Author: jmuir

Vital at Springbrook Farm Development Coming

Posted on June 9, 2021 by - Uncategorized

NAI Koella | RM Moore announced today that, Vital at Springbrook Farm (“Vital”), a new Class A, resort-style multifamily project is expected to break ground in the fourth quarter within Springbrook Farm, a large mixed-use development in Alcoa, Tennessee. Vital will feature 300 luxury apartment units and will be located on the corners of Tesla and Centennial Boulevards. The developer is a joint venture formed by Bluedog Capital Partners (“Bluedog”) and StoneRiver Company (“StoneRiver”). JDavis, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the architect, and C2RL, Inc., located in Alcoa, is the civil engineer. The team anticipates the project to be completed by the end of 2022.

RESIGHT as Airport Center Development Partners, the master developers of Springbrook Farm, started working on the old Alcoa West Plant in 2007 with visions of creating a mixed-use lifestyle development including retail, restaurants and a residential component. With the help of the City of Alcoa, C2RL, Inc., Ensafe and Geoservices, LLC, RESIGHT created a master plan to bring life to the old brownfield development.

The Bluedog team, led by Richard Tasca, Kevin Maloof and Sarah Harris, began the vision for Vital in 2016. Harris was establishing a Bluedog office in Knoxville when she contacted the listing brokers, NAI Koella | RM Moore. Bluedog found Blount County to be the ideal place to develop additional housing given its proximity to three major interstates, strong job growth, top school systems and limited housing supply with increasing demand.  In 2019, Bluedog entered a purchase agreement to acquire two prime parcels totaling 10 acres at the entrance of the town center.

“Our teams at Bluedog and StoneRiver are proud to be a crucial part of the exciting mixed-use development evolving at Springbrook Farm,” said Tasca. “Vital at Springbrook will take its place as a premier 300-unit resort style apartment community focused on the great outdoors and quality of life in Alcoa, Blount County. Strong job and population growth, coupled with the support of County and City officials gives us great confidence in our investment. Springbrook Farm is shaping up to be a dynamic and vibrant community containing hospitality, retail, residential, event and other lifestyle amenities supported by the continued expansion of the Airport, Knoxville and overall pro-business environment.”

In 2021, with the assistance of Mike Kemether at Cushman & Wakefield, Bluedog and StoneRiver formed a joint venture to bring Vital to life. StoneRiver, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and led by Joseph Welden, has a proven and extensive history with multifamily development and management. Since 1995, StoneRiver has acquired, developed, leased, managed and/or sold over $1 billion of real estate. StoneRiver is fully vertically integrated, with in-house property management, development and construction management capabilities. Vital will be StoneRiver’s third multifamily project in the Knoxville area – StoneRiver developed The Village at Westland

Cove Apartments between 2017 and 2019 and acquired The Ridge at Hamilton Crossing Apartments in April of 2021. “We are excited to be involved in another Class A project in West Knoxville. Vital at Springbrook Farm will be a unique property that will cater to the strong and growing demand for quality housing in the Alcoa submarket,” said Welden.

Springbrook Farm will feature a walkable community, outdoor amenities and a wide array of restaurants and retail tenants. Recently, Company Distilling announced it will be opening a whiskey manufacturing facility at Springbrook Farm in 2022, featuring a tasting room, brewery and retail store that will host ample outdoor activities and entertainment. Additionally, greenway trails will also run through the mixed-use development, offering several walking and biking options.

Each unit at Vital will feature an open floor plan with balconies, luxury finishes and all of the latest amenities. The unit mix will contain studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedrooms units, with one or two baths. The amenities will include a resort style pool, cabanas, an outdoor pavilion, grilling stations, firepits and incredible views of the Smoky Mountains. The community will have access to the greenway trails providing residents with walkability and convenient access to the rest of the Springbrook Farm development.

StoneRiver will manage Vital’s construction, as well as the lease-up and day-to-day management of the property. The group hopes to begin pre-leasing units by Fall 2022.

ABOUT NAI KOELLA | RM MOORE

NAI Koella | RM Moore has been in operation in Knoxville, Tennessee since 1983, providing full-service commercial real estate brokerage support, including the disciplines of Retail, Office, Industrial, Investment Brokerage, Asset Management, Property Management, Consulting & Multifamily. NAI Koella I RM Moore is an organization of professionally trained brokers with international reach and local expertise in commercial real estate. Providing full-service commercial real estate brokerage support to Middle and East Tennessee.

ABOUT BLUEDOG CAPITAL PARTNERS

Founded in 2001 by Sean N. Marchionte and Richard R. Tasca, Bluedog Capital Partners, LLC is a boutique real estate investment firm located in the financial district of Providence, Rhode Island. Bluedog has built its portfolio of business through real estate debt and equity investments ranging from offering private capital to the fix and flip industry to large-scale commercial and hospitality ventures. The company has participated in ventures throughout the United States.

ABOUT STONERIVER COMPANY

StoneRiver is a team-driven company that acquires, develops, and manages multifamily real estate opportunities.

For nearly 25 years we have grown into an investment company that has invested over $1 Billion in assets across the Southeast. What sets us apart is not only the tenured team behind our investment strategies, but also the value we create through focused property and asset management. Our expertise in Southeast markets and our track record as owners and operators has consistently proven to generate superior risk-adjusted returns.

Twenty-four Students Ink with Companies on Blount County Job Signing Day

Posted on June 3, 2021 by - Uncategorized

Twenty-four students from five area high schools took part in Blount County Job Signing Day activities at the Airport Hilton as they inked with 13 local companies to begin their careers.

Molly Marantos from William Blount High School signs to work at DENSO.

These seniors either took career and technical education (CTE) courses on a career pathway, earned an industry certification in school, or participated in work-based Learning (WBL).

“For quite some time, ‘vocational education’ developed a stigma. High school students were under the impression that the only way to reach their full potential was to go to a four-year university,” said Blount County Schools Career and Technical Education Assistant Principal Lisa Collins. “But what we know now is that career and technical education is in high demand and is leading to employment and careers that allow our students to reach their fullest potential.”

Students are taking positions in welding, advanced manufacturing, coding, electrical apprenticeships, aquatics manager, rigging technicians and nursing assistants.

Companies offering these students positions are ICC International, Avero Advisors, Danny Davis Electric, Boatmate Trailers, Cherokee Millwright, Smoky Mountain Gymnastics, Royal Metal Powders, Blount Memorial Hospital, Viper Customs, Cornerstone of Recovery, Resource MFG, Xtreme Tower Products and Massey Electric.

Presented by the Blount Partnership, it promotes the notion that although every student’s path may be different, and sometimes nontraditional, there are opportunities for meaningful careers in Blount County for everyone. It also celebrates the fact that there are multiple opportunities for high school students to explore and begin preparing for careers. Some students are going on to start their careers full-time, some are going to do a combination of school and work, and some are going to work now with the plan of starting school later.

“We have worked with educators, businesses and the community to change the perceptions of certain careers that were labeled as dirty and dangerous with low pay,” said Blount Partnership Director of Communications Jeff Muir. “We have managed to show students these jobs can be high-tech, safe, high-paying careers. We are seeing that work come to fruition as the mentality is really changing and career and technical education is being valued.”

This is the third year the Blount Partnership has held its career signing day for graduating seniors and local businesses.

Addison GoforthAVERO Advisors
Megan CooperBlount Memorial Hospital
Khloe BuchananBlount Memorial Hospital
Emory MeadowsBlount Memorial Hospital
Lexy SampsonBlount Memorial Hospital
Zachary WillisBoatmate
Nicole WoodsCherokee Millwright
Nick DeanCherokee Millwright
Joshua EldridgeDanny Davis Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Alexandar HudsonDanny Davis Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Brigham WhiteDanny Davis Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Molly MarantosDENSO / Resource MFG
Kevin VasquezICC International / GEAR Recruiting
Hunter FrazierICC International / GEAR Recruiting
Brandon PayneMassey
Logan SwannerMassey
Isaiah MortonMassey
Rowan HeadrickRoyal Metal Powders
Jacob GabrysRoyal Metal Powders
Ian AdkinsRoyal Metal Powders
Toni GiardinaSmoky Mountain Gymnastics
Logan GoforthViper Customs
Luke WrightViper Customs
Brent HutsellXtreme Tower Products

Working at Amazon brings her more money, options, and energy

Posted on May 18, 2021 by - Uncategorized

Before she worked at Amazon, Kimberly was stuck working the overnight shift. The hours were long, and she felt like she had no time to spend with family. Her pay—$11 an hour—wasn’t enough to keep up with the cost of living in south Florida, let alone save money.

She knew she needed to try to make a switch when a friend told her she could earn Amazon’s starting wage of $15 an hour at the company’s fulfillment center a short commute away in Opa-Locka. The friend already worked there and recommended it.

Kimberly applied in the summer of 2019 and convinced her mom to apply, too—”because I love spending time with her. We got hired the same day. We have the same schedule. We commute to work every day. We go home every day together.”

The new job brought huge change to her life: “I was unhappy and sleep-deprived. And now [that] I’m working here, I have a better position. When I leave at the end of the day, I’m still energized. And I go home, and I can still run errands and do what I need to do. So I’m happy.”

Beyond that, there’s the difference she’s enjoying by making $15 an hour—more than double the U.S. federal minimum wage and $4 more than she made working the overnight shift at her last job.

Read complete article.

TVA, Eyeing Coal Phaseout by 2035, Will Rely on Nuclear

Posted on May 6, 2021 by - Uncategorized

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) expects to phase out its coal generation by 2035, but achieving net-zero carbon emissions without raising power prices or adversely affecting reliability will require substantial investments in energy storage and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). TVA also will need to extend the lifetime of its nuclear power, and adopt the use of small modular reactors (SMRs), said Jeffrey Lyash, its president and CEO. 

During a fireside chat with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) on April 28 hosted by the nonprofit international think tank the Atlantic Council—an event focused on the future of low carbon generation in the Appalachian region—Lyash noted the self-funded U.S. corporate agency has already retired 60% of its coal generation. “Our coal units will continue to retire over the next 15 years because they’ve reached the end of life,” he said. 

Read entire article by POWER magazine.