Memphis Flyer

DCA

The Royal Furniture building at 122 South Main.

A New York investor has purchased the Downtown Royal Furniture building, but the store owners have no immediate plans to move.

The building at 122 South Main was purchased recently by Tom Intrator. He recently purchased the 18 South Main building, the vacant, former home of Murray’s Clothing. Intrator owns seven apartment properties here for a total of 1,630 units.

“This Royal Furniture space is particularly compelling for ground-floor retail and either hospitality, residential, or office space above,” Intrator said in a statement. “We aim to use discretion in verticality — building up, not out.”

He said the building was attractive as it sits on the trolley line and is close to the Orpheum Theater and Beale Street. For the building’s future, “we’re exploring all options,” Intrator said.

“With the momentum that is currently growing in Memphis, Downtown is increasingly attractive to investors,” said Jennifer Oswalt, president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission. “We welcome the opportunity to work with developers like Tom who have real vision, not just in property acquisition but in supporting and enhancing the local culture of Downtown through thoughtful tenant-mix and experiences.”

The building was constructed in 1948 and has long been the retail showroom for Royal Furniture.

Maya Smith

Airbnb/Facebook

About 106,000 people stayed in Shelby County Airbnbs last year, earning hosts here about $10.9 million, the company reported Tuesday.

The digital, home-sharing platform made a tax agreement with city leaders here in 2017. It was the first of its kind in Tennessee. This move paved the way for a tax-collection deal with cities across the state through the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

Airbnb hosts pay a 3.5 percent short-term room occupancy tax and a $2-per-night assessment. In its first year, the agreement here added $647,000 in tax revenues to Memphis tax coffers. From May 2016 to May 2017, 87,000 stayed in Memphis Airbnbs. Information on taxes collected during the 2017-2018 term of the agreement were not immediately available.

The new figures from Airbnb show that the typical host in Shelby County earned $8,400 last year in supplemental income from sharing their home through the platform.

Airbnb said Tuesday that data shows that the platform is playing well with the Tennessee hotel industry, rather than competing with it. The company said hotels continue to report strong growth, “even as local hosts welcomed tens of thousands of guests.”

“This suggests that Airbnb is opening up the state to a new slice of prospective tourists by catering to travelers less able to afford hotels, those who desire to stay in neighborhoods or cities that lack hotels, and families who prefer to be together under one roof,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Raumesh Akbari/Facebook

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted executive clemency to Cyntoia Brown, the sex trafficking victim convicted for killing a john at 16, Monday morning.

“This decision comes after careful consideration of what is a tragic and complex case,” Haslam said in a statement. “Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16.

Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.

“Transformation should be accompanied by hope. So, I am commuting Ms. Brown’s sentence, subject to certain conditions.”

Brown will be released to parole supervision on August 7, 2019, after serving 15 years in prison. Parole conditions will require that she not violate any state or federal laws, be subject to a release plan approved by the Tennessee Department of Correction, and special supervision conditions, including employment, education, counseling, and community engagement.

Parole supervision will continue for Brown until August 7, 2029. She will complete re-entry programming prior to her release from custody in August in order to facilitate a successful transition to the community, according to Haslam’s office.

In 2006, Brown was convicted by a Davidson County jury of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery for the 2004 murder of 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen, which occurred when then-16-year-old Brown was picked up by Allen and taken to his home.

She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 51 years in prison, which means she would not have been eligible for parole consideration until 2055, at the earliest, without the governor’s action.

Here’s what state Senator Raumesh Akbari posted on the move Monday morning:

Haslam Grants Clemency to Cyntoia Brown

Neighborhood Preservation Inc./University of Memphis