Bartlett Shopping Center Sells for $1.4 Million

A Bartlett retail center has switched hands in a multimillion-dollar deal.

Robinwood Commercial Center, located at 6722 U.S. 70 in Bartlett, was purchased by California-based Kirama Investment Group for $1.4 million, according to paperwork filed with the Shelby County Register.

Gino Silvestri, acting as manager, signed the deed on behalf of the property’s previous owner, GSA Investments.

In conjunction with the purchase, Assefa Gebremichael with Kirama Investments took out a $740,000 mortgage with Bank of Holly Springs.

The 9,500-square-foot property, which houses a Hollywood Feed and We Sell Tools, was appraised for $1 million by the Shelby County Assessor in 2017.

– Patrick Lantrip

St. Jude Signs Agreement To Commercialize New Vaccine

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Serum Institute of India have signed a licensing agreement to complete the development and commercialization of a St. Jude vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus, a virus that causes serious lower respiratory infections.

The agreement gives Serum Institute of India the right to design and conduct clinical trials of the patented St. Jude vaccine, known as SeVRSV.

Infants are at particularly high risk for the infection and there are currently no approved vaccines.

RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory infections in infants, and researchers have estimated that worldwide, in a single year, as many as 34 million children younger than 5 years old may experience an acute lower respiratory infection caused by RSV. What’s more, about 10 percent of those children may require hospitalization.

– Andy Meek

Kansas Jayhawks Suspend Ex-Tiger Dedric Lawson

Former University of Memphis forward Dedric Lawson, who transferred to the University of Kansas, has been suspended and will not go with the team on its exhibition tour in Italy this week, the Kansas City Star has reported.

KU coach Bill Self made the announcement Sunday, July 30, and said Lawson’s suspension was related to a recent practice incident.

“An altercation occurred and he didn’t handle it well,” Self said. “That’s certainly the case with that. I made that decision (to suspend him).”

Lawson averaged 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds last season at Memphis. In the spring, Dedric and brother K.J. Lawson announced their intention to transfer to Kansas.

Self said Dedric was only suspended “temporarily,” adding, “Don’t get me wrong: He’s on the team. He’s in school. He’ll be here whenever school starts and all that. But he’s aware that he didn’t handle the situation well, so he’s been suspended for the trip.”

– Don Wade

Best in Black Awards Voting Wraps Up This Week

This week marks your last chance to vote in the Best In Black Awards, an annual awards program hosted by the New Tri-State Defender that spotlights outstanding local African-American businesses, community organizations, entrepreneurs and individuals.

This is the sixth year for the program, and this year’s theme is “24 Karat Magic, Celebrating the Magic in Our Community.” Each person can vote once per day through Aug. 4 at bestinblackawards.com. The awards winners will be announced Aug. 26 during the black-tie Best In Black Awards Gala, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Paradise Entertainment Complex, 645 E. Georgia Ave.

In conjunction with the gala, the Best In Black Awards will host an Aug. 24 event called “The Community Conversation: Co-Operative Economics Harvesting the $10 Billion Local African-American Buying Power.” It will feature a panel discussion with local and national economists and conscious consumerism experts, including Maggie Anderson.

In 2009, Anderson and her family spent a full year patronizing black-owned businesses as often as possible. She wrote a book about the experience, reporting that in some fields it was difficult to find black-owned businesses, and that African-Americans patronized businesses within their own ethnic group less than other ethnic groups.

During the discussion, at least three action items will be formulated for implementation to help further the reach and impact of the African-American dollar.

– Daily News staff

Orpheum Adds Four New Board Members

The Orpheum Theatre Group, the nonprofit organization that operates the historic Orpheum Theatre and the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education, has announced the addition of four new members to its board of directors: Dr. Noelle Chaddock, associate dean of academic affairs for diversity and inclusivity at Rhodes College; Terri Lee Freeman, president of the National Civil Rights Museum; Dr. Andrea Lewis Miller, president of LeMoyne-Owen College; and Brian Sullivan, principal/CEO of Sullivan Branding.

Robert Cox, shareholder at Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox PC began his term as chairman of the board in July. Current officers besides Cox include treasurer Bill Stegbauer and secretary Robert DelPriore.

Orpheum Theatre Group board members serve two-year terms and are eligible to serve three consecutive terms.

– Don Wade

Collierville-Arlington Bridge Repairs Come With Surprises

When the Tennessee Department of Transportation decided the time had come to replace 12 concrete slabs on the Collierville-Arlington Wolf River Bridge in July, they encountered some surprises.

The dozen concrete slabs were noted during a previous TDOT inspection of the top surface of the 85-foot-long bridge built in 1959 to create an overflow area for the Wolf River.

But once work crews in TDOT’s Bridge Repair Division removed those slabs they found more slabs that had to be replaced during what was to be a five-day closure of the bridge to all traffic approved by the town of Collierville and Shelby County government.

Forty of the 45 slabs on the bridge deck were replaced and other repairs were made including replacing the bridge rail and guardrail. The bridge was closed from July 10-17.

Meanwhile, TDOT has started long-term development of a replacement for the overflow area and the bridge.

– Bill Dries

MAA Sees Slight Bump In Second-Quarter Income

Memphis-based MAA posted net income of $47.7 million for the second quarter ended June 30, up from $45.1 million a year ago.

MAA chairman and CEO Eric Bolton attributed the results to the company’s diversified portfolio of properties balanced across different submarkets.

The results for this quarter also included $4.2 million of merger and integration costs related to the Post Properties merger.

According to the earnings report, MAA completed an expansion development project located in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a new apartment community development located in Houston, Texas, during the second quarter.

Currently, MAA has six development projects underway, including an expansion project in Charleston, South Carolina, that broke ground in the second quarter.

– Patrick Lantrip