Venue Church has acquired the Lee Highway building it has leased since January 2018 for $4.5 million this week, according to property records filed Wednesday with the Hamilton County Registrar of Deeds.
The non-denominational church, which previously was located on Shallowford Road, bought the 54,000-square-foot structure in the Lee Pointe complex from the Pointe Property Group after leasing the facility for the past year and a half.
The building was originally erected in 1986 as the first Sam’s wholesale club in Chattanooga, although part of the building collapsed in the snowstorm of 199 and the size of the building was cut as a result.
Venue Church Cloud also operates a north Georgia campus on Cloud Springs Road in Ringgold. It maintains its offices and major facility on Lee Highway, which is located next to a 3-story office building that houses Miller Motte Technical College and Benchmark Rehab that the Pointe Property Group sold earlier this year for $11 million.
East Ridge parcels sell for $1.8 million
A Chattanooga business connected to a national franchise has paid $1.8 million for a pair of tracts in East Ridge, according to Herman Walldorf Commercial Real Estate.
Broker Rudy Walldorf said the new owner didn’t want to be immediately identified, but expects to begin work at the adjacent properties at 5326 and 5330 Ringgold Road early next year and relocate by the end of 2020.
The parcels cover 4.9 acres and contain 45,000 square feet of space across four buildings, he said.
John Sweet of Walldorf Commercial coordinated the assemblage of the sites, Walldorf said. Walldorf represented the owner of the former East Ridge Motors site, which he said was owned by the Emerson Russell Trust. Jeff Jennings of NAI Charter represented the California-based owners of the former Ryan’s Steakhouse, Walldorf said. Smart Bank provided financing for the transaction, he said.
Senate OKs Michelle Bowman for Federal Reserve
The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee Michelle Bowman to serve a full 14-year term on the seven-member Federal Reserve board.
Bowman was approved on a 60-31 vote, winning the support of 49 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Only one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined Democrats voting no.
Bowman has held a spot on the Fed board designated for a community banker since November 2018, filling a vacancy on the panel that had a term ending on Jan. 31. Trump, who has been highly critical of the Fed over the past year, renominated her for a full 14-year term.
Before joining the Fed, Bowman served as state bank commissioner of Kansas and had been an executive of a community bank in the state.
Mortgage rates rise but stay at low level
U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week but remained at historically low levels.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.56% from 3.49% last week. Average rates on the benchmark loan have remained below 3.6% for four straight weeks – the first time that’s happened since the fourth quarter of 2016.
A year ago, the 30-year rate stood at 4.6%.
The average rate for 15-year, fixed-rate home loans rose to 3.09% from 3% last week.