City Begins Forums On Youth Violence

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and his administration begin a set of four meetings Saturday, Jan. 21, to address the problem of young violence.

The sessions, which will include elected and religious leaders, are billed as a “citywide peace forum” by the city’s Office of Youth Services.

The first of the four forums is Saturday at 10 a.m. at Greater New Liberty Missionary Baptist Church, 250 E. Raines Road.

The forum is for youth ages 14-21 to talk about violence and their communities and suggest solutions to the violence.

The other forums, all from 10 a.m. to noon, are:

• Jan. 28 at One Accord Ministries, 1708 Vera Cruz

• Feb. 4 at Union Grove Baptist Church, 2285 Frayser Blvd.

• Feb. 11 at Bloomfield Full Gospel Baptist Church, 123 South Parkway W.

The panelists include Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, District Attorney General Amy Weirich, Shelby County Schools chief of security services Gerald Darling, and city council members and Shelby County Schools board members representing those areas.

– Bill Dries

3 Parcels in Whitehaven Sell for $1.4 Million

Joe Poppenheimer Management LLC has sold three parcels of commercial property in the Whitehaven area to Mikes Properties LLC for $1.4 million, according to a Jan. 17 warranty deed filed with the Shelby County Register of Deeds.

The three parcels have physical addresses at 3647 Millbranch Road, 1715 Holmes Road and 1665 E. Raines Road.

Elizabeth P. Carol signed the deed as manager of Joe Poppenheimer Management LLC.

In conjunction with the purchase, Mikes Properties LLC signed a $1 million mortgage the same day with Planters Bank and Trust Co. of Southaven.

The loan, which is set to mature Jan, 13, 2032, was signed by Mohammad Aqraa.

The 3647 Millbranch location, which was built in 1977, is listed as a 20,400-square-foot Class C strip shopping center that sits on 1.7 acres of land, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.

The 1715 Holmes location is an 11,380-square-foot Class C strip shopping center built in 1972 on 0.9 acres, while 1665 E. Raines is a 9,600-square-foot building built in 1976 on roughly an acre.

All the properties were appraised as a combined $1.4 million in 2016.

– Patrick Lantrip

Pinnacle, The Works Inc. Partner for Homebuyers

Pinnacle Financial Partners and Memphis nonprofit The Works Inc. have teamed up to help low- and moderate-income consumers and families buy homes for the first time.

The bank is funding a loan pool of $500,000 intended to help with the purchase of low-cost homes that might otherwise go unoccupied.

The Works Inc. will originate the loans in the new program while Pinnacle services them. The nonprofit will also work with the applicants to provide credit counseling and serve as an ongoing resource for mortgage clients.

The loan pool will fund home loans below $50,000, typically the minimum amount for most mortgage lenders. Because of the low cost of those homes, many potential buyers find it difficult to secure loans despite having acceptable credit and the ability to pay.

The initial $500,000 investment is intended to serve as a pilot, with the potential for growth in the future depending on the success of the program.

– Andy Meek

Historic Downtown Church May Finally Rise from Ashes

More than 10 years after a fire ravaged First United Methodist Church, church officials are ready to move forward with the next phase of the rebuilding process.

The church, which sits on a half acre near Second Street and Poplar Avenue Downtown, filed a nearly $2.6 million building permit application with the city-county Office of Construction Code Enforcement to complete the building.

Chris Woods Construction Co. is listed as the contractor for the project.

Back in 2006, an early morning fire ripped through several Downtown buildings. Embers caught the historic church, which was first organized in 1826, on fire and destroyed it. Though no civilians or firefighters were injured, it took more than 150 firefighters over five hours to finally bring the fire under control.

In 2008, the church filed a $5 million building permit as a part of its rebuilding efforts. For several years after that, the steel-framed skeleton of the sanctuary has remained unfinished.

– Patrick Lantrip

Shelby County Road Projects on TDOT’s List

Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed IMPROVE Act would raise the state fuel tax and cut other state taxes to raise funds for a backlog of road and infrastructure projects across the state.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s project list contains 20 projects for Shelby County, work the state is committed to doing but has not funded. The Shelby County projects include:

• Thomas Street bridge: $6.6 million

• U.S. Highway 70 bridge over Clear Creek: $2.7 million

• Poplar Avenue bridge over Cypress Creek: $2.1 million

• Jackson Avenue bridge over Harrison Creek: $3.2 million

• Lamar Avenue bridge over ramps from I-240 and state Route 4: $3.35 million

• Thomas Street bridge over CNIC railroad: $3.57 million

• Lamar Avenue from Raines Road/Perkins Road interchange to Getwell Road: $81.4 million

• Lamar Avenue from Mississippi state line to south of Shelby Avenue: $42 million

• Austin Peay Highway from Paul Barrett Parkway to east of Kerrville-Rosemark Road: $20 million

• I-40 from Germantown Road to one mile east of Canada Road: $47 million

• I-40 from one mile east of Canada Road to Collierville-Arlington Road: $40 million

• Lamar Avenue from south of Shelby Drive to Raines/Perkins Road interchange: $125.3 million

• I-240 from I-55 to I-40 near midtown: $51 million

• Elvis Presley Boulevard from Craft Road to Shelby Drive: $15.5 million

• Summer Avenue from north of Sycamore View Road to north of Elmore Road: $35.4 million

• I-240 interchange at Airways Boulevard: $42 million

• Summer Avenue from I-40 to north of Sycamore View Road: $28.3 million

• State Route 385 expansion: $4 million

• I-269 expansion from I-40 to Mississippi state line: $9 million.

– Sam Stockard