Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[Mgelbach]

Any clue who or what they might be talking about?

[KJHburg]

No, as this does not sound like others rumored not sure.  Remember most of the biggest job announcements ever in NC were not whispered beforehand and the whole charade of Amazon was the exception of what normally happens.   And from my econ development days I can tell you loose lips can sink ships.    Allstate which announced 2250 jobs in Charlotte a couple years back was not once mentioned beforehand and they lease half the Railyard office space now.    Just eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut and drink some local coffee and wait.  (and no that is NOT a clue) 

 

[Guest]

Chiquita Banana is coming back.

[Blue_Devil]

My guess is a big one that no one would expect, so not Apple, Google, Amazon, etc. I am thinking FB or LockMart. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

1 hour ago, Tyree Ricardo said:

Chiquita Banana is coming back.

NASCAR has a new race being announced on 277!

[kermit]

Wings is opening 6 Charlotte stores along the Belk River and Midtown lake!

[RANYC]

Is this Charlotte or Raleigh?

[CLT2014]

If not financial services, my guess would be an industrial company based on some of the other firms that have selected Charlotte like Honeywell, Albemarle Chemical, NN Inc, Sealed Air, et.

Maybe something like Otis Worldwide, International Paper, Owens Corning, et. in industrials

Could see Campbell Soup leaving NJ for Charlotte at some point

Maybe Colgate-Palmolive wanting to get out of Manhattan in consumer goods

Edited June 29, 2020 by CLT2014

[Prodev]

XPO Logistics would be my random guess (not based on any real information). 

[Guest]

Ding Ding Ding Went the Trolley, Ring Ring Ring went the Bell

Edited June 29, 2020 by Guest

[Boricua]

 

[videtur quam contuor]

7 minutes ago, Tyree Ricardo said:

Ding Ding Ding Went the Trolley, Ring Ring Ring went the Bell

From "Meet Me in Saint Louis" 1944. An excellent movie (though the colorization here is a bit over the top)

Edited June 29, 2020 by tarhoosier

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, tarhoosier said:

From "Meet Me in Saint Louis" 1944. An excellent movie (though the colorization here is a bit over the top)

Yea that was the best hint I could come up, but I see Ashley has gotten the scoop out there. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Guest

[navigator319]

I find the choice of University odd for the type of jobs and people that would fill them. What do I know though. Lots more details I’m sure in the coming days and weeks. Really great news for Charlotte.

[SouthEndCLT811]

1 minute ago, navigator319 said:

I find the choice of University odd for the type of jobs and people that would fill them. What do I know though. Lots more details I’m sure in the coming days and weeks. Really great news for Charlotte.

Wonder if they'll be the primary tenant in this redevelopment

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/169729/view-renderings-20-5-acre-waterfront-development-planned-for-university-city/

[QCxpat]

6 hours ago, KJHburg said:

No, as this does not sound like others rumored not sure.  Remember most of the biggest job announcements ever in NC were not whispered beforehand and the whole charade of Amazon was the exception of what normally happens.   And from my econ development days I can tell you loose lips can sink ships.    Allstate which announced 2250 jobs in Charlotte a couple years back was not once mentioned beforehand and they lease half the Railyard office space now.    Just eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut and drink some local coffee and wait.  (and no that is NOT a clue) 

 

 

Today's  Charlotte Business Journal. "Health Insurance Giant Centene expected to add thousands of jobs in new Charlotte operation" by Ashley Fahey  (Subscriber article)

Excerpt:  "A Fortune 50 company is expected to be the subject of an economic development announcement this week in Charlotte that would be the largest in recent memory.  Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC), a health insurance giant based in St. Louis, is set to add a large Charlotte campus in the University area, according to multiple commercial real estate sources.  A source said the campus could eventually measure up to 1 million square feet.  The move is rumored to be one of the largest economic development investments in North Carolina's history, with more than 3,000 jobs and nearly $400 million in state incentives, according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal.  There are currently 46 job postings for Centene in Charlotte, many of which are in information technology and human resources.  Jobs being sought include IT managers, business system analysts and software engineers.  There are eight leadership roles currently listed for Charlotte, including an IT director.   A director of talent attraction and client management role would, among other things, identify and recruit "top technology professionals."  Another posted position, executive talent adviser, would "create and present talent solutions" to attract individuals at the executive and technical levels."  ...

"At 11 a.m. Wednesday, the state's economic investment committee is scheduled to meet to "consider one or more economic development proposals."  The group votes on Job Development Investment Grants, the primary incentives bucket for major economic development expansions or relocations.  A source with the city of Charlotte confirmed an economic development announcement is scheduled at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday." ...  "David Rhoades, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Commerce, declined to comment Monday morning about the Centene rumor."  "While we talk to many companies about their site location strategies and the advantages of doing business in North Carolina, we don't discuss those conversations nor share any documentation until such time as the organization makes a public announcement of their site decision," Rhoades said." ... 

"Centene ranked No. 42 on this year's Fortune 500 list.  The company has more than 56,000 employees and reported $74.6 billion in revenue last year."  "If the rumors are true, the investment would expand on Charlotte's recent tech-job momentum, even outside of the city's traditional financial services sector."

 

Link to CBJ Subscriber article:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/06/29/health-insurance-giant-centene-expansion-charlotte.html  

Edited June 29, 2020 by QCxpat

[UrbanCharlotte]

What are the odds this includes an uptown component in the near future?

[kermit]

39 minutes ago, UrbanCharlotte said:

What are the odds this includes an uptown component in the near future?

I am guessing slim-to-none. There are no agglomerative benefits for a health care firm in Uptown. I do wonder if Premier Health in Btyne (a big get from the Great Recession) may want to consider a move to U City now for talent pooling reasons? (but probably not, clustering benefits in an industry like this (paper pushing) are not particularly high)

Edited June 29, 2020 by kermit

[KJHburg]

43 minutes ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Wonder if they'll be the primary tenant in this redevelopment

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/169729/view-renderings-20-5-acre-waterfront-development-planned-for-university-city/

I think this is way too small as this new building is 182,000 sq ft and it sounds like they would need a lot more space than that.    Though this is a great building to be built at university place near LYNX station.  

[CharlotteWkndBuzz]

U-City needs a new tallest.   I remember a long time ago there was a tower proposed at the corner of Tryon and Mallard Crk Church.  There's actually a lot of space for a campus around that area.  "The Campus could eventually be up to 1 million sqft" which is a ton.  Wells Fargo CIC is roughly 1.4 mil sqft for reference.  Where ever they decide, this is big news!  Glad to see U-City on the rise again.  Light rail development is helping some, but this area is a low key sleeping giant and is always under everyone's radar imo.  Stuff just needs to materialize and this is a great step forward. 

Edited June 29, 2020 by CharlotteWkndBuzz

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, Tyree Ricardo said:

Ding Ding Ding Went the Trolley, Ring Ring Ring went the Bell

 

2 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

From "Meet Me in Saint Louis" 1944. An excellent movie (though the colorization here is a bit over the top)

Way , but one of my favorite american dad gags: 

 

[RANYC]

Sounds like a huge boon to North Charlotte, and perhaps there's an opportunity for the project to be anchored by the north end of the blue line. 

Had this project been announced 6 months ago, would Uptown have been the likely location for office consideration?

 

[KJHburg]

38 minutes ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

U-City needs a new tallest.   I remember a long time ago there was a tower proposed at the corner of Tryon and Mallard Crk Church.  There's actually a lot of space for a campus around that area.  "The Campus could eventually be up to 1 million sqft" which is a ton.  Wells Fargo CIC is roughly 1.4 mil sqft for reference.  Where ever they decide, this is big news!  Glad to see U-City on the rise again.  Light rail development is helping some, but this area is a low key sleeping giant and is always under everyone's radar imo.  Stuff just needs to materialize and this is a great step forward. 

There is a spot at Mallard Creek and N Tryon that Lincoln Harris was pitching for up 1 M sq ft but I think they sold it to Novant health.  

I think the Wells CIC is about 2 million sq ft. 

[kermit]

32 minutes ago, RANYC said:

Had this project been announced 6 months ago, would Uptown have been the likely location for office consideration?

Nope.

Heath care firms (particularly a non-HQ) get no benefit from uptown rents.

Edited June 29, 2020 by kermit

[JHart]

Every time I look up numbers on health insurance companies I am always taken back. This is a 35 year old company with only 50,000 employees that somehow brings in $75B a year off our healthcare system. I'm all for new Charlotte jobs and HQs, but you won't see a tear shed from me if this company no longer exists. Hopefully those state incentives are spread out over several years..