Lakeland Gets Proactive with Economic Development Strategy
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Public Records & Notices Monitoring local real estate since 1968 View a complete day’s public records Subscribe Presented by and notices today for our at memphisdailynews.com. free report www.chandlerreports.com Tuesday, January 5, 2021 MemphisDailyNews.com Vol. 136 | No. 2 Rack–50¢/Delivery–39¢ For veterans, global pandemic one more enemy DON WADE combat. Although he was never “I was a bravo grunt,” Ferrell ago was there mention of the cur- is another kind of veteran: Ferrell Courtesy of The Daily Memphian deployed, he couldn’t have known said on a mild December day as rent COVID-19 pandemic. has about a decade of experience Kevin Ferrell served in the that’s how it would play out. he sat at a picnic table outside Nor was there mention of the at Alpha Omega working as a pro- United States Army from 1984- So, he girded himself for the Alpha Omega Veterans Services’ challenges he would face upon re- gram recovery specialist. It is an 1988. Or between the Vietnam and day he might have to survive on urban farm and garden in South turning to civilian life. ongoing process. Gulf wars. foreign soil against an enemy he Memphis. Now, 13 years after his own “To this very day, I have a men- Stationed in Germany and the might, or might not, be able to see. “You’re prepared for ‘what if?’ post-military struggles with tal health professional I talk to,” he U.S. throughout his time in the He was a soldier at the ready and, You carry that.” Nowhere in Fer- drugs, alcohol and mental issues military, Ferrell trained daily for to this day, at age 56, he still is. rell’s training more than 30 years put him on the brink of death, he VETERANS CONTINUED ON P2 approach.” In years past, Muller would attend the International Council of Shopping Centers Lakeland gets proactive with events in Las Vegas and hire firms to do costly market analysis for consultants and business re- cruitment. Instead of spending money on those things, Lakeland is focusing on the people who own the most likely commercial properties for fu- economic development strategy ture development. “The city wants to grow and grow with quality. It doesn’t want to just sit there and wait, and then take orders when someone comes in,” Muller said. “It wants to be proactive and go after the types of development that they feel like are a positive for the community, builds the tax base and contributes to the quality of life.” Developer Kevin Hyneman owns nearly 100 acres at Canada Road and Davies Plantation Road East, north of Interstate 40 and across the street from a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Last year, he proposed multifamily there, but the city’s mora- torium on multifamily projects forced him to re- think his plans. “There’s a lot of potential that you could do on that site. It has great interstate access,” Muller said. The city has worked with Hyneman on devel- oping a mixed-use concept, but with a moratorium on new apartments in Lakeland, discussions are still ongoing. “So, we’re working (on) what are some of the other options for that site, certainly com- mercial or maybe independent living or a hotel.” Another prominent Lakeland site is owned by Robert Fogelman and his family totaling more than 1,500 acres east of The Lake District at Canada Road and Interstate 40. The city has held conver- sations with the developer, but sewer capacity re- mains a challenge. Belz Enterprises has a 10-acre site on Beverle Rivera, and an interested party had looked for a Relax Inn owner Mike Patel stands in a vacant lot adjacent to his Lakeland, Tennessee motel Dec. 18, 2020. 10-acre site for an assisted living facility. But the (Patrick Lantrip/Courtesy of The Daily Memphian) project went silent when COVID-19 hit. “One of our targets as a business is the indepen- MICHAEL WADDELL development strategy, targeting a num- services and quality. “A lot of commu- dent living because it doesn’t create demand for Courtesy of The Daily Memphian ber of properties for redevelopment. nities have a different approach than schools, and it’s a pretty substantial investment,” With Lakeland Commons and The Buoyed by high-quality housing I think Lakeland is taking,” Lake- said Muller, who says proposed assisted living proj- Lake District mixed-use projects under developments and high per capita in- land economic development special- ects have been estimated in the $20 million to $25 construction, Lakeland is adopting a come, the city faces the challenge of ist Dexter Muller said. “…Personally I proactive approach to its economic balancing development with providing think (Lakeland) has taken a smarter LAKELAND CONTINUED ON P3 INSIDE Public Records ���������������� 4 Public Notices ��������������� 13 memphisdailynews.com chandlerreports.com Marriage licenses are unavailable ©2020 The Daily News Publishing Company A division of The Daily News Publishing Company while Shelby County Clerk’s Office Memphis, Tennessee The standard for premium real estate Established 1886 • 135th year information since 1968 reviews internal policies for its digital Call 901.523.1561 to subscribe Call 901.458.6419 for more information platforms� Page 2 MemphisDailyNews.com Tuesday, January 5, 2021 VETERANS CONTINUED FROM P1 said. “The core of what I do is mirror what instructions,” Walker said. “If it’s mandated recovery looks like.” Ferrell knows how vet- that you wear a mask, they wear a mask. If erans think. He knows the trails they can be you’re supposed to stay 6 feet apart, they prone to follow, trails that are not unlike, stay 6 feet apart.” well, a house of mirrors where fiction can Anthony Miller, 65, a Navy veteran who easily masquerade as truth. And that was was in the transitional housing program, before life behind a mask, before having to is for now living in a hotel (Alpha Omega stay at least 6 feet apart, before never being employees deliver meals) and is positive for sure who has the virus and who doesn’t. Put COVID-19.Being quarantined is not ideal. it this way: The vulnerable veteran had “so- He gets lonely. But he also considers the cial distancing” down pat even before any alternative — being sick enough to be in a of us had heard the term. hospital and perhaps on a ventilator. “The majority of them are running, “I’m OK,” he said. “There are places mentally,” Ferrell said. “They will isolate, I could be way worse. So, I am grateful.” if you let them. Before finding their way to Alpha Omega, “I talked to a guy today, and he said, ‘I many of the vets had endured at least a short just wanna be by myself, away from the rest period of homelessness. Although a precise of the world.’” At the end of 2018, there were count is impossible to obtain, the Depart- approximately 18 million veterans living in ment of Housing and Urban Development America, or about 7% of the population, ac- (HUD) estimates that just over 40,000 vets cording to a U.S. Census Bureau report. The are homeless on any given night. median age of veterans was 65. Vietnam- Jesse Jenkins, 51, who served two stints era veterans made up the largest cohort of in the Navy, most recently from 2001-2007, those alive in 2018, at 6.4 million. A recent is doing much better these days. He works Pew Research Center survey of veterans full-time at Shelby County’s food stamp of- found that more than two-thirds (68%) said fice as an eligibility counselor and lives at Alpha Omega Veterans Services resident Lorenzo Kight, an Army veteran, attends a support that in their first few years after leaving the an Alpha Omega housing site. At his lowest, meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. (Mark Weber/Courtesy of The Daily Memphian) military, they frequently felt proud of their he was living out of his van, dependent on service. Most (79%) said they would endorse alcohol, and extremely depressed: “I lost When Jenkins got out the Navy a sec- Memphis. The rest of its funding comes the military as a career choice. In fact, everything — lost my family and my van ond time, he felt like he was in a time warp. from foundations and donors. “We’re do- many of the vets interviewed for this story, got repossessed.” Regardless of a vet’s ex- It wasn’t PTSD, exactly, but neither did it ing OK for now,” Walker said, “holding our and who are now working and/or living at perience when on active duty, he says they feel normal. “I never even had my own cell own.” But for the most vulnerable vets, the Alpha Omega Veterans Services, either wore all face a similar challenge upon discharge: phone until 2009,” he said. “And all that cell battle at hand continues. So, Cordell Walker a cap or a shirt representing their branch of “It’s so different when you get back to the phone technology? The world had changed and Kevin Ferrell worry about those who the military. They still fly the colors. real world. You’re a freshman again. You’re with these phones.” A report from the Bob are struggling and aren’t aware of the help Cordell Walker, executive director at Al- starting over again. It can be devastating.” Woodruff Foundation projects the longer that is available. Alpha Omega’s intake line pha Omega, makes the point that even if vet- When Kevin Ferrell got out of the Army, the pandemic lasts, the worse it will be for (901-726-5066) is open seven days a week erans do see combat, many come through he wasn’t sure how to restart.