597 Beale St., Memphis, TN 38103: Gannett Co. Inc., The Commercial Appeal’s parent company, has sold 5 acres adjacent to the CA’s 495 Union Ave. location to a New York-based investment company that specializes in acquiring underperforming and underutilized locations from legacy newspapers.

Sale Amount: $1 million

Sale Date: April 17, 2018

Buyer: Twenty Lakes Holdings

Seller: Memphis Publishing Co.

Details: Twenty Lakes Holdings, doing business as 597 Beale Street LLC, purchased the parking lot behind the CA building for $1 million, according to a Tuesday, April 17, warranty deed.

The parcel the newspaper building sits on was not included in the sale, but sources close to the transaction said they expect Twenty Lakes Holdings’ purchase of the building to be finalized soon.

Twenty Lakes’ portfolio includes more than 180 properties encompassing 2.3 million square feet in 29 states, according to its website.

Its investment arm targets “opportunistic returns through a focus on legacy newspaper properties, surplus corporate real estate and high yielding transitional real estate backed by companies with investment grade and non-investment grade credit,” the website says.

Twenty Lakes recently acquired a handful of other Gannett-owned newspaper properties, including the Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press building, the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Patriot-News building, the Now Media Group building in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and the Ventura County Star building in Camarillo, California.

6070 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38119:

Lease Amount: 10,824 square feet

Tenant: CBRE

Tenant’s Agent: Kevin Adams, CBRE

Landlord: Highwoods Properties Inc.

Details: Real estate brokerage firm CBRE announced it will be moving its offices as part of a companywide Workplace360 initiative.

CBRE will occupy 10,824 square feet in the Triad Centre III building located at 6070 Poplar Ave., which is almost half of its current 20,000-square-foot space at 2620 Thousand Oaks Blvd.

“Since moving into our existing space 10 years ago, advances in technology have resulted in a different, more mobile way of working,” Frank Quinn, managing director of CBRE’s Memphis business, said in a release. “Our new office will feature amenities that enable employees to truly embrace technology and collaborate more effectively. It will also demonstrate a new way of working to our clients and the Memphis business community.”

CBRE’s Kevin Adams represented the firm in the deal.

According to CBRE, its Workplace360 strategy is designed to promote flexibility, mobility and productivity through technology-enabled, 100 percent-free address and paperless offices.

Memphis will join approximately 60 other CBRE offices worldwide in transitioning to the Workplace360 model.

“From productivity and wellness, to engagement and recruitment, the workplace directly contributes to business results,” said Cicily Scharlach, program manager for CBRE’s Workplace360 initiative. “Better business performance begins with better workplace performance, and at CBRE, we practice what we preach. We will engage employees by forming committees focused on delivering an environment that supports the way they work in terms of flexibility and mobility, and the experience they want to have when they come to the office every day.”

4339 Park Ave.
Memphis, TN 38117

Permit Amount: $2.1 million

Project Cost: $2.5 million

Application Date: April 13

Completion: Spring 2018

Owner: Dixon Gallery and Gardens

Architect: Brady Moore

Contractor: Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc.

Details: Dixon Gallery and Gardens will break ground on construction of a new education building later this spring.

The 6,000-square-foot building is being built with a $2.5 million gift from Liz and Tommy Farnsworth. It is one of the largest contributions in the history of the fine art museum and public garden at 4339 Park Ave.

The new education building, named in honor of the Farnsworths, will have indoor and outdoor classrooms, a permanent interactive gallery, storage rooms and office space for the Dixon staff. It will include a bus drop off area for school groups, and the public will access the structure through the museum.

The education building will be surrounded by interactive learning gardens.

On Friday, April 13, the Dixon filed a $2.1 million building permit application with the Office of Construction Code Enforcement to construct a new addition to the historic property.

The building is being designed by architect Brady Moore to be compatible with the Neo-Georgian architecture of the original building. The general contractor is Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc.

Dixon officials plan to break ground later this month or in May, with an opening date in early spring 2019. The building will be the first museum expansion since 1985.

3854 District Drive
Germantown, TN 38138

Permit Amount: $9.6 million

Owner: Thompson Thrift Development

Tenant: Watermark at Forest Hill Heights

Architect: Humphreys & Partners Architects

Engineer: Integrity Structural Corp.

Details: Thompson Thrift Development has filed $9.6 million building permit application with construction code enforcement officials to move ahead with a Germantown multifamily project.

Known as the Watermark at Forest Hill Heights, the 310-unit complex is slated for a 17.7-acre site on the north side of Crestwyn Hill Drive east of Tyndale Drive.

In total, eight permits totaling $9.6 million were filed for two- and three-story multifamily buildings at various addresses.

The applications list Humphreys & Partners Architects of Dallas, Texas, as the architect and Integrity Structural Corp. as the engineer. No contractor was listed.

Thompson Thrift’s final site plan for the Watermark at Forest Hill Heights was approved by Germantown Planning Commission on Nov. 7.