Trolley Station Sells for $2.7 Million

Trolley Station, a Class C shopping center at the northwest corner of South Perkins Road and American Way, has sold for $2.7 million to a Georgia-based company.

Vishal Trolley Station LLC purchased the property from Kimco Trolley Station LP in an Oct. 29 special warranty deed, financing the deal with a $1.9 million deed of trust through Citizens Savings Bank & Trust Co. Shiv K. Aggarwal signed the trust deed as sole manager of Vishal Trolley Station.

The purchase includes three parcels, according to the warranty deed: a 107,267-square-foot neighborhood shopping center at 2685 S. Perkins, a 45,812-square-foot single-occupancy building at 2665 S. Perkins, and a 15,312-square-foot single-occupancy building at 2671 S. Perkins.

Constructed between 1991 and 1993, the buildings are situated on 14.6 acres, and the Shelby County Assessor of Property’s combined 2013 appraisal is about $4.4 million.

Kimco Trolley Station bought the property in 1998 for $16.2 million.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Two Memphians Among Appeals Court Finalists

Shelby County Chancellor Kenny W. Armstrong and Memphis attorney Dorothy Pounders were among three finalists for an upcoming vacancy on the Tennessee Court of Appeals that were recommended Thursday, Nov. 14, to Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam.

The recommendations are the first the Governor’s Commission on Judicial Appointments has made since Haslam created the body in October.

The third finalist on the list is attorney Brandon O. Gibson of Jackson, Tenn.

Haslam will pick one of the three candidates to fill the vacancy on the court when Judge David Farmer retires at the end of August.

Farmer is one of several state appellate court judges who have announced they will not seek re-election in retention races in August but plan to serve until the end of their terms later that month.

Haslam is awaiting the commission’s recommendations to fill the upcoming Tennessee Supreme Court vacancy created by the planned retirement of Justice Janice Holder of Memphis.

– Bill Dries

Lipman Meets with Judiciary Committee

Memphis attorney Sheri Lipman appeared Wednesday, Nov. 13, before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee is reviewing her nomination by President Barack Obama to become the newest U.S. District judge for the Western District of Tennessee.

Obama nominated Lipman Aug. 1 on the recommendation of U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis, who set up a screening committee to interview nine potential candidates.

The committee has not reported to the full Senate on Lipman’s nomination.

Lipman served as counsel to the University of Memphis for 10 years before becoming chief of staff to University President Brad Martin.

– Bill Dries

Federal Agents Raid Day Care Centers

Federal agents served search warrants Thursday, Nov. 14, at a number of day care centers in Shelby County and North Mississippi in what appeared to be an investigation of the centers.

“These warrants were filed under seal and are part of an ongoing investigation,” the U.S. Attorney’s office in Memphis said in a written statement. “Therefore we have no further comment on this matter at this time.”

The agencies involved in serving the search warrants were the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit, the Tennessee Department of Human Services, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

– Bill Dries

Dunkin’ Donuts to Add 12 Memphis Locations

More Memphis area Dunkin’ Donuts are on the way.

Franchise group JP Foods LLC will develop 12 new restaurants throughout Memphis, with the first new restaurant expected to open in 2015 and the remainder by 2020.

JP Foods, led by Peter Garner and Jonathan Vacca, will manage and oversee daily operations for each restaurant.

The new agreement means the Memphis market is officially sold out.

Dunkin’ Donuts entered the market in 2008 at 1674 Whitten Road and currently has seven stores in the Memphis area.

– Amos Maki

Evolve Bank & Trust Expands to Jonesboro

Evolve Bank & Trust has announced it will be opening a new office in Jonesboro, Ark., next month.

The Memphis-based bank’s new office there includes a group formerly with Liberty Bank, the arrival of which Evolve president and CEO Scott Stafford said “is a great score for us.”

Evolve currently has five full-service offices in Arkansas and Tennessee and more than 30 mortgage production offices around the country.

– Andy Meek

Fairholme Offers to Buy Fannie, Freddie Businesses

An investment firm is offering to buy from the government core businesses of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a $52 billion deal.

Fairholme Capital Management made the proposal Wednesday to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie.

The government rescued the two companies in the financial crisis in September 2008 with taxpayer aid totaling $187 billion.

Fannie and Freddie buy mortgages from lenders, package them as securities, guarantee them against default and sell them to investors.

Fairholme says it would lead a group of investors to buy the guarantee businesses of the companies. The firm says that would be sufficient to back about $1 trillion in new mortgages.

The Obama administration is seeking to wind down Fannie and Freddie.

An agency spokeswoman declined comment on the proposal.

– The Associated Press

Lawmakers Want Review of Book Selection Process

The heads of two legislative committees say the process for selecting books for state schools is flawed and needs to be fixed.

Tennessee Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Dolores Gresham and Senate Government Operations Committee Chairman Mike Bell have sent a letter to the State Board of Education asking the panel to re-examine the list of books recommended to it by the Tennessee Textbook Commission.

Earlier this month, the two Republicans and members of their committees heard testimony from parents who complained about the content of some of the books.

Gresham said the testimony revealed “inaccuracies” and “biases” in some of the books used by K-12 students.

The 10-member textbook selection panel recommends its selections to the board, and local school systems then choose which textbooks to adopt from the official state textbook list.

– The Associated Press

Children’s Services Posts Records on Child Deaths

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has begun posting on its website records related to child death investigations.

The Tennessean reports the agency has posted more than 3,600 pages of documents about deaths or severe injuries suffered by 64 children during the last six months of 2012.

The move is a sharp contrast to the agency’s stance a year ago, when it refused to make any such records public.

In response, several media groups statewide have filed suit seeking the records.

A judge ordered the agency in April to turn over the records and a court battle is still continuing over the cost of the documents.

Government transparency advocates praised the agency’s decision to post the records, which redact personal information, online.

“This is good news and a step in the right direction for openness in government,” said Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

– The Associated Press