Nashville’s Sage Health, a new health care company that will serve seniors with primary care, cardiology and wellness services, will open its first 11 senior health and wellness centers across four states in the coming year.

Locations will include Mobile, Montgomery, Gulfport, Little Rock and Baltimore.

Sage Health builds state-of-the-art neighborhood health centers that deliver a level of service not typically associated with health care. Every Sage Health patient has a multidisciplinary care team, including a health concierge that arranges all their health care needs and helps patients navigate their health affordably. With fitness classes, cooking classes and social gatherings on-site, the company’s centers provide seniors resources to stay healthy.

Physician and clinical staff will be composed of professionals who specialize in senior care and with a specific care model that allows more time spent with patients to address multiple concerns and needs.

Centers are specially equipped with diagnostics and treatments for chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s. Sage Health staff coordinate specialist care, as needed. Unlike other physician practices, a Sage Health physician has a patient panel of 400 or less, and Sage Health collaborates with the best outcomes-oriented specialists and hospitals in each market.

Placemakr announces third Nashville property

Placemakr, a tech-enabled, flex-use hospitality and multifamily operator, has announced the launch of its third location, Placemakr Wedgewood-Houston.

Placemakr will bring its signature blend of apartment living and hospitality services, like housekeeping and a 24/7 on-site customer support team, to guests and residents at the property. The property opened for booking March 14.

The newest property to join the Placemakr portfolio, formerly a Bento Living building, is located at 321 Hart Street. It offers 89 furnished apartment-style units for nightly hotel, short-term rental and long-term furnished housing stays.

Placemakr’s other two Nashville properties include a Music Row location at 1600 McGavock St, and a SoBro facility at 205 Demonbreun Street.

Guests of this property will have access to an outdoor rooftop terrace with views of Downtown Nashville, a fitness center, meeting spaces, an on-site bodega, a coffee bar, an on-site Pacific-Rim-inspired restaurant and walkability to Wedgewood-Houston’s top attractions

“Nashville is the rare seven-day a week, 365-day a year market for work and leisure travelers,” says Will Hu, SVP and Head of Acquisitions at Placemakr. “With consumer demand at an all-time high for homestyle stays, we’re incredibly excited to offer this type of product to travelers looking to stay or live in the vibrant Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.

“What Placemakr provides travelers that isn’t typically found in a homestyle stay is the perks of hospitality services and a 24/7 on-site support team. Our products combine the best of apartment living and hotel services into one amazing experience creating a smarter way to stay.”

This announcement comes on the heels of another Placemakr property launch in Downtown Columbia, Maryland. The company looks forward to continuing to expand its partnerships and footprint this year.

LivAway Suites breaks ground on Smyrna site

LivAway Suites, the economy extended stay brand created and designed “for developers, by developers” officially broke ground on its first location in Smyrna.

With proximity to Nashville and other nearby cities, the LivAway Suites-Smyrna is expected to attract extended-stay guests who will be providing services in Rutherford County and surrounding areas once the hotel opens in May 2024.

The Smyrna location is the first of many groundbreakings slated for LivAway Suites across the nation in the coming months. Anticipated ground breaks for 2023 include Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa, Austin, Phoenix, Denver, Charlotte and more.

“LivAway Suites hotels take approximately 12-14 months from shovels in the ground to heads in beds,” says Dan Barrett, Chief Development Officer of LivAway Suites. “With 10 expected ground breaks in 2023, the brand expects to have LivAway Suites hotels operating across the United States by the end of 2024.”

LivAway Suites will bring a fresh take to the economy extended stay segment with unparalleled finishes and cutting-edge technology, including self-service check-in kiosks, smart laundry facilities, innovative parcel-locker systems and other sleek advancements, enhancing the overall guest experience.

Belmont Law among top law schools for women

Belmont’s College of Law was listed as one of the Top 20 Law Schools for Women based on a report by Enjuris, compiling data from the American Bar Association.

More than 60% of the entering class for Belmont’s College of Law is female, aligning with the national upward trend in the attendance of women in law school over the years. Until 2016, men held the majority of students enrolling in juris doctor programs.

“We are excited and proud to be one of the top law schools for women,” says Deborah Farringer, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Law. “This is our third year in a row in the top 20 for female enrollment and we hope that we are creating a proud tradition of attracting strong, smart women and training them to be amazing future lawyers.”

The rigorous academics, accomplished faculty and alumni base and gender-diverse cohorts continue to distinguish the College of Law at Belmont from competitor institutions.

“I am hopeful that Belmont University College of Law is playing its part in training capable and accomplished female attorneys who will start making greater headway into the roles of senior partners of law firms and general counsel for major corporations,” Farringer says. “We are excited to be a part of the trend of increased females in the legal profession.”

Full list of programs that made the top 20 list

Redfin: Home prices fell 1% in February

The median U.S. home price fell 1.2% in February marking the first year-over-year decline since 2012, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Sellers have been forced to lower their expectations because high mortgage rates have put homebuyer demand on ice.

“Buyers are struggling because higher interest rates have increased the cost of homeownership, and sellers are struggling because they’re still adjusting to the fact that their home won’t sell for what their neighbor’s did a year ago,” says Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin real estate agent in Austin, Texas, which has seen one of the largest home-price declines in the country. “The drop in prices is bringing more house hunters off the sidelines, but they’re in no rush because rates are high and they have the upper hand.”

It’s worth noting that the housing market shifted in March following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Ongoing turmoil in the banking sector lowered the likelihood of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates much more this year. That caused mortgage rates to drop, which brought more homebuyers back to the market. The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate was 6.54% as of March 16, down from nearly 7% at the end of February. The decline comes after rates jumped by almost a whole percentage point during February.

New listings in February were at the lowest level on record aside from the start of the pandemic. They fell 23.3% year over year on a seasonally-adjusted basis and were down 3.5% from the prior month.

Homeowners have been hesitant to put their properties up for sale because many of them have locked in mortgage rates substantially below today’s level. They’re also on the fence because they see sellers in their neighborhood slashing their listing prices. One in seven (14.2%) homes for sale had a price cut in February. While that’s down from a peak of 22% in the fall, it’s still more than double the 5.7% rate of a year earlier.

New Audi dealership opens downtown

Sonic Automotive, Inc., one of the nation’s largest automotive retailers, announced the grand opening of Audi Downtown Nashville at 15 Lindsley Street, the second Audi location in Nashville operated by Sonic Automotive.

The two-story, 35,000-square-foot building in the SoBro neighborhood is a partnership between Audi of America and Sonic Automotive.

Audi Downtown Nashville allows guests to schedule VIP test drives of new Audi models, build and customize their ideal Audi through virtual sales consultation, pick up new vehicles ordered at either Audi Downtown Nashville or the Audi Nashville location in Brentwood, enjoy service through an after-hours digital check in and check out process, talk directly with factory-trained master technicians via video about service for their vehicle and experience the latest in Audi electric vehicles with electric vehicle charging stations and vehicle services.

Shyft launches Tennessee operations

The Shyft Group, Inc., the North American leader in specialty vehicle manufacturing, assembly and upfit for the commercial, retail and service specialty vehicle markets, has announced a new service body operation in Lebanon.

This new operation will serve truck dealers, distributors and fleet customers in surrounding states, including new chassis pools for expanded dealer sales and support.

The purpose-built, 70,000-square-foot facility will serve as a sales branch as well as operations for upfit, mounting, fabrication, undercoat and paint services to Shyft’s service body and accessory brands including Royal Truck Body, DuraMag, Magnum and police car upfit and light accessories from Strobes-R-Us.

Royal Truck Body’s new steel XP Service Body to be distributed out of Nashville is precision engineered to eliminate water, salt and chemical traps and features a proprietary high-endurance coating system for a glossy and durable finish to seal out weather and wear. This unique coating formulation features a high-edge epoxy primer designed to provide an extra degree of corrosion resistance appropriate for heavy duty on- and off-highway equipment. The ultra-durable, scratch-resistant polyester topcoat also provides maximum gloss retention under sustained UV exposure.

The DuraMag full portfolio of all aluminum premium service and truck bodies will also be offered and are built to endure with less maintenance, lighter weight for higher payloads and reduced wear and tear. Magnum headache racks help protect passengers, payload and the pickup itself – and includes the new Commander Headache Rack with a Strobes-R-Us Work Ready Lighting Package.