Charlotte February 2021 – Key Take Aways
• The February Charlotte Mastermind Group meeting kicked off with Caleb Moore, Project Manager with Northpoint Development providing an overview of their firm and then drilled down into the work they are doing in Gaston/Gastonia County. Northpoint Development was ranked as the #1 Industrial Developer in the US over the past 5 years by Real Capital Analytics.
• Matt Martin with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – Charlotte Branch reported strong retail sales in January 2021 – a sizable jump of 7.4% year over year, attributing some of that to the impact of the fiscal stimulus and seen noticeably in the building materials, sporting goods, home improvement markets. The labor market is still lagging by 10 million jobs since the start of the pandemic, so there is still some way to go.
• The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina’s CEO, Christopher Chung, shared that 2021 was a very strong year for business recruitment with 20,000 new jobs across 147 projections (new businesses and expansions) and $6.3B in new capital investment – despite the pandemic headwinds, it was a record setting year for the state. The largest segments of the projects came from Food & Beverage and Life Sciences. As of the February meeting, they have over 170 active projects they are pursuing, mostly in manufacturing.
• Joe Kinsey with CoStar group reports there is a lot of activity in the market, particularly in the industrial and multi-family markets, with 332 lease transactions and 188 sales completed since the start of 2021 across all property types. He also reports that 50% of all property searches are originating from outside of the state!
• Bohler’s Principal Dan Hines said one of the hottest markets for them is residential – both single family and multi-family, with single family being up 17% over last year – and with the single family for rent continuing to heat up.
• The team from Terracon, led by Neal McElveen, echoed that they are seeing a lot of environmental due diligence in the multi-family and industrial markets. NCDOT is also getting back in the game with new funding for road improvements. They are also working on the Silver Line light rail line.
• Chris Woods with Whiting Turner also is active in the industrial and multi-family space, but interestingly (and encouragingly) are seeing more calls on hospitality deals!
• Land Broker Alexis Kaiser with JLL did see some slowdown when the pandemic started, but activity is increasing and many of the parties she works with now are from out of town. JLL is also involved with the Silver Line light rail project. She also reports that the announcement of the new Medical School that will be launched, that may help attract the life sciences companies that typically eye the Triangle region to look at Charlotte.
• Gallagher’s Will Giambalvo reports that insurance rates are continuing to go up, and with larger deductibles and that the largest factor that is driving up costs are convective storms (thundertorms, tornados, etc).
• Gates Grainger with Investors Title indicated that one of their most active segments in late 2020 was self-storage facilities.
• Johnston Allison & Hord’s Brian Schoeck and Joe Marek report also report that a lot of activity they are seeing and hearing about is coming from interested parties outside of North Carolina. Interestingly, there are some retailers who are getting ready for some explosive growth (Chicken Salad Chick, Wing Stop), as they have seen their revenues INCREASE during the pandemic as they have boomed with the takeout business. Citing an ICSC report, there is also a favorable trend from survey results from Jan. and Feb. of 2021 on increased views on the general economy improving and the level of consumers engaging in ‘pre-pandemic’ normal levels of activity outside of the house.
• Business Development lead, Sloan Kormelink with EDIFICE notes a significant increase in activity and inquiries since the new year has started. Proposal activity has definitely picked up and they feel good about the pipeline. They too are seeing a lot of municipal work, along with medical office and senior living. Of an interesting note, they are seeing a number of corporate interiors projects – on the smaller side – but interesting given all of the discussion on the ‘future of the office’. AND – they are hiring – interested in project manager with 5+ years of experience!
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