Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[GeauxCLT]

Looks like the lane and sidewalk could be open soon. If that tweet from RDF initiated this, I owe him a beer. 

[KJHburg]

from the Charlotte Business Journal subscriber article about a mysteriously large user interested in some airport owned land near Amazon's new warehouse.  Likely warehouse or distribution related. 

""The city of Charlotte has a commercial economic development project in the works that could occupy some of the available 2,000 acres at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.  The code name is Project Nighthawk. It would occupy airport land near a huge $200 million Amazon distribution facility that opens this holiday season, says Stuart Hair, director of economic and community affairs at the airport.  Undisclosed is the amount of investment and the number of jobs involved in the project, along with the acreage it would occupy.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/19/economic-development-project-eyes-airport-site.html?

 

[J-Rob]

Obviously I enjoy speculating.  Since the airport doesn't know the potential company, could this be for Sherwin Williams?  Would be enough reason for corporate offices and a large R&D facility.

[KJHburg]

^^^ a research and development facility would obviously work there I doubt offices due to fact you can't build over a couple of stories but a R&D facility sure. 

[J-Rob]

Couldn't they build a campus though? 4 or 5 buildings all less than 5 floors tall?  Regardless, the airport continues to be a fantastic economic development catalyst.  For the record, I would prefer corporate office be Uptown with R&D facilities elsewhere, perhaps by the airport.

[KJHburg]

42 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

Couldn't they build a campus though? 4 or 5 buildings all less than 5 floors tall?  Regardless, the airport continues to be a fantastic economic development catalyst.  For the record, I would prefer corporate office be Uptown with R&D facilities elsewhere, perhaps by the airport.

since we are talking about that land right on Wilkinson I guess it is could be as tall Amazon warehouse which is basically like a 3 story building.  IF Sherwin Williams is interested in Charlotte I think they would lean uptown center city but with a suburban R&D as is the setup in Cleveland.  

anyway I am glad this vacant land is being developed the airport has bought it up for the last 30-40 years and only now is it getting a new life.  Whatever Project Nighthawk is I hope it lands here by the CLT airport.  

[cltbwimob]

I wonder where exactly this will be in relation to the Amazon building.  It seems like the area to the south of the facility between Wilkinson and the RR tracks could be used to build a large ramp for aircraft.  Maybe (hopefully) Amazon is looking at building an air cargo hub here.  They did just add an additional flight at Charlotte.

[KJHburg]

2 minutes ago, cltbwimob said:

I wonder where exactly this will be in relation to the Amazon building.  It seems like the area to the south of the facility between Wilkinson and the RR tracks could be used to build a large ramp for aircraft.  Maybe (hopefully) Amazon is looking at building an air cargo hub here.  They did just add an additional flight at Charlotte.

There is a whole area of airport owned land all north of Wilkinson south of I-85 and east of I-485 and west of Little Rock Rd.   Used to be a neighborhood, mobile home park, some businesses etc. 

[KJHburg]

In the rumor mill news about Sherwin Williams Charlotte gets a mention from the Dallas Morning News along with the Big D and the ATL and of course metro Cleveland can not be counted out.  and don't worry there are other companies looking.  

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2019/09/17/sherwin-williams-is-hunting-a-new-headquarters-so-of-course-dallas-gets-a-mention/

okay can someone put a Paint bucket on top of this tower in lieu of the Krispy Kreme logo? this building on 3rd St is still looking for an anchor tenant. 

 

[rancenc]

100 jobs coming to Mecklenburg County

https://businessnc.com/custom-printing-company-to-open-warehouse-bring-100-jobs-to-charlotte/

 

[SydneyCarton]

7 hours ago, rancenc said:

100 jobs coming to Mecklenburg County

https://businessnc.com/custom-printing-company-to-open-warehouse-bring-100-jobs-to-charlotte/

 

Dallas has some advantages over Charlotte (e.g., much better  museums, two nice zoos, more upscale shopping, milder winters, etc.).

However,  Charlotte is a much better place to live in my opinion.   Traffic is  better in Charlotte, and it’s closer to nice beaches and mountains.    Charlotte also is much greener than Dallas, which, in many respects, is a dust bowl.   Lastly,  while Texas has no state income taxes, the local property taxes are VERY high.

I think that Charlotte trumps Dallas or Atlanta every time.  I quite like Atlanta, but I wouldn’t want to drive from Roswell or Alpharetta to the Perimeter each day, let alone to downtown.  That commute would make Waxhaw to Uptown via Providence Road seem like a walk in the park.

Hopefully, Sherwin Williams will agree and will build a new HQ in Uptown, thereby adding another jewel to the Queen’s crown.

Charlotte’s relative proximity to Cleveland versus Dallas or Atlanta is also a big selling point, since S-W employees will want to drive back to Ohio sometimes to see family that remain in the Buckeye State.   Charlotte is 200 miles closer than Atlanta, and road trips from Dallas aren’t viable.

Edited September 20, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[KJHburg]

33 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Hopefully, Sherwin Williams will agree and will build a new HQ in Uptown, thereby adding another jewel to the Queen’s crown.

Charlotte’s relative proximity to Cleveland versus Dallas or Atlanta is also a big selling point, since S-W employees will want to drive back to Ohio sometimes to see family that remain in the Buckeye State.   Charlotte is 200 miles closer than Atlanta, and road trips from Dallas aren’t viable.

Your last point is actually very valid as Honeywell execs were quoting as saying they did not want to move too far west or even further south so their employees who still have ties to NJ could go back easily.  Dittos for a Cleveland based company as they are at the beginning of I-77 and believe me they love the beaches of both Carolinas.  Location and distance vis a vi the existing offices is important for employee retention in a major corporate move.  Ohio is still in the cat bird seat with this but Cleveland's airport is very weak compared to ours in terms of service.   That is why that article mentioned 3 hub cities Dallas Ft Worth, ATL and CLT. 

 

[SydneyCarton]

23 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Your last point is actually very valid as Honeywell execs were quoting as saying they did not want to move too far west or even further south so their employees who still have ties to NJ could go back easily.  Dittos for a Cleveland based company as they are at the beginning of I-77 and believe me they love the beaches of both Carolinas.  Location and distance vis a vi the existing offices is important for employee retention in a major corporate move.  Ohio is still in the cat bird seat with this but Cleveland's airport is very weak compared to ours in terms of service.   That is why that article mentioned 3 hub cities Dallas Ft Worth, ATL and CLT. 

 

Cleveland is actually a very nice city.  It has really great museums and cultural offerings, gorgeous old buildings, and a stunning lake front location.  In many respects, it's like a mini-Chicago (without the  great new towers).

Also, unlike NY or NJ, it's very affordable.  However, people seem to be fleeing Ohio, and the winters there are beyond miserable.  Let's keep our fingers crossed for the QC.

[Guest]

1. I'd put the odds of Sherwin Williams leaving Cleveland very low.

2. Even if they did, I'd say they'd be a suburban located  company

[Madison Parkitect]

24 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

2. Even if they did, I'd say they'd be a suburban located  company

Sherwin Williams to Ballantyne confirmed.

[SydneyCarton]

35 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

1. I'd put the odds of Sherwin Williams leaving Cleveland very low.

2. Even if they did, I'd say they'd be a suburban located  company

That would stink, but I assume that Cleveland will give SW an insane incentives package.

Edited September 20, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

That would stink, but I assume that Cleveland will give SW an insane incentives package.

I'm sure that's all this is, they have 1.5 centuries of history in Cleveland.

[Scribe]

16 minutes ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'm sure that's all this is, they have 1.5 centuries of history in Cleveland.

Yeah, but its history in Cleveland! so, there's that.

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, Scribe said:

Yeah, but its history in Cleveland! so, there's that.

ikr? they've had a terrible football team at least 50 years longer than we've had a terrible football team.

Edited September 20, 2019 by tozmervo

[csweet]

17 hours ago, cltbwimob said:

I wonder where exactly this will be in relation to the Amazon building.  It seems like the area to the south of the facility between Wilkinson and the RR tracks could be used to build a large ramp for aircraft.  Maybe (hopefully) Amazon is looking at building an air cargo hub here.  They did just add an additional flight at Charlotte.

That would be so sweet if Amazon built a cargo hub there, but there would have to be substantial taxiway configuration if they are trying to relocate away from current cargo terminals.

[Miesian Corners]

5 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'm sure that's all this is, they have 1.5 centuries of history in Cleveland.

Like Boeing in Seattle, Wachovia, Krispy Kreme, Hanes, RJReynolds, and BB&T in Winston-Salem, or SunTrust in Atlanta, or American Airlines in NYC, or IHG in Memphis, or Honeywell in New Jersey...

[CLT>]

7 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'm sure that's all this is, they have 1.5 centuries of history in Cleveland.

They also have a sizable presence in Minneapolis where they recently bought Valspar and made their former HQ the SW R&D center. Don't see that moving if the HQ is in play.

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, CLT> said:

They also have a sizable presence in Minneapolis where they recently bought Valspar and made their former HQ the SW R&D center. Don't see that moving if the HQ is in play.

that to me is one of the reasons they need a new HQ site whether in Ohio or elsewhere maybe in airline hub city like Charlotte that is easy to attract people to live. Valspar is huge too so to meld the cultures a new neutral site might be needed. 

[KJHburg]

from a subscriber article in the Triangle Biz Journal about Chris Chung head of the Economic Development Partnership of NC showing his schedule (through a public release) it is interesting to see a glimpse of how some of these big Econ Development projects come to be.   And these Redacted meetings and call are with prospects for the state.  Very interesting...    (this is just some of what this article mentioned)  

""Project Cameo, which the schedule shows was the subject of several exhaustive calls and meetings, ended up being the 1,600-job project hardware giant Lowes announced for Mooresville in June of 2019. Some didn’t have the results hoped for by officials, including those surrounding the state’s efforts to reel in USDA research agencies. Others – including a series of meetings with mystery companies in France – have not yet panned out one way or the other, at least publicly.

January 8: In Las Vegas. lodging at Treasure Island for the CES, he fits in a conference call with Kyle Sanders at Senator Thom Tillis’ office. At 5 p.m., he has a meeting – but the other occupant is redacted. Fits in other redacted meetings Jan. 9 and 10 while in Las Vegas. Hops a United Flight back to RDU Jan. 11.

Feb. 26: Chung has lunch with Wall Street Journal journalist John Carreyrou. Then he hops a flight to Charlotte via America Airlines for a redacted meeting.

March 4: Chung flies to Southwest Florida International Airport (with a stopover in Charlotte) via American Airlines. Heads to Naples, Florida where he stays at the Naples Beach Hotel & Resort. The following day he attends the Plastics News Executive Forum and has lunch with undisclosed participants, as well as two additional redacted agenda items. He’s back to the airport March 6.

April 11: Chung meets with Ward Nye, CEO of Martin Marietta. The meeting is immediately followed by a lunch whose participants are redacted. He then travels to Charlotte where he stays at the Hampton Inn Uptown for meetings, returns to Raleigh April 12.

April 26: In Cullowhee, he speaks at the Western NC Automotive & Aerospace Summit before traveling back to Raleigh and hitching an American Airlines flight to New York City, where he stays at the Hilton Times Square.

April 28: After a redacted meeting in the city the day before, he travels to the NextGen Talks conference in Brooklyn, attends another redacted meeting, and checks into Brooklyn’s William Vale Hotel.

April 30: After daily panels, speeches and another redacted meeting, he flies back to RDU via American Airlines.

May 1: Chung travels to Kannapolis via Amtrak to speak at the Cabarrus County 2019 Tourism Summit event in Concord. He returns to Cary the same day.

June 14: Hops a flight to Paris via a stop over in Charlotte, checks into the Hotel Villa Des Ternes for the Paris Air Show. While in Paris, Chung attends several meetings with companies – presumably in aerospace - many of which had names that were redacted from the records

July 26: Chung travels back to Columbus, Ohio for a series of redacted meetings. ""

 

and this goes on and on through July 31.  He earned a lot of Hilton Honors points!  He rides the train to Charlotte a good bit! and I bet many of these Redacted meetings and calls will lead to announcements.  I find all this very interesting as I once interned at an economic development agency in NC.  There is a lot of secrecy, fake names, staying at non descript hotels etc.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/09/20/from-red-hat-to-boeing-edpncs-chris-chung-has-been.html

Edited September 21, 2019 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Chime Solutions out of metro Atlanta is adding 1000 jobs in a call center here in Charlotte announced today.  (and no I don't think this the BIG one yet)  These big job announcements are starting to really pile up. 

https://qcitymetro.com/2019/09/24/chime-solutions-a-black-owned-georgia-company-will-expand-in-charlotte/

from the Twitter

City of Charlotte

 

@CLTgov

·

NEW: Atlanta-based, customer-contact service provider Chime Solutions announced that it will expand its operations in Charlotte. The company plans to hire 400 employees in Charlotte by early October and 1,000 by the end of 2020.

@CLTMayor

@ULCC704

Edited September 24, 2019 by KJHburg