8/23/21 South Carolina Mastermind Group Meeting

South Carolina August 2021 – Key Take Aways

• Cherry Bekaert reported that they continue to have many transactions in the real estate and business sectors.  They have also seen seen more estate planning activity as clients are accelerating their larger gifts.  They do not have any current updates from DC concerning rates.
• Tax Credit Marktetplace continues to remain busy.  A $9 million main street project closing in 2021.  They are currently working with many major textile sites for multi family and neighborhood projects.   Also, they are working on a new project in Fountain Inn.  They continue to have a healthy pipeline through 2023.  Tax Credit Marketplace announced that they are opening a 2nd office in Charleston.
• Gallagher reported that insurance carriers are spooked by the tropical storm in the Northeast and we might see a knee jerk reactions from the same.  They also noted that fall hurricane activity could negatively impact insurance rates.
• Context Design Group continues to be busy with industrial projects – mainly expansions or renovations. They are seeing new projects coming in weekly.  Foreign projects remain slow.
• Terracon currently has 10 million square feet in house under design in Charleston.  They continue to see increased activity with health care practices.  They reported that their will be a large announcement this year on the advanced manufacturing front.
• Bohler continues to see an uptick in data centers, cold storage, bio tech, pharmaceuticals and labs.  They said that the data center demand is through the roof.  They note a healthy return of retail but office still struggling.  East Coast ports more affordable than west coast.  The migration to the south continues to bring business and people to the south.
• Young Office is very busy in the industrial and manufacturing sectors.  They are seeing the most activity in the K-12 education market.  They said that the busiest office markets are inside municipalities that are supporting growth.  The labor market remains very tight – hard to find and hard to keep good labor.  The supply chain continues to be a major roadblock.  It is a healthy but challenging market.
• NAI Columbia has had a flurry of office activity this spring and summer.  The industrial sector is still really hot but there is a lack of product.  They announced that there is a new 113 acre industrial park with 7 buildings and 500,000 square feet.  They noted that covid protocols are tightening in Columbia.
• NAI Earle Furman commented that the office market remains relatively strong.  They have several large office leases coming downtown.  Sale activity has slowed, because of lack of product and use of PPP leading back to healthy leasing activity.  They are not seeing the shift back to working from home yet.
• CoStar commented that Charlotte is seeing a pull back on return to office plan. Greenville and Charleston remain extremely active in the multifamily market. Spartanburg has seen one of the biggest industrial growth in the country.
• Nexsen Pruet reported that clients are trying to digest massive spending bill that was passed.  What will be the feds response to it?  There seems to be much concern with inflation and the effect that virtual learning has had on our kids.
• Siteworks said that advance manufacturing is pushing into the 85 corridor as American based manufacturing continues to expand.  South Carolina continues to win deals.  They do not expect to see a slow down if we can keep infrastructure and transportation moving forward.  
• Womble Bond Dickinson is seeing tremendous activity in economic development department.  They have 100 active deals – manufacturing and distribution.  They have talked to over 50 businesses in the last week that want to come to the southeast, 31 of those are from overseas.  
• Wyche reported that there are 1.4 billion dollars in planned projects in Spartanburg this year.  They can’t build enough apartments for the people coming into town. Spartanburg is experiencing expansion with retail/residential moving outside the city.  U.S. News and World Reports named Spartanburg the Best Place to Live in SC.