Tempus buys 3 sites
outside of Arkansas
Tempus Realty Partners of Little Rock has purchased three industrial facilities outside Arkansas to build a $50.9 million portfolio -- the first acquisitions the company has made this year.
The real estate investment partnership announced Wednesday it purchased the sale-leaseback sites, which total 610,247 square feet located on more than 132 acres in Indiana, South Carolina and Tennessee.
"Each of these properties supports critical operations for their respective tenants," Dan Andrews, chief executive officer of Tempus, said in announcing the deals. "These sale-leaseback acquisitions represent a win-win, delivering a business solution for our tenants and a compelling investment opportunity for our investors."
Tempus acquires and develops commercial real estate in the South, Southeast and Midwest. Last year, the company entered a partnership with Westrock Coffee Co. to develop a $70 million distribution center in Conway.
-- Andrew Moreau
State puts up $10M
to brace electric grid
Arkansas is offering utility providers up to $10 million in grants – with another $5 million expected to be available next year -- to strengthen the state's electric grid to mitigate outages.
The Department of Finance and Administration announced Tuesday it is accepting applications for the program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the federal infrastructure-improvement program.
"A year ago, Arkansans united to support the citizens and communities affected by the devastating tornadoes," Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "Today, the grid funding is one more way the state continues to recover and prepare as we enhance our electric infrastructure across Arkansas. Strengthening our electric grid will protect Arkansans for years to come."
Along with utility providers, companies involved in generating or storing power are eligible for the grants. Applications must be submitted by July 19.
-- Andrew Moreau
Arkansas Index ends
at 931.15, off 25.14
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 931.15, down 25.14 points.
Wall Street got some relief Wednesday from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statement that recent inflation figures did not "materially change" the overall picture for the Fed, Bloomberg News reported. Powell also reaffirmed that it will likely be appropriate to begin lowering [interest] rates "at some point this year."
Shares of ArcBest Corp.rose 3.6% and Murphy Oil Corp. shares rose 3%. Shares of Dillard's, Inc. fell 4.4%. America's Car-Mart, Inc. shares fell 1.5%.
The Arkansas Index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.