Former Marriott Hotel Sells for $5.1 Million

An East Memphis hotel has been sold for $5.1 million.

JPMCC 2007 CIBC19 Lodging 2625 LLC sold The Hotel Memphis at 2625 Thousand Oaks Blvd., near Perkins Road and Interstate 240, to Jubilee Hotels Group LLC, according to an Oct. 29 warranty deed.

The purchase was financed with a $7.5 million loan through Texas Capital Bank NA, according to a deed of trust filed the same day. Abdul Aziz Rupani of Dallas is listed as the manager of Jubilee Hotels Group.

JPMCC 2007-CIBC19 Lodging 2625 LLC, an affiliate of Miami Beach, Fla.-based special servicer LNR Partners LLC, bought the former Memphis Marriott out of foreclosure in 2013 for $12.4 million after its previous owner, Kentucky-based CP Memphis Properties LLC, defaulted on a $38 million loan.

The 320-room, 218,000-square-foot hotel was built in 1987 and is situated on about 10 acres on the west side of Thousand Oaks north of Showcase Boulevard. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2014 appraisal is $13.4 million.

The hotel sold for $15.3 million in 2004 to NSHE Paris LLC, an entity that merged with CP Memphis Properties the next year. CP took out the $38 million loan through CIBC Inc. in April 2007.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
– Amos Maki

Justin Timberlake Group Sells Golf Course

Entertainer Justin Timberlake and his family have sold the Mirimichi golf course in Millington. The course’s ownership group, Mirimichi LLC, sold the property at 6195 Woodstock Cuba Road to Three Star Leasing LLC for $500,000, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds’ website. A copy of the deed was not available online by press time.

Memphis businessman Fred Edmaiston, CEO of Aircon Corp., is a principal of Three Star Leasing, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office. Aircon is a manufacturer of airlocks, filter units, baghouses, cyclones, fans, blowers, ductwork and steel fabrication

The 300-acre Mirimichi course includes a 26,551-square-foot clubhouse built in 2010. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2014 appraisal is $7.5 million.

Timberlake, a minority owner in the Memphis Grizzlies, purchased Mirimichi in 2009 and oversaw a major renovation of the golf course.

– Daily News staff

Holiday Cards to Benefit Overton Park

To celebrate and benefit Overton Park in Midtown, Overton Park Conservancy is offering four exclusive holiday card designs with illustrations of some of the park’s signature spaces.

Designs feature the Overton Bark dog park, the Bike Gate plaza, the Greensward, and the Old Forest trails. Illustrated by 2014 Memphis College of Art graduate Iryna Kurylo, each card depicts the park as a winter wonderland.

Proceeds from every card purchased benefit the Conservancy’s work to maintain and enhance the park, including landscaping, grass cutting, trash removal, repairs and management of the Old Forest.

Each 5-by-7-inch folded card is blank inside, with a message on the back letting recipients know that the sender has made a donation to Overton Park Conservancy in their honor.

Cards may be purchased in packs of 10 per design, and each card comes with a blank white envelope. Packs are $20 each, with a flat $6 shipping and handling rate for the entire order. Cards will be mailed in late November and can be purchased at overtonpark.org/holidays or by calling 214-5450.

– Don Wade

Central Defense Security Promotes 2 Employees

Central Defense Security has promoted two employees to area managers.

Marion Malone previously served as an armed officer and Kim Perry had been a site supervisor at one of CDS' client accounts.

In their new roles for CDS, which is a leading provider of business, retail and warehouse security, Malone and Perry will mostly be responsible for managing their respective accounts throughout the area. They'll also be charged with ensuring job performance from officers at several different posts.

– Andy Meek

Tennessee Board of Education Names Heyburn Director

Sara Heyburn, the assistant state commissioner of education, becomes the new executive director of the Tennessee State Board of Education with the new year.

Heyburn’s selection by the board was announced Monday, Nov. 3.

She succeeds Gary Nixon, who is retiring at the end of 2014.

Heyburn has been assistant commissioner for teachers and leaders since 2011, overseeing the state’s work in the effectiveness of teachers, principals and other schools administrators.

Before the state post, she was a policy analyst at Vanderbilt University’s National Center on Performance Incentives.

She began her career as a high school English teacher in Kentucky and Tennessee.

– Bill Dries

Veterans Town Hall Set for Memphis

A town hall meeting for veterans and their families is set to be held in Memphis in November.

The Memphis VA Medical Center Executive Leadership Team is hosting the meeting Nov. 17 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the conference center at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar Ave.

Veterans and their families, congressional office representatives, representatives from veteran service organizations and community partners are invited to attend.

Information regarding VA health care access and benefits will be provided. VA officials will use this meeting and future sessions as an opportunity to hear from veterans.

Representatives from the Nashville VA Regional Office will be in attendance to provide information on benefits and offer claims assistance.

– The Associated Press

Tennessee Ranked Top State for Foreign Investment

Tennessee has been ranked the top state in the nation for foreign direct investment job commitments in 2013.

That's according to the recently released 2014 Global Location Trends report.

The annual report from the IBM Institute for Business Value measured the number of jobs created by foreign-owned companies in each state during the 2013 calendar year. Following Tennessee in the rankings were Texas, Georgia and Ohio.

Tennessee is home to 864 foreign-based establishments that have invested over $30 billion in capital and employ more than 116,000 Tennesseans.

The state's top 10 countries for FDI include Japan, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Belgium.

– The Associated Press

Analyst Expects $89 Billion in Online Holiday Sales

This year more Americans than ever are expected to make their lists, check them twice, and then click the "add to cart" button.

Forrester Research said Monday that it expects U.S. consumers to spend $89 billion by Christmas. That's up 13 percent, or about $10 billion, from a year ago.

Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said she thinks online shopping will make up 14 percent of total retail spending over that period. She estimated that 3.4 million Americans will try holiday shopping online for the first time this year.

Mulpuru said her estimate would be higher if Thanksgiving were occurring earlier. The holiday always falls between Nov. 22 and 28, and it will be on Nov. 27 this year. That means the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas is shorter than in most years. In 2013, Thanksgiving was on Nov. 28.

Mulpuru said shipping networks could suffer from delays again because of the high volume of online sales. In 2013 UPS and FedEx both reported delays because of overloaded systems, poor weather and the shortened holiday period.

– The Associated Press

US Construction Spending Down for Second Month

U.S. construction spending fell for a second straight month in September as a slight rebound in housing was offset by further declines in nonresidential building and in government projects.

Construction spending dropped 0.4 percent in September compared to August when spending fell 0.5 percent, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

After four straight monthly declines, housing construction edged up 0.4 percent in September but nonresidential building fell 0.6 percent with weakness in construction of hospitals, power plants and factories. Government construction was also down, falling 1.3 percent as spending on projects at the federal and state and local levels declined.

The overall declines in the past two months were disappointing, but economists say the weakness will be temporary. They are looking for construction activity to support economic growth in coming months.

The September drop pushed construction spending down to $950.9 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, still a modest 2.9 percent higher than the level a year ago.

– The Associated Press