NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Music City is getting national attention as one of the country's top boom towns. Forbes.com has listed Nashville in their top five.

In order to put together the list, Forbes with the help of a strategy group determined what cities were best positioned to grow and prosper in the coming decade. Nashville came in third.

Forbes looked at the 52 largest metro areas in the country and ranked them based on past and present growth. According to the report, Nashville earned its ranking for low housing prices and pro-business environment. The city has also experienced a rapid growth in educated migrants. The city is also seeing growth in new ethnic groups, such as Latinos and Asians.

Two advantages specifically cited for Nashville and other rising Southern cities area a mild climate and a smaller scale. Music City does not appear to be suffering from transportation bottlenecks reported in older growth hubs.

Among other cities on the list, Austin, Texas is ranked number one. Raleigh, North Carolina is ranked two. San Antonio, Texas and Houston, Texas were numbers four and five. Several of the nation's former boom towns are now toward the bottom of the list. Los Angeles and Chicago are tied for 47th place.

(Nashville, Tennessee) -- October 7, 2010 -- After opening to the public exactly four short months ago, the residents of Middle Tennessee have voted the Fontanel Mansion and Farm one of the Top 3 in the category "Best Thing That's Changed in Nashville in the Last Year" in the Nashville Scene's 21st Annual Best of Nashville issue which just hit newsstands. Nashville's newest visitor destination ranked just behind "Volunteer spirit after May flood" and "We are Nashville" in the high-profile readers' poll. In addition the Farm House Restaurant at Fontanel was highlighted in the "Best Culinary Trend: Growing Your Own Food" category in the "Food and Drink 2010: Writer's Picks" in the same issue.

Over 20 Songwriters Donate Time and Talent for Flood Relief

(Nashville, Tennessee...) -- July 20, 2010 -- The inaugural event at Nashville's newest music venue, the Woods at Fontanel, was christened by some of the world's most influential and revered songwriters Saturday night during Songwriters Sing for Nashville. Patrons gathered on the beautiful grassy hillside to hear music directly from the men and women who created songs recorded by some of the biggest names in electron beam deposition system history.

The day kicked off with Marc Beeson, Jaron Boyer, Chuck Cannon, Danny Flowers, James House, Kendell Marvel, Danny Myrick, James Slater and Lari White performing their hits on the Gibson Tunesmith Stage in the Farm House Restaurant at Fontanel. The music transitioned to magnetron sputter venue late in the afternoon, where 12 members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame delighted the audience with their own renditions of multi-genre hits spanning six decades.

ower Investments sells Former Universal Furniture Building to CMH Set and Finish

Morristown, Tenn. - (April 20, 2010) - Tower Investments LLC, a Calif.- and Tenn.-based real estate investment and development firm announced today the sale of the former Universal Furniture building to CMH Set and Finish, Inc.

The 613,112-SF facility is situated on 35 acres on East Morris Blvd. in Morristown.

(Nashville, Tennessee...) -- March 11, 2010 -- Friends, neighbors, community leaders, local and state representatives and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean were on hand to break ground today at the site of Nashville's newest travel destination, The Fontanel Mansion. Former home of Country Music Hall of Famer Barbara Mandrell, the mansion will open for public tours on June 1, 2010. In addition, the surrounding 136 acres will include a restaurant, museum and gallery, an outdoor music venue and hiking/mountain biking trails.

As bull dozers, dump trucks and earth movers were making ready the sites for The Farm House Restaurant at Fontanel, The Trails at Fontanel and The Woods at Fontanel, an outdoor music venue, owners Dale Morris and Marc Oswald, Operating Partner Tom Morales, Tennessee Department of Tourism's Lee Curtis, Nashville Councilman Walter Hunt, community leader Jim Lawson joined Mayor Dean to speak about the history of the area and the impact the new additions will have on the local economy. Following the ceremony, all parties united to plant a dogwood tree on the property to symbolize new life and new growth the area.

Greensboro - A Triad furniture importer and distributor is moving its headquarters and warehouse operations into a former Guilford Mills plant.

Bernards Inc., which is currently in Archdale, will move around July into about 240,000 square feet of space at 5644 Hornaday Road, said Jeff Friedman, co-owner of Bernards, along with Dale Ward.

The site, a former 300,000-square foot Guilford Mills plant, has been empty for about five years and, according to real estate records, was purchased in 2008 for $4.6 million by Woodland, Calif.-based Tower Investments. Tower said in early 2008 that it planned to turn the property into a shopping center, but that the space was available for lease until it secured tenants.

You may have never heard of Tower Investments, but it's becoming a major player in Nashville projects. Since 2004, the company has purchased almost 20 properties in Tennessee and made Nashville the site of the company's second office. WPLN's Christine Buttorff talked with Alex Marks who runs the Nashville branch of Tower Investments. [excerpt from Nashville Public Radio]

Derek Jellison was an active, healthy 4-year-old when he was diagnosed with a non-malignant, inoperable brain stem tumor in 2002 that would slowly rob him of his ability to walk and may eventually take his sight and his life.

At 11, Jellison, a Redding fifth-grader, said he wanted to leave behind something long after he's gone that will help other children with disabilities enjoy the outdoors as he has done the past three years at the annual Field of Dreams. [excerpt from Colusa County Sun Herald]

The Elk Run biobusiness park has a big new backer.

Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Denis Cortese on Tuesday threw Mayo's support behind the 2,300-acre project planned in Pine Island.

"We're just supporting it in any way we can, because we see a real benefit down the road," he said.

Cortese made his remarks at the city-county Government Center, seated with a group of proponents of Elk Run.

Elk Run would serve as, among other things, an incubator for startup biotechnology businesses.

The business environment, as bad as it appears nationally, is favorable for a Midwestern project like Elk Run, planners said.

"There's such a concentration on the cost of doing business nowadays," said John Pierce, vice president of Tower Investments, the California-based company developing Elk Run.

"We've gotten a lot of interest (from biobusinesses), because, frankly, we may be a lot more competitive from a cost standpoint," he said.

Pine Island, Minn. - (January 27, 2009) - Tower Investments, LLC, owner and developer of the Elk Run master planned community and BioBusiness Park at Elk Run, today announced plans for the installation of onsite infrastructure funded in part by a $1.2 million state-sponsored grant.  Total project cost for this phase is expected to be $2.5 million.

The Bioscience Business Development Public Infrastructure Program grant, awarded to the City of Pine Island by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), will provide the necessary resources to complete improvements at the site of the crystal trophy award.

"This grant signals the next major step in bringing the BioBusiness Park at Elk Run from concept to reality, as we will now establish the physical foundation for this innovative bioscience development," said Geoff Griffin, Elk Run project manager for Tower Investments, LLC. "We credit the City of Pine Island with Green tea extract mathis important grant.  Mayor Perry and his administration have been staunch advocates for biobusiness development, and we applaud both the City and the State for recognizing Elk Run's profound potential to create crystal awards and encourage further economic growth throughout the region and state of Minnesota."

Developer Funds Over a Million Dollars in Offsite Improvements to Bring Utilities to Site, A Landmark Step for Biotechnology Center at Elk Run

Pine Island, Minn. - (July 16, 2008) - Tower Investments, LLC today announced that it has funded $1.16 million to offsite improvements for Phase I development of the 2,325-acre Elk Run master planned community.  The infrastructure, which includes bringing sewer and water to the site, will cost a total $1.76 million.  The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will contribute $600,000.

"The realization of this important milestone is a credit to officials at the local and state levels," said Alex Marks, senior vice president of Tower Investments, LLC.  "This has been many years in the making, and we are thrilled that the collaboration has created such great results.  Tower remains dedicated to Elk Run and to creating jobs through the continued development of bioscience industry in the state."

Nonprofit Development and Manufacturing Center Includes 40,000 SF of Available Space for Research Institutions and Start-ups

Pine Island, Minn. - (June 18, 2008) - Tower Investments, LLC announced today at the Bio2008 International Convention in San Diego, Calif., plans for the Biotechnology Center at Elk Run (BCER) research, development and manufacturing facility. The center is a nonprofit organization committed to the development of biotechnology firms, technologies and services. Its first home - part of the 200-acre BioBusiness Park at Elk Run - is the first building slated for construction as part of the 2,325-acre master planned Elk Run development.

Slated to break ground in the fourth quarter of 2008, the 40,000-square-foot facility will be built-to-suit for institutions and start-up firms and will feature:

• Efficient management to ensure low costs

• An executive suite concept for development, quality and regulatory services

• 20 ISO class production clean rooms

• Support for cell/protein/tissue therapeutic platforms

California-Based Development Company Sees Retail Potential in Former Site of Guilford Products

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Tower Investments, LLC, a national real estate investment and development firm, announced today that it has purchased the 30-acre former home of the Guilford Mills plant off Hornaday Rd. in Greensboro, N.C., and plans to soon convert the property into a Triad shopping hot-spot.

Citing the prime location - fronting I-40 to the north and the recently completed the new 840 loop to the west - Tower Senior Vice President Matt Marks said the firm intends to eventually level the current structure, vacant since 2005, to make way for the new development. Marks said the 300,000-sq.-ft. industrial building is up for lease until Tower secures an anchor retail tenant for the new shopping development.

"Investing in underutilized or past-their-prime industrial properties and breathing new life into them is a Tower trademark," Marks said. "We take a specialized approach to each project, whether it involves converting a single tenant building for multi use, upgrading overall improvements or just redeveloping the site for enhanced use.  Local professionals play an important role in all of our projects and are involved from the outset for everything from brokerage and engineering to legal and architecture."

Don Moss, CCIM, broker with Hart Corporation represented Tower Investments in the sale and Tom Townes, CCIM, SIOR, managing partner of Triad Commercial Properties, represented the seller. First Bank of Illinois, a Chicago-based national real estate lender, handled financing.