WGC Sets Dates for Inaugural FedEx St. Jude Invitational

The inaugural WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational will be held July 25-28, 2019, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday, July 10. The tournament, which will take place at TPC Southwind, marks the first time a World Golf Championships event has been hosted in Memphis.

“Memphis has been supporting PGA Tour golf since 1958, and this elevated WGC platform will be monumental for our city,” said WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational executive director Darrell Smith. “The four days of competition will feature the best players in the world.”

The PGA Tour announced in April that Memphis’ FedEx St. Jude Classic would take on a new identity as the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational beginning with the 2018-19 tour season. FedEx has assumed title sponsorship of the event currently known as the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, which has been held in Akron, Ohio, since 1999.

The PGA Tour has held a tournament in Memphis every year since 1958, with Colonial Country Club playing host until the event moved permanently to TPC Southwind in 1989. FedEx became the title sponsor in 1986 and has supported the tournament ever since. During that time, the Memphis-based company has helped raise more than $38 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational will be one of four WGC events on the 2018-19 PGA Tour calendar sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours. The others are the Mexico Championship (Mexico City, Mexico), the Dell Technologies Match Play (Austin, Texas) and the HSBC Champions (Shanghai, China).

– Don Wade

Murphy Appointed New First Asst. US Attorney

Veteran federal prosecutor Joe Murphy is the new first assistant in the Memphis U.S. Attorney’s office, U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant announced Monday, July 9. He succeeds Larry Laurenzi, who retired in May to join the government enforcement and investigations group at Baker Donelson. Murphy comes to first assistant from being chief of the office’s criminal division and before that chief of the organized crime and drug enforcement task force.

Murphy has been a federal prosecutor for 29 years, trying an estimated 125 felony cases to verdict in federal court.

He is a graduate of Lambuth College and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

– Bill Dries

New Starbucks Opens Downtown

A new Starbucks located in the Downtown Memphis Residence Inn held its grand opening Monday, July 9.

Located at 110 Monroe Ave. on the corner of Monroe and Main Street, the new full-service Starbucks will operate out of the ground floor of the Residence Inn, which is a Marriott brand.

This will be Starbucks’ second full-service location in Downtown, as the company currently operates a store below the Westin Hotel on B.B. King Boulevard across from FedExForum.

– Patrick Lantrip

Youth Academy of Dreams Opening in Frayser

The Frayser community has a new innovative after-school program designed to help youth ages 5 to 18 reach their full potential through comprehensive programming that includes education, mentoring, discovery and sports.

Located at 3350 N. Trezevant St., the Youth Academy of Dreams is a collaborative intervention plan for success that maximizes student, family and community engagement to close the achievement gap and prevent juvenile crime. The public is invited to tour the new facility during an Open House and Fun Day Aug. 1 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Local dignitaries will be in attendance and entertainer iHeartMemphis, creator of the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Hit the Quan,” will make a special appearance. Light refreshments will be served.

Youth Academy of Dreams was created by Sgt. Craig Littles of the Memphis Police Department and has been 25 years in the making. Many in the Memphis community are familiar with Littles as the founder and head of the Memphis Bears youth sports teams since 1996 and most recently, Memphis Shelby PAL.

“I have always wanted a facility that allowed us to implement all of our programming after school and under one roof,” Littles said in a statement.

Youth Academy of Dreams seeks to create a fun learning environment that increases academic achievement, nurtures students’ talents and encourages them to dream. The students will have access to enrichment classes, a computer lab and a game room. Physical activity is a prime component of the academy, and students can participate in football, cheerleading, baseball, tennis, track and field, volleyball, soccer, basketball, golf or swimming.

Applications are being accepted for the after-school program. It will begin Monday, Aug. 6, and will operate Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Several businesses and organizations in the community provided monetary and volunteer assistance for renovations to the site. There is a room dedicated to each corporate partner that showcases its name and logo. They are Nike, Sherwin Williams, Sparco, Shelby County Schools, Memphis City Council, Shelby County Commission, Shelby County Government, Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Materials were provided by Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sherwin Williams.

For more information about Youth Academy of Dreams, call 901-295-8377 or email info@youthacademyofdreams.org. Parents who would like to register their child can do so at youthacademyofdreams.org.

– Don Wade

Summer Center Sells For $13 Million

A Kroger-anchored shopping center near the intersection of Summer Avenue and Waring Road has sold for $13 million.

FREP IV – Summer Center LLC, an entity affiliated with Tampa, Florida-based Forge Capital Partners, bought the 136,425-square-foot center from private Atlanta real estate firm BDB Summer Center LLC in a June 27 warranty deed.

Located on 12.7 acres at 4270 Summer Ave., Summer Center is 90 percent leased. Along with Kroger, the tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Hibbett Sports, H&R Block and Supercuts.

The Shelby County Assessor appraised the center at $13.2 million this year.

– Patrick Lantrip

Developers Buy Land Near FedEx HQ for Apartments

Texas-based Vantage Communities has closed on 22 acres of land near the FedEx World Headquarters for $1.7 million.

Vantage plans to build a 288-apartment luxury community dubbed Vantage at Germantown on the property located at the corner of Tournament Drive and Hacks Cross Road.

Lea Heilig, a multifamily investment specialist with Woodyard Realty Corp., represented the sellers, Clark & Clark, in the transaction.

Vantage is targeting a completion date in late 2019.

The Shelby County Assessor’s 2018 appraisal of the site was a little less than $900,000.

– Patrick Lantrip