U of M Files $33.5M Permit for Land Bridge

The University of Memphis has filed a $33.5 million building permit application with the Office of Construction Code Enforcement to move forward with a parking garage and a long-awaited land bridge over the Southern Avenue railroad track.

Finalized plans for the project were announced at the university’s board of trustees meeting early this month, along with a revised plan for the new recreation center, now pegged to cost $30 million.

In February, university president David Rudd sent an email stating that the increase in student fees to pay for the new rec center didn’t generate as much revenue as expected and that the project will be delayed 18 months. Costs for the project at one point grew to $60 million, while student fees only generated $15 million.

However, it was announced at the time that plans for the five-story parking garage and land bridge were still moving forward.

– Patrick Lantrip

Memphis Hustle Single-Game Tickets on Sale Oct. 21

The Memphis Hustle, the NBA G League affiliate of the Memphis Grizzlies, will begin selling single-game tickets for the inaugural 2017-18 season Saturday, Oct. 21, at noon. In addition, a presale will be available for Memphis Grizzlies MVPs and Memphis Hustle season-ticket members beginning Friday, Oct. 20, at 10 a.m.

Single-game tickets start at $10 and will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com, the Landers Center box office or by calling 800-745-3000 (Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone) or 901-888-HOOP.

The Hustle will play 16 of their 24 home games on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, including the first nine home games in franchise history. The home opener against the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat) is Saturday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. The following day, the Hustle face the Salt Lake City Stars (Utah Jazz) with tipoff slated for 5 p.m.

Following opening weekend, the Hustle will give fans the opportunity to support military troops when the team hosts Military Night, presented by Belhaven University, on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. against the defending Western Conference champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The Hustle will sport military-themed jerseys on the court, which will be auctioned off to benefit the State Guard Association of Mississippi.

For more information on the Memphis Hustle, visit memphishustle.com, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram (@MemphisHustle) or like Memphis Hustle on Facebook.

– Don Wade

Council Approves Homes On Emmanuel Methodist Land

Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, Oct. 17, a 21-lot single family residential planned development by Kircher-Uhlhorn Development LLC at 6610 Messick Road on part of the Emmanuel United Methodist Church property.

The council approved an allocation of $4.4 million in federal Choice Neighborhoods grant money for capital improvement projects in the South City redevelopment area, which includes the former Foote Homes and Cleaborn Homes public housing developments. Another $700,000 in city capital funding was approved and moved into place for a renovation of L.E. Brown Park in the Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing development on the site of Cleaborn Homes.

And the council approved $498,800 in federal grant funding toward studying and planning for a roundabout at or near the intersection of West Georgia Avenue and Riverside Drive.

– Bill Dries

I Love Juice Bar To Open Third Location

Local smoothie spot I Love Juice Bar will open a third location inside Tennessee Brewery’s Bottle Shop when the development opens next spring.

Located at 500 Tennessee St., suite 166, I Love Juice Bar’s 867-square-foot Downtown store will offer indoor and outdoor seating, as well as grab-and-go options.

“Whenever we pick a new I Love Juice Bar location, it’s really important that we feel a synergy with the neighborhood, Scott Tashie, owner of I Love Juice Bar and City Silo Table + Pantry in East Memphis, said in a release. “We aren’t just opening a restaurant; we are creating a new community space for neighbors to meet, connect and enjoy our city.”

In addition to the Downtown location, I Love Juice Bar also operates stores in Midtown and Crosstown.

“The I Love Juice Bar concept of convenient, delicious and healthy food is exactly what our future tenants and neighbors want,” said Benjamin Orgel of Slovis and Associates.

– Patrick Lantrip

Skincare Store to Open In Trinity Shopping Center

Third-generation soap maker Carol Cook-Scobey will open her first brick-and-mortar Essentially Divine Natural Skincare store in Cordova’s Trinity Creek Shopping Center, 7865 Trinity Road, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 4:30 p.m.

Cook-Scobey began handcrafting soaps and lotions with the help of her mother and grandmother by the age of 10, and decided to turn her passion for botany and soap-making into a full-time business after raising her children.

She started Essentially Divine Natural Skincare after she noticed many of the female soldiers stationed on her husband’s base lacked basic personal care products. After becoming a hit with military families across the country, Cook-Scobey eventually felt the need to open a physical location to help keep up with demand.

Keeping with her military roots, 10 percent of every Essentially Divine purchase benefits the Military Dependents Scholarship Fund and Wounded Warrior Fund.

Trinity Creek owner Loeb Properties Inc. was represented by Aaron Petree in the lease.

– Patrick Lantrip

Breakthrough Eye Surgery Patient Rehabbed in Memphis

The first patient in the United States to receive an implanted miniature telescope following cataract surgery will receive rehabilitation from an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Health Professions.

Low-vision rehabilitation and occupational therapist Orli Weisser-Pike has specialized in low-vision rehabilitation for 14 years. She was identified by CentraSight, a treatment program that specializes in treating age-related central vision loss or macular degeneration, as the only low-vision rehabilitation therapist in the area.

The implanted miniature telescope creates a condition where each eye receives a different version of the same image and the client has to learn to use each eye for different tasks. The image in the eye with the IMT is magnified but dimmer and is used for detailed tasks such as reading. The other eye is used for mobility and scanning the environment.

Weisser-Pike’s rehabilitation plan entails teaching the client to distinguish between the two types of vision and learning which eye to use depending on the task.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Subba Gollamudi of the Eye Specialty Group in Memphis.

– Andy Meek