Triangle Economic News

[KJHburg]

The 2 fastest growing in NC according to INC magazine are based in the Triangle area 

3 of the top 100 fastest growing companies in entire USA based in the Triangle one each in Wake, Durham, Orange counties.

https://www.wraltechwire.com/2020/08/12/fast-growing-raleigh-software-pendo-soars-nearly-50-spots-to-no-26-on-inc-5000-list/

[Rufus]

Not to mention that Pendo is the main tenant at 301 Hillsborough St too. Great news to see!

15 hours ago, KJHburg said:

The 2 fastest growing in NC according to INC magazine are based in the Triangle area 

3 of the top 100 fastest growing companies in entire USA based in the Triangle one each in Wake, Durham, Orange counties.

https://www.wraltechwire.com/2020/08/12/fast-growing-raleigh-software-pendo-soars-nearly-50-spots-to-no-26-on-inc-5000-list/

 

[rolly]

Investing nearly $600M for over 250 acres in RTP. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/08/25/parmer-rtp-sells-253-acres-in-590-million.html

[KJHburg]

Economic development report put out by the city of Raleigh goes over some of the recent job announcements as well as great photograph.

https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR29/ED – AnnualReport – 2020 - WEB.pdf

[KJHburg]

6 of the top 10 metros where new residents are moving from to the Triangle are in the Northeast and of course you can guess who is #1.  (hover over the bars)

https://www.us.jll.com/en/views/snapshots/raleigh-durham-snapshot-8-3-2020

another chart look how Venture capital flows into the Carolinas,  Hey Triangle you are sucking most of the dollars up LOL

https://www.us.jll.com/en/views/snapshots/raleigh-snapshot-8-17-20

 

[SydneyCarton]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

6 of the top 10 metros where new residents are moving from to the Triangle are in the Northeast and of course you can guess who is #1.  (hover over the bars)

https://www.us.jll.com/en/views/snapshots/raleigh-durham-snapshot-8-3-2020

another chart look how Venture capital flows into the Carolinas,  Hey Triangle you are sucking most of the dollars up LOL

https://www.us.jll.com/en/views/snapshots/raleigh-snapshot-8-17-20

 

I’d like to see high speed rail linking Raleigh and Charlotte with a stop in Chapel Hill.  

[nicholas]

12 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I’d like to see high speed rail linking Raleigh and Charlotte with a stop in Chapel Hill.  

I can't imagine that happening anytime in the near future due to the existing rail line running through Durham.

[SydneyCarton]

3 hours ago, nicholas said:

I can't imagine that happening anytime in the near future due to the existing rail line running through Durham.

That’s true.

[KJHburg]

Both Raleigh and Durham rank high in top cities for starting a business by INC Magazine but Durham is ranked #3 and Raleigh is further down the list still in the top 20.

https://www.inc.com/surge-cities

[SydneyCarton]

19 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Both Raleigh and Durham rank high in top cities for starting a business by INC Magazine but Durham is ranked #3 and Raleigh is further down the list still in the top 20.

https://www.inc.com/surge-cities

Even though Durham is small, it, nevertheless, has huge intellectual capital with Duke.  It also seems more vibrant to me than Raleigh does even though the latter is much bigger.  Similarly, SouthEnd, to me, seems more vibrant than Uptown even though it’s smaller and not as fancy and buttoned-up.  Even outside of NC, the Meat Packing District in NY feels more vibrant than the corporate canyons of Wall St.  I guess it’s like the recent MIT graduate versus his stodgy dad from the country club.  Admittedly, I am like the stodgy dad.

Edited September 16, 2020 by SydneyCarton

[KJHburg]

Fidelity Investments is hiring around 250 people at their RTP facility.

https://www.wraltechwire.com/2020/10/13/looking-for-work-fidelity-investments-is-hiring-hundreds-in-nc-even-in-a-pandemic/

[KJHburg]

This is big news First Citizens merging with CIT to form $100 Billion bank based in Raleigh and now they need to anchor one of these 40 story towers proposed more befitting to their new size.  

and First Citizens is calling the shots in the merger too.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/10/16/first-citizens-merging-with-cit-group.html

[RALNATIVE]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is big news First Citizens merging with CIT to form $100 Billion bank based in Raleigh and now they need to anchor one of these 40 story towers proposed more befitting to their new size.  

and First Citizens is calling the shots in the merger too.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/10/16/first-citizens-merging-with-cit-group.html

First Citizens has been growing steadily over the last couple of decades, and yes, they need to consider going vertical downtown.

Previously they did consider building a 30+ story tower downtown. There was even a rendering floated. I'm not exactly sure what happened with that proposal, but ultimately it did not come to fruition and instead they setup a HQ at North Hills.

Word has it that First Citizens has no interest in downtown, but i'm hoping that as they continue to grow and become more of a national bank as opposed to a regional bank, they will eventually see the advantages of having an impressive, image enhancing tower in downtown Raleigh.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by RALNATIVE

[KJHburg]

^^ I think they are going to up their game in real estate and move downtown to attract people.  those suburban offices in North Hills won't cut it as they not in any of the Kane towers but older buildings.  They should anchor and take the 121 Fayetteville tower and put their name on it.  Some of these execs are from NY and LA with CIT.   They need to project an image of a larger bank if they want that top talent.  

[RALNATIVE]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

^^ I think they are going to up their game in real estate and move downtown to attract people.  those suburban offices in North Hills won't cut it as they not in any of the Kane towers but older buildings.  They should anchor and take the 121 Fayetteville tower and put their name on it.  Some of these execs are from NY and LA with CIT.   They need to project an image of a larger bank if they want that top talent.  

Exactly. First Citizens started out as a small town bank and largely kept that family owned, small town culture as best they could. Now the game is changing and you're right, their NY and Ca executives are going to demand more prestige.

The same was true with NCNB, which is now Bank of America.

[carolina1792]

14 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is big news First Citizens merging with CIT to form $100 Billion bank based in Raleigh and now they need to anchor one of these 40 story towers proposed more befitting to their new size.  

and First Citizens is calling the shots in the merger too.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2020/10/16/first-citizens-merging-with-cit-group.html

They were looking into building something in North Hills. Nothing big so I really doubt they'll reconsider a tower in downtown again. They will likely want to own the property so no leasing which rules out most of downtown. Realistically, they've been planning a new HQ for over 12 years so that will probably not change until Frank Holding Jr. retires and a new CEO takes over. 

The Nexus project in downtown seems to have halted due to COVID maybe a good time to purchase that property and rezone. 4 20 story towers on that land seems like a waste. 

 

Coastal Credit Union is building their 15-story tower in Midtown. 

Edited October 17, 2020 by carolina1792

[KJHburg]

If they want to own and many banks like to do that then buy a newly constructed tower built to your specs at the Nexus site or work out a deal with Kane or even Preferred.  Truist bought the old Hearst Tower in Charlotte renamed it and hanging their signs up everywhere.   BofA owns some of their buildings in uptown Charlotte as does Wells Fargo.    all I am saying I think this is the strongest chance for Raleigh to get a new 30 plus story building downtown in a long time. I noticed First Citizens list their corporate HQ address at that 5 story building on Fayetteville St.   Work with Preferred and buy their tower upon completion at 121 Fayetteville and emblazon your name on all sides.  There are several great proposals for office towers downtown they can work with like Dominion SECU site, Kane, Preferred, Nexus site etc. 

[carolina1792]

On 10/17/2020 at 10:16 AM, KJHburg said:

If they want to own and many banks like to do that then buy a newly constructed tower built to your specs at the Nexus site or work out a deal with Kane or even Preferred.  Truist bought the old Hearst Tower in Charlotte renamed it and hanging their signs up everywhere.   BofA owns some of their buildings in uptown Charlotte as does Wells Fargo.    all I am saying I think this is the strongest chance for Raleigh to get a new 30 plus story building downtown in a long time. I noticed First Citizens list their corporate HQ address at that 5 story building on Fayetteville St.   Work with Preferred and buy their tower upon completion at 121 Fayetteville and emblazon your name on all sides.  There are several great proposals for office towers downtown they can work with like Dominion SECU site, Kane, Preferred, Nexus site etc. 

Bank towers are not culture--Raleigh is a booming city so skyscraper projects will start to add up soon. In the end of the day, downtown Raleigh has a much better ground level experience (pre-Covid) than most cities: 2 chocolate makers, 4 pastry shops, 3 bakeries, several award winning restaurants,  more than 5 record stores now, dozen music halls, several nice parks, a party street, a bunch of nice speakeasies and bars, and the city has added several new bike lanes. Those things, imo, are better measures of a nice city than having another 30 story bank tower that is empty after 6 PM. If anything I want more 30 story condos and apartment towers that can support more cultural activities in downtown Raleigh. 

Besides, I heard the city is now exploring a [near] downtown PNC arena replacement. So we can be just like very other generic US city. 

Last year I revisited many cities in Europe I haven't seen in decades and saw 5 brand new skylines that didn't exist 2010 and none of those tower centers were worth visiting.  

Of course, all opinions are subjective. 

Edited October 19, 2020 by carolina1792

[Rufus]

@RALNATIVE and @carolina1792 are both correct. In 1992 FCB was planning to design a 30-story tower now where PNC is located, but they backed off the plan for unknown reasons. This was at the height of downtown not being open to pedestrians, so I am sure that played a part. The rendering was this gorgeous tower of stone that had columns at the top. I'll see if I can find it. That being said, I think I prefer PNC to their proposal only because PNC incorporates so many uses. 

And then when North Hills started taking off, there was talk of the bank taking the lots behind the round building on Six Forks and building a campus there. They even demolished the houses that abutted the property. Eventually that went nowhere and they moved a lot of their growing operations to the former BTI Building that now has their logo. They own three buildings right there -- the white one on Rowan, the round building, and the taller building. I doubt they will want to go downtown. It's not their target market, both in terms of land and image. North Hills is their market. They like the demographics and money that are in the NH area. In downtown, they would be the fourth most visible bank there...so, it doesn't make sense, even with the BOA building at NH. 

Then again, I could be wrong, and I would love to be wrong. 

[RALNATIVE]

48 minutes ago, Rufus said:

@RALNATIVE and @carolina1792 are both correct. In 1992 FCB was planning to design a 30-story tower now where PNC is located, but they backed off the plan for unknown reasons. This was at the height of downtown not being open to pedestrians, so I am sure that played a part. The rendering was this gorgeous tower of stone that had columns at the top. I'll see if I can find it. That being said, I think I prefer PNC to their proposal only because PNC incorporates so many uses. 

And then when North Hills started taking off, there was talk of the bank taking the lots behind the round building on Six Forks and building a campus there. They even demolished the houses that abutted the property. Eventually that went nowhere and they moved a lot of their growing operations to the former BTI Building that now has their logo. They own three buildings right there -- the white one on Rowan, the round building, and the taller building. I doubt they will want to go downtown. It's not their target market, both in terms of land and image. North Hills is their market. They like the demographics and money that are in the NH area. In downtown, they would be the fourth most visible bank there...so, it doesn't make sense, even with the BOA building at NH. 

Then again, I could be wrong, and I would love to be wrong. 

I think that as downtown continues to gain momentum, especially with Red Hat, Citrix and now Pendo  being big players in downtown tech, banks will see the advantages of having a major presence downtown. FCB needs to focus on the future, and not remain stuck in its past if it hopes to compete with larger banks in commercial banking.

[Rufus]

51 minutes ago, RALNATIVE said:

I think that as downtown continues to gain momentum, especially with Red Hat, Citrix and now Pendo  being big players in downtown tech, banks will see the advantages of having a major presence downtown. FCB needs to focus on the future, and not remain stuck in its past if it hopes to compete with larger banks in commercial banking.

Let's hope you are right. FCB is controlled by the Holding family, including retiring Republican House Rep. George Holding. In the past, the bank has truly just wanted to exist for the upper crust, and shirked away from a lot of retail banking. I believe that is changing, and I believe they are seeing that being where tech and development are happening is going to be key moving forward. 

[RALNATIVE]

43 minutes ago, Rufus said:

Let's hope you are right. FCB is controlled by the Holding family, including retiring Republican House Rep. George Holding. In the past, the bank has truly just wanted to exist for the upper crust, and shirked away from a lot of retail banking. I believe that is changing, and I believe they are seeing that being where tech and development are happening is going to be key moving forward. 

Let's face it, banks are in the business of money. They go where the wealth is. Right now, Raleigh (downtown in particular) is being flooded with millenials in high tech that make lots of money. It would be foolish for any bank to not recognize and seize upon that potential for the sake of catering to dinosaurs.

Edited October 19, 2020 by RALNATIVE

[RALNATIVE]

Bandwidth planning a new corporate HQ campus off of Edwards Mill Rd.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article246581138.html

 

 

[rolly]

That Bandwith, Inc. HQ looks sweet.  But on UrbanPlanet it'll get a thumbs down, as the preference is for the stack and pack model.  Meaning it should have gone downtown like Pendo, Citrix, and Redhat.  This would have been great in the new Fayeteville tower next to the capital, or perhaps in Kane's Peace street project (maybe anchoring one of those 40-story towers).

But, alas, another suburban-style office.  We'll take it, but complain about what 'could have been'.     

[rucker]

Bandwidth company culture steers towards open spaces, mental well being, large scale company activities including exercise and proximity to incredible outdoor spaces like Umstead, Schenck Forest, and NCMA. Not every firm values being stuffed in a highirise where their employees can belly up at a bar every afternoon. This is great news and Raleigh benefits from all types of large scale economic development.