1/22/24 South Carolina Mastermind Group Meeting

South Carolina January 2024 – Key Take Aways

Megan O’Neill of Wyche PA shared that the majority of her clients are developers in NC, SC and GA. Developer clients are excited about the prospect of getting going again. In the past month, they have brought previous deals to closure which is fun to see those come to fruition after many years.   Rick Lackey of RPN shared that RPN is now in 23 cities. They are not growing this year but working to improve each group. One of the businesses he is in is electrical vehicle chargers. By 2030 50% of vehicles should be electric vehicles. He has seen a dramatic uptick in business recently. He has had 100 requests for chargers. There are many tax incentives for those that have electric chargers on their property. Cash on cash return is between 30-35%. Imma Nwobodu with GCRA provides funding for developers. They have seen 2 projects come to closure in the last month. They try to use a variety of methods to ensure that the project is sustainable and affordable. Will Owens of Terracon shared that they are not seeing a lot of movement on the industrial side. Retail has flattened. Affordable housing and multifamily side busy in Greenville. He announced that McBee station was recently purchased by Aston. Laura Turner of Cherry Bekaert shared that 1/29/24 IRS will be open for business for tax year 2023. She said that there is a new bill in the house – Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. She also shared that Mark Cooter was recently listed as 50 most influential in Greenville. Kelton Lastein of Land Partners is a land broker in Spartanburg as well as a student in the Clemson Development Program. He is still seeing a lot of vitality in this area. He said that his projects slowed down last year. He mainly represents sellers and has seen an uptick in cash buyers. Josh Workman of Tax Credit Marketplace attended the SC economic development reception and the SC County City Managers Association Meeting in Hilton Head last week. They are hoping to see an extension of the abandoned building act. They are looking to close a large textile project in Pendleton this week. Corey Memmott of Tax Credit Marketplace said they successfully closed the 2023 fund. They will have 3 closings this month. They are getting more creative with financial strategies. Robert Moore of Home Trust Bank in Spartanburg shared that there is a lot going on in Spartanburg. There is an expectation that rates will be coming down. We might expect 4-6 rate moves downward this year. They have trended flatter on deposit side. Holly Douglas Schaumber of Douglas Development said they are cranking up. Applications are in.  They are closely watching ACT 907 Tax Abatement. There is more demand than there are resources. Will McCauley of Creative Builders said that multifamily is starting to come back. Medical still moving. He is optimistic but new construction will remain slow for a bit. Caroline Schroder of Coldwell Banker Caine is in business development and relocation. She shared that the market is still in demand for relocations, but that the rental market is strained. Edward Wilson announced that he joined Trinity Partners here in Greenville.  He is excited about the opportunity. They will expand Greenville’s service offerings to include a full-service brokerage platform. Caroline Chandler of Banker Exchange Ended the year with around 300 closings. Things are a little slow right now. They will see an uptick soon as it is an election year. Caroline reminded those that Feb 15 is the deadline for those that filed a disaster relief extension. Alita Webster of Young Office said that education, health care and industrial sectors are keeping them busy. She said the companies are not reducing the number of desks, but they are creating more collaborative spaces as employees are coming back to the office. JR Charles with City of Mauldin shared some data from the SC Office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs  Employment is trending up, even accounting for cyclical employment. The major industry sectors are Trade/Transportation, Professional Services, and Educational Services. Today, the Unemployed Persons Per Job Opening rate is 0.5. The total number of employed people in SC is 2.35 million. South Carolina had the 6th largest population increase in the US between 2021-2022, and it was driven by in-bound migration. The counties with the largest population gains: Greenville, Spartanburg, Richland, Charleston, and Horry.  Horry County was the fastest-growing in 2021-2022. By 2030, there will be as many people over the age of 65 as people under the age of 20. This aging of Baby Boomers, in-bound migration of retirees, and lower birth rates among Millennials and Gen Z is going to force a fundamental shift in service delivery and business alignment (i.e. education and child care support, healthcare delivery, housing choices, etc.)  Federal spending has brought more debt to the balance sheets, most of it borrowed against Social Security or acquired from Treasury bonds. If borrowing trends continue, then by 2053, federal debt will be 180% of national GDP. This may force political actions like spending caps, cuts to social services, decrease revenue to state/local governments, tax increases that may erode consumer-driven economic growth, etc.