'I Am A Man' March Moves Because of Rain

The city’s commemoration of the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 24, has been moved indoors because of the forecast of heavy rain.

The “I Am A Man” commemoration was to be a march from City Hall to Clayborn Temple.

Instead, the entire event will move to The Orpheum Theatre with a program that starts at 10 a.m.

The program will feature attorney and political commentator Angela Rye as well as singer Evvie McKinney, the Tennessee Mass Choir, Stax Music Academy Alumni Band and Al Kapone and the Royal Studio Band.

– Bill Dries

SCS Names Jennifer Ervin Interim Chief Legal Officer

Jennifer Ervin is the interim chief legal officer for Shelby County Schools, effective March 5.

The school system’s current chief legal officer and general counsel, Rodney Moore, is returning to private law practice in Atlanta after two years in the position.

Ervin has managed the school system’s legal and risk management departments and represented the district in lawsuits. She came to Memphis and SCS from the Atlanta office of Baker Donelson.

Ervin earned her law degree from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. She graduated magna cum laude from Clark University of Atlanta and is a graduate of White Station High School.

– Bill Dries

Tennessee Senate Passes Constitutional Tax Measure

A proposal by State Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) to amend the Tennessee Constitution to ban the Hall Income Tax passed the Senate by a vote of 26-3 on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Senate Joint Resolution 494 would amend Article II, Section 28 of Tennessee’s Constitution and eliminate state and local governments’ authority to levy a state or local tax on income derived from stocks and bonds that are not taxed ad valorem.

“The Hall Tax on interest and dividends discourages saving and investment and disproportionately impacts senior citizens on fixed incomes,” Kelsey said in a news release.

The Hall Income Tax was enacted in 1929 and has evolved over time. Today it is a 4 percent tax on income derived from stock dividends and interest earned on bonds. Legislation was approved last year to incrementally phase the tax out by January 2021. However, Kelsey’s proposed amendment would constitutionally prohibit the General Assembly from ever levying or permitting any state or local tax on income derived from stocks and bonds.

For a constitutional amendment to be approved, it must receive approval by a simple majority during the current 110th General Assembly, and by a two-thirds vote in the 111th General Assembly. It would then be placed on the ballot for consideration by voters during the 2022 gubernatorial election.

– Daily News staff

High Water Closes Big River Crossing

The Arkansas gate of the Big River Crossing will close Sunday, Feb. 25, because of anticipated high water that will close parts of the Big River Trail Friday.

The Mississippi River at Memphis is expected to crest next week, according to the National Weather Service.

The Memphis entrance of Big River Crossing will remain open during normal daily hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

– Bill Dries

Startup FrontDoor Rebrands as HelloHome

FrontDoor, a female-led, Memphis-based real estate technology startup, has rebranded as HelloHome.

The venture’s focus since 2015 has been on bringing transparency to the real estate business in part with a flat-fee model. While many related startups work to bypass or even replace real estate agents and sidestep the multiple listing service system, HelloHome partners with agents across the U.S., providing them with customers.

HelloHome also is building technology it believes will shape the way homes are bought and sold in the U.S.

HelloHome’s goal is to provide information to home sellers and buyers about their options at every stage of the transaction, which has traditionally been kept hidden by real estate agents and protects their bottom line.

The company also works to remove a lot of the manual work and hands-on nature of home-buying transactions by providing automation.

– Andy Meek

Gadbois Transportation Director for MMDC

The Memphis Medical District Collaborative has named Glenn Gadbois director of transportation and mobility.

Gadbois will serve as a consultant for the MMDC’s anchor institutions as they reimagine the ways their employees traverse to and around the Medical District.

“When we survey area employees, we discover that most people really would prefer using transit, carpooling, biking, walking, etc., instead of driving alone, but they don’t feel like they have choices that will work for them – they feel trapped into driving alone,” Gadbois said in a release. “We are bringing mobility choice back to the district.”

Prior to joining the MMDC, Gadbois headed up similar efforts in Austin, Texas, and the Legacy Business District of Plano, Texas, by fostering cooperation between the private and public sectors.

– Patrick Lantrip

Memphis Symphony Enters Midseason Programming

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s midseason programming begins Saturday, Feb. 24, and will feature pieces from the most renowned names in classical music.

The symphony will present the next installment of its Classic Accents series, titled “Beethoven Seven.”

Performances will be Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at Harris Concert Hall, University of Memphis, and Feb. 25, beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Germantown Performing Arts Center.

Each performance will be led by guest conductor Andres Cladera and will feature world renowned violinist Charles Yang, an American-born musician and graduate of Julliard who is known for his vocal abilities and the charismatic manner with which he plays both classical and electric violin. The concert will feature Picker’s “Opera Without Words,” Bernstein’s “Serenade for after Plato’s ‘Symposium,’” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Concert goers can celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the most popular contemporary composers, Leonard Bernstein, at the symphony’s “Bernstein at 100” concert. One of the highlights of the season, this Masterworks concert will feature live narration by Bernstein’s eldest daughter, Jamie Bernstein.

The concert will be conducted by music director Robert Moody, and will include choral performances by the Memphis Symphony Chorus and U of M Chorus, both directed by Dr. Lawrence Edwards.

Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3, “Kaddish,” will open the concert, followed by “Chichester Psalms” and “Simple Song” from Mass and feature local choir, Coro Rio, directed by Joelle Norris.

There will be two performances of this celebratory concert – 7:30 p.m. March 3 at the Cannon Center and 2:30 p.m. March 4 at GPAC.

Tickets to Beethoven Seven start at $15. Go to memphissymphony.org to purchase and for more information.

– Don Wade

Rhodes Top Producer Of 2017-18 Fulbright Students

Rhodes College is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2017-2018 Fulbright U.S. students, according to an announcement from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s prestigious international educational exchange program, and the full list of top-producing colleges and universities is highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Five from Rhodes— Jill Fredenburg, Michael McCanless, Olivia Muehlberger, Savannah Muir and Meaghan Waff – won Fulbright grants to serve as English teaching assistants for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants, chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. This is the second year in a row Rhodes has been recognized as a top producer.

– Andy Meek

3 Memphis Sites Included On US Civil Rights Trail

Clayborn Temple, Mason Temple Church of God in Christ and the National Civil Rights Museum are among 10 Tennessee sites included on a new U.S. civil rights trail.

Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Tennessee tourism commissioner Kevin Triplett announced the landmarks Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the National Civil Rights Museum.

Nashville is home to six stops on the trail: the Civil Rights Room at the Nashville Public Library; Clark Memorial United Methodist Church; the Davidson County Courthouse and Witness Walls; Woolworth on 5th, which was the site of several successful sit-ins; Fisk University; and Griggs Hall at American Baptist College. Also included is the Clinton 12 Statue at Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton, Tennessee, northwest of Knoxville. The monument honors the Clinton 12, the first African-American students to integrate a public high school in the South.

Haslam told those at the NCRM the sites “help us remember and encourage us to remember that the battle is not over.”

Alexander said the trail helps Americans “understand our struggle with race.”

“These struggles are not all ancient history,” he said.

Among those in the audience as Alexander spoke was Elmore Nickelberry, who was among the 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968.

Clayborn Temple, which is undergoing a renovation, was the strategic center of the 1968 strike. Mason Temple is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his final speech in support of sanitation workers the night before he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, which is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.

– Bill Dries

Adams Keegan Expands Into Northeastern US

Memphis-based Adams Keegan, a national managed human resources, payroll and benefits provider, is expanding into the Northeast United States, extending its footprint into New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The company announced the expansion Wednesday, Feb. 21, saying it comes after years of “continuous, nationwide growth,” including past expansions into Atlanta, Georgia, and Nashville. Adams Keegan, which already has clients in all 50 states, also said it saw an opportunity presented by “access to the considerable, HR-savvy business community in the Northeast.”

The expansion will be led by northeast region business development director Mike LeFeve. Prior to joining Adams Keegan, LaFeve served 22 years in the United States Air Force and retired as a lieutenant colonel after a career focused primarily in special operations aviation.

As business development director, LaFeve is tasked with expanding awareness of Adams Keegan in the New York City metro area and the Northeast as a whole, to develop new business and ultimately lead a regional client support team.

In December, Adams Keegan announced an expansion of its Nashville footprint.

In addition to growing its Tennessee-, Georgia- and New York-based offices, the company says it is considering similar markets with exceptional patterns of growth for new openings.

– Daily News staff

Carter Malone Opens Jackson, Miss., Office

The Carter Malone Group has expanded with the opening of a Jackson, Mississippi, office.

The Memphis-based public relations firm, founded 15 years ago, announced the expansion Wednesday, Feb. 21.

The firm will work in Jackson with current clients as well as sign new ones. Carter Malone works in public relations, marketing, advertising and government relations with local clients as well as those in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

– Bill Dries

DMC Hires Springer As Chief Financial Officer

Former CBRE executive Penelope Springer has been hired as the new chief financial officer for the Downtown Memphis Commission. She replaces former CFO Jennifer Oswalt, who became the DMC’s interim president and CEO last July and was retained on a permanent basis in November.

Springer, a longtime Memphian and University of Mississippi graduate, will officially join the DMC on Thursday, Feb. 22. She previously served as controller and chief financial officer for CBRE Memphis, as well as business operations manager for CBRE Inc.’s Southeast Division.

In addition to her new role as CFO, Springer will also serve as the vice president of administration, where she will oversee the Downtown Memphis Commission’s finances and manage HR and benefits for its 40 employees.

“I am really encouraged by the growth and momentum in our core city right now and I can’t wait to be a part of the team developing Downtown for the betterment of our entire region,” Springer said in a release.

– Patrick Lantrip

Fire Station Shuffle Outlined for City Council

Memphis City Council members heard plans in Tuesday, Feb. 20, committee sessions from Memphis Fire Director Gina Sweat to close the city fire station on the northwest corner of Union Avenue and Front Street and build a new station on the northeast corner of Danny Thomas Boulevard and Adams Avenue.

The new station would be on an open lot fronting Danny Thomas, next to the fire maintenance shop on Adams.

The fire station at Front and Union, which also houses fire services’ headquarters, and an adjacent parking garage occupy the site planned for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s new location.

The council will vote at its March 6 meeting on $470,000 to buy the land at Adams and Danny Thomas.

The administration is also proposing the closure of Fire Station No. 1, located at 211 Jackson Ave. near St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Fire Station No. 6, at 924 Thomas. They would be replaced with a new fire station in the area of Chelsea Avenue and Fifth Street that would cover the same area.

The city would sell the Jackson property to St. Jude as part of its campus expansion. The hospital has already provided a letter of intent to the city for the purchase.

The council also votes March 6 on the city condemning land at 1287 E. Holmes Road in Whitehaven as the site of a new Fire Station No. 43 and paying the owner $38,500. The existing station at 1253 E. Holmes would be part of the site for the new structure, which would replace the building the city took over from Shelby County when it annexed Whitehaven in the late 1960s.

In planning and development items, the council approved an infill development Apple Partners LLC proposed for Cooper-Young. The plan calls for 10 residential lots on a half-acre at Elzey Avenue and Tanglewood Street.

The council also set March 6 for a public hearing and vote on Gill Properties’ The Grove at White Station commercial planned development on White Station Road north of Poplar Avenue.

– Bill Dries

FedEx to Award $120K In Small-Biz Grant Contest

Memphis-based FedEx Corp. has launched the sixth annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest, which recognizes passionate and innovative small businesses from across the country who aspire to take their businesses to the next level.

This year, the contest offers a prize pool of $120,500 to 10 U.S.-based small businesses, including a credit for print and business services from FedEx Office.

The grand prize winner will receive $25,000, plus $7,500 in FedEx Office print and business services; the silver prize winner will get $15,000, plus $5,000 in FedEx Office services; and eight bronze prize winners will each receive $7,500, plus $1,000 in FedEx Office services.

“More than 17,000 small businesses have shared their unique stories and dreams of success with us since we launched our first contest in 2012,” Scott Harkins, senior vice president, customer channel marketing at FedEx, said in a statement.

The 2017 contest attracted candidates from all 50 states and brought in more than 1.4 million votes. Grand Prize winner Sword & Plough, a small business co-founded by sisters Emily Núñez Cavness and Betsy Núñez that works with American manufacturers who employ veterans to transform military surplus into fashionable, functional bags and accessories.

The 2018 contest is open to U.S.-based for-profit small businesses that have fewer than 99 employees and have been operating for six months or more.

Businesses can visit fedex.com/grantcontest for details on how to enter by the March 28 deadline.

– Daily News staff

Stanley Bar-B-Que Closes In Overton Square

About a month after saying he hoped to keep his Overton Square barbecue restaurant open even though the business had filed for bankruptcy, Stanley Bar-B-Que co-owner David Walker said the eatery has shut its doors for good.

He confirmed to The Daily News the closure already has happened, and in a Facebook post Tuesday, Feb. 20, he noted that the team “gave it all we had.”

“Thank you to our amazing regulars and our staff family, most who were here till the very end,” he wrote in the post. “Without you guys, it wouldn’t have lasted this long. Wish we could have convinced more to try us but didn’t have those marketing dollars to spend. After today, I will be going off this social media thing for a while. True friends know how to reach me. Let’s hang out.”

Walker, who studied at the International Culinary Center and who co-owned the restaurant with his mother and majority owner, Martha, had told The Daily News the business would restructure in the hope that it could continue to produce its style of barbecue dishes.

Schweinehaus LLC, his ownership group that started the establishment as a German restaurant before converting to barbecue fare, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early January. According to the bankruptcy filing, the business has almost $297,000 in debts and a little more than $119,000 in assets.

The restaurant’s revenue has been on a decline since opening, according to the bankruptcy filing. It slipped from almost $1.4 million in 2015 to almost $1.2 million in 2016 and to about $764,000 last year.

The restaurant opened in 2014 at 2110 Madison Ave. as Schweinehaus in the space formerly occupied by Paulette’s. The German-themed eatery featured servers wearing traditional German garb and the kind of handmade wood tables found in many German beer halls.

– Andy Meek

News of SEC Subpoenas Sink Ubiquiti's Shares

Shares of Ubiquiti Networks Inc. were crumbling Tuesday, Feb. 20, on word the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into accounting practices and other aspects of its business.

Shares were recovering some, but had been down 33 percent for the day and were trading 25.5 percent lower at $55.18 per share around 2 p.m. Central time.

New York-based Ubiquiti is a wireless communications technology company owned by Robert Pera, controlling owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.

In an 8-K filing dated Tuesday, Feb. 20, Ubiquiti acknowledged that the SEC issued subpoenas to the company and some of its officers on Feb. 13, requesting documents and information relating to a range of topics. Those include “metrics relating to the Ubiquiti Community, accounting practices, financial information, auditors, international trade practices, and relationships with distributors and various other third parties,” according to the filing.

The company said it is responding to the requests and intends to cooperate fully with the SEC.

– Daily News staff

ServiceMaster Names Head Of Terminix Commercial

As ServiceMaster workers begin moving into their new Downtown headquarters, the Memphis-based residential and commercial services company has named Kelly Kambs as the new president of its Terminix Commercial pest control and termite business.

In her new role, Kambs has full responsibility for profits at Terminix Commercial.

Kambs, who comes to ServiceMaster from being senior vice president of CPG Building Materials in Chicago, will report directly to ServiceMaster CEO Nik Varty.

“Placing dedicated resources into commercial allows us to focus on national accounts and local business owners’ unique needs,” Varty said in a written statement, “offering us more opportunities to attract and retain customers.”

Varty has made a turnaround of the Terminix business a priority since he became CEO last summer. At the time, he also announced a spinoff of ServiceMaster’s American Home Shield business.

– Bill Dries

Clean-Up Contractor Indicted for Littering

The owner of a business that has contracts with city and county governments to clean up blighted properties has been indicted on aggravated littering charges.

The indictment of Vontyna Durham – the owner of Durham Housing Services, a former city code enforcement employee and an independent candidate in the upcoming Shelby County Commission election – was announced Tuesday, Feb. 20, by District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

The grand jury indictment accuses Durham of two counts of aggravated criminal littering, felony vandalism and violation of the solid waste disposal act.

The aggravated criminal littering charge is used in cases where illegal dumping for commercial purposes is the offense.

Durham is specifically accused of dumping truckloads of tires, debris and garbage last year on the side of the 1600 block of Grimes Street in South Memphis and down an embankment onto Illinois Central railroad property.

Prosecutors say Durham was reported by witnesses and identified by surveillance photos.

The cost of the clean up was $3,340.

Durham has filed with the Shelby County Election Commission to run as an independent on the August ballot for Shelby County Commission District 10.

– Bill Dries

EdR Reports Higher Income For Q4, Full Year 2017

EdR, a Memphis-based real estate investment trust focused on owning and developing collegiate housing, wrapped up 2017 on a positive note, posting higher earnings for both the fourth quarter and full year.

The company on Tuesday, Feb. 20, reported fourth-quarter net income of $25.4 million, or 32 cents per diluted share, up 80 percent from $14.1 million, or 19 cents per share, in fourth-quarter 2016.

Net income for full year 2017 was $47.4 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with $44.9 million, or 65 cents per share, in 2016.

The company said the increase primarily was related to an increase in net operating income across its communities, offset by a reduction in gain on the sale of some of its collegiate housing assets.

Among its highlights for 2017, the company said it grew its assets by 16 percent through new developments and acquisitions.

The new developments – located at the University of Kentucky, Boise State University, Michigan State University, Texas State University and Northern Michigan University – totaled 3,318 beds and cost $281 million.

The acquisitions, meanwhile, included collegiate housing communities at Oregon State University and Auburn University for a total purchase price of $128 million.

Looking ahead, the company says its 2018 and 2019 development pipeline includes 12 developments totaling 7,464 beds and a total project cost of around $900 million.

EdR said it anticipates selling six to seven communities in 2018, as previously announced, and that it expects proceeds to total between $150 million and $225 million.

The company anticipates the majority of the sales will close around the end of the first quarter, with the remainder in the third quarter.

– Patrick Lantrip

New Restaurant Opening In Saddle Creek March 10

North Carolina-based Rise Biscuits, Donuts & Righteous Chicken is bringing its concept featuring both sweet and savory breakfast and lunch options to the Shops at Saddle Creek in Germantown on March 10.

To celebrate the opening of its first Tennessee location at 7535 Poplar Ave., Rise Germantown will donate 10 percent of opening day sales to Riverdale Elementary School PTO. Rise Germantown also is offering Facebook followers the opportunity to try free biscuits and donuts in a special preview event at the store. For details, go to facebook.com/RiseSaddleCreek.

Rise Germantown will have a soft opening on March 7.

– Andy Meek

Airport Adds Online Process For Business Contracts

The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority has launched a new online certification process for businesses to apply for and renew Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification.

The new electronic system is more convenient and effective, the airport says, for completing such applications by both new applicants and those renewing their certification. The automated system will also send renewal reminders 90 days before the due date.

The new online process is one of several options available at the MSCAA Online Vendor Resource Center.

“Our new online DBE certification process is part of MSCAA’s ongoing effort to increase opportunities for minority-owned, woman-owned, and local small businesses,” Scott Brockman, MSCAA president and CEO, said in a release.

The MSCAA Business Diversity Development Department assists businesses by providing certification, education, training and outreach services.

The department also establishes goals for minority participation for MSCAA contracts.

Visit flymemphis.com/disadvantaged-business-enterprise-program or email certification@flymemphis.com for more information about the airport’s DBE program.

The diversity development department’s annual report for 2017 can be found at the same site.

– Daily News staff

Graceland Lawsuit Against Grizz Dismissed

Graceland’s legal challenge of the noncompete agreement between the city and the Memphis Grizzlies was dismissed Thursday, Feb. 15, by Chancellor Jim Kyle.

Kyle ruled that Graceland, in effect, didn’t have a case because the noncompete agreement doesn’t involve Graceland directly. It is an agreement between city and county governments and Memphis Basketball LLC, the ownership group of the Grizzlies, which also runs FedExForum.

The agreement is that Memphis Basketball runs FedExForum, including absorbing any red ink in the operation in exchange for what is effectively veto power over any local government-financed indoor venue of more than 5,000 seats.

Graceland announced in August that it intended to build a $50 million, 5,000- to 6,000-seat venue on its Whitehaven campus to open in 2019.

Joel Weinshanker, the managing partner of Graceland Holdings LLC, said the event center was not meant to compete with FedExForum and he was talking with city officials about taking an application for a tax abatement to the Economic Development Growth Engine in September.

All of that stopped when Graceland withdrew the project at the EDGE board meeting, citing opposition from the Grizzlies.

Graceland’s attorneys said their own legal opinion was that the project didn’t violate the noncompete. But they still put the project on hold hoping some kind of agreement could be reached, including changes to the event center plans.

The lawsuit, filed by EPE in November, alleged that city and county governments stopped talks with Graceland on the project as well. The lawsuit named the city, the county and Memphis Basketball as defendants.

The argument was that the noncompete was interfering with Graceland’s project. Graceland’s position is that it can’t pursue tax breaks from EDGE without some kind of declaration on the noncompete in their favor.

The city’s position initially was that there was nothing to stop Graceland from going ahead with the event center without local government funding.

That was the position Kyle took in denying the declaratory judgment Graceland sought to proceed with the project.

Elvis Presley Enterprises could appeal Thursday’s ruling.

– Bill Dries

First Horizon Announces Employee Raises

A little more than a month after the parent company of First Tennessee Bank distributed one-time $1,000 bonuses to employees, the company is rolling out another employee perk.

Memphis-based First Horizon National Corp. is bumping up the minimum pay level of employees to $15 an hour, part of its continued re-investment of savings stemming from the recent federal tax legislation.

The total cost to the company is about $6 million, which is in addition to the $1,000 bonuses and a recent $16.5 million contribution to the First Tennessee Foundation.

The company late in 2017 announced the one-time cash bonuses to 70 percent of its workforce, which stands at nearly 6,000 following its recent merger with Capital Bank.

The company employs more than 4,100 across Tennessee.

The pay increases were for employees who were not already at or above the $15-an-hour level.

That includes a little less than 200 employees in Memphis.

“First Horizon’s continued strong results are driven by the individual and collective efforts of all our employees,” Bryan Jordan, First Horizon’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement about the raises. “As a result of the recent tax reform, First Tennessee invested a portion of the tax savings back into our people and our communities to strengthen our business.”

The reinvestment also follows First Horizon’s merger with Capital Bank, which closed on Nov. 30.

The merger created the fourth largest regional bank in the Southeast, with about $41 billion in assets, $31 billion in deposits, $28 billion in loans and nearly 350 branches in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas and Virginia.

– Andy Meek

Four Memphis Companies Make Fortune 100 List

Fortune magazine has named St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and three other Memphis-based companies to the “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.

The annual list distinguishes companies with exceptional workplace cultures that foster employee engagement and trust. Employee opinion surveys determine each company’s ranking.

St. Jude, which makes the list for the eighth consecutive year, was ranked No. 57 on the Fortune Top 100 list, the highest finish for any Memphis-based organization.

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare was ranked No. 91, FedEx Corp. came in at No. 94 and Baker Donelson law firm ranked No. 96, making the list a ninth consecutive time.

– Daily News staff

LEO Events Preparing For New Headquarters

LEO Events has filled a building permit application with the Office of Construction Code Enforcement to begin work on its new Medical District headquarters.

The $1.7 million tenant buildout application lists Metro Construction as the general contractor.

In January, LEO Events was given approval by the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. to purchase two parcels of the Bakery Development, located at 407 and 411 Monroe Ave., from the project’s developers, PKG Properties.

Since the CCRFC approved a 20-year tax incentive to help offset construction costs for PKG Properties in August, LEO had to seek a partial assignment from the board, an affiliate entity of the Downtown Memphis Commission.

In total, the $73 million mixed-used Bakery Development project will consist of 86 upscale multifamily units, a 480-space parking garage and 150,000 square feet of office and retail space spread out across five parcels centered on the former Wonder Bread factory on Monroe Avenue just east of Danny Thomas Boulevard.

– Patrick Lantrip