homes for sale is 14 percent lower than it was a year ago. The supply shortage has contributed to the price increases.

Rising home prices can help sustain the housing recovery. They encourage more homeowners to sell. And they spur would-be homeowners to buy before prices increase further.

Home sales and prices began to recover last year, six years after the housing bust. They have been buoyed by steady job gains and low mortgage rates.

Sales of previously occupied homes ticked up to a 3 ½ year high in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. And they are likely to keep growing: A measure of signed contracts to buy homes rose to its highest level in three years in April. There is generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.

The limited supply of homes has also made builders more willing to ramp up construction. That’s creating more construction jobs. Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.

Prices rose in April from the previous year in 94 out of the 100 largest U.S. cities, CoreLogic said. That’s up from 88 in the previous month.

Los Angeles and Phoenix reported the biggest price gains among the cities, CoreLogic said. Prices in both cities leapt 19.2 percent compared with a year earlier.

They were followed by Atlanta and Riverside-San Bernardino, which both posted 16.5 percent gains.

Dallas rounded out the top five, with a 10.2 percent increase.

Despite the large gains, home prices are more than 22 percent below their April 2006 peak, the CoreLogic survey found.

– The Associated Press