The Good News Report

[HighRiseHillbilly]

11 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Bert Hesse and his studio plan was basically to have it  built all with city money with limited private investment that was the problem.  Georgia at the time had already increased their incentives and  his plan was not good for the taxpayers.      This Eastland plan seems much more reasonable.  I still think it has a lot of office space 500,000 sq ft and I would hope there could be some flexibility in any plan approved for more housing.  

Like I said, it was a total mess, but the basis for the idea was a good one and many, many people were ready for it. Had it been done properly, it would have been great for the city and the state as a whole. 

I'm glad the Eastland property is finally  being developed, but just because one thing happens in Charlotte doesn't mean something else can't happen. Someone would have found a different location for a soccer camp had the studio panned out and should this plan go well and the movie stars align in the future, someone will find a different location for a studio. It's not an either-or situation. 

[QCxpat]

By Andrew Dunn - International Co-working firm SPACES opening location in South End by Common Market, Charlotte Agenda, 08/29/2018.   "In May 2019, international co-working company SPACES plans to open a location sandwiched between the new Common Market and the Pollack Shores apartment community well underway.  SPACES will be in the remaining Tremont Center building.  It’s also just down the street from the Bang Bang Burgers and in walking distance of Sycamore Brewing."  Link:  https://www.charlotteagenda.com/138757/international-coworking-firm-spaces-opening-location-in-south-end-by-common-market/

Edited September 1, 2018 by QCxpat
tighten up post

[KJHburg]

Don't let anyone tell you Raleigh Durham area is growing faster than the Charlotte metro.  It is not.  2017 GMP Gross Metropolitan Product is growing faster.  From a subscriber article in the Triangle Business Journal and yes I subscribe to that one too.

""The 2017 GMP numbers are in from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the trend lines show the Charlotte MSA continues to contribute more to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) than any other North Carolina metro.  For Raleigh, however, things cooled off considerably since the 2016 numbers came out. Raleigh's real Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) clocked in at $72.6 billion — up 2.7 percent from 2016 numbers, and enough to rank the metro 93rd in terms of GMP growth. In 2016, the Raleigh-Cary MSA GMP grew 3.7 percent.   In contrast, the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA registered a GMP of $146 billion, up 3.5 percent from the year before. The percent growth ranked the Queen City as the 49th fastest in the nation. GMP growth for the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA was non-existent last year. In fact, there was a minuscule drop in the value ($43.4 billion) between 2016 and 2017.""

here is the whole article if you can see it https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/09/18/charlotte-metro-dusts-raleigh-in-gdp-growth.html?ana=e_du_prem&s=article_du&ed=2018-09-18&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1537308145&j=83897111

from the BEA  https://www.bea.gov/news/2018/gross-domestic-product-metropolitan-area-2017

a comparison from the ATL metro Atlanta and yes the QC is growing faster than the big A. 

""Metro Atlanta's GDP grew in 2017 to $334.5 billion from $325 billion the year before, or 2.9 percent, the BEA said.""

Edited September 18, 2018 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

follow up to the above information here are your top 20 large metro areas

The 30 largest U.S. metro areas ranked by 2017 GDP growth are:

• 1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 7.6%
• 2. Austin-Round Rock, TX 6.9%
• 3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 5.2%
• 4. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX 4.6%
• 5. Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN 4.1%
• 6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 3.9%
• 7. Pittsburgh, PA 3.7%
• 8. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO 3.6%
• 9. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 3.5%
• 10. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 3.4%
• 11. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA 3.4%
• 12. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 3.0%
• 13. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 2.9%
• 14. Cleveland-Elyria, OH 2.9%
• 15. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 2.8%
• 16. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 2.8%
• 17. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 2.7%
• 18. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV 2.7%
• 19. Raleigh, NC 2.7%
• 20. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN 2.4%

[tozmervo]

I think the rockstar on that list is #17. Really happy to see that. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

10 hours ago, tozmervo said:

I think the rockstar on that list is #17. Really happy to see that. 

#14 is even MORE surprising. 

[KJHburg]

^^ Both Detroit and Cleveland part of manufacturing renaissance especially Detroit. 

[Richhamleigh, DC]

The combined GDP of the CLT - GSO - RDU crescent is $406.3b.  

The GDP of ATL is $385B

The GDP of GA is $545B

The GDP of CLT is $174B

The GDP of NC is $538B

One more comparison.  "Metro ATL" covers over 8100 square miles, a bit more than the size of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and western Massachusetts combined.  The Atlanta CSA is 6.5 million.  The area of the "CLT - GSO - RDU crescent" is about 9000 square miles.  The population is 6.8 million.  The statistical comparison is fairly similar.  Here are some differences, as I see it.

Georgia has one engine for growth.  North Carolina has several economic centers, plus 3 major tourism regions:  1. mountains+Asheville, 2. the OBX and 3. Wilmington-MB area).  Georgia's "equivalents" to NC's coastal and mountain areas of tourism pale in comparison.  

The two states have been neck - and - neck for a few decades (Georgia's economic GDP per capita though caught up to and just passed NC in 2018).  At some point, I wonder if one of them breaks away or do they continue to grow at the same trajectory indefinitely.

 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

1 hour ago, Phillydog said:

The combined GDP of the CLT - GSO - RDU crescent is $406.3b.  

The GDP of ATL is $385B

The GDP of GA is $545B

The GDP of CLT is $174B

The GDP of NC is $538B

One more comparison.  "Metro ATL" covers over 8100 square miles, a bit more than the size of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and western Massachusetts combined.  The Atlanta CSA is 6.5 million.  The area of the "CLT - GSO - RDU crescent" is about 9000 square miles.  The population is 6.8 million.  The statistical comparison is fairly similar.  Here are some differences, as I see it.

Georgia has one engine for growth.  North Carolina has several economic centers, plus 3 major tourism regions:  1. mountains+Asheville, 2. the OBX and 3. Wilmington-MB area).  Georgia's "equivalents" to NC's coastal and mountain areas of tourism pale in comparison.  

The two states have been neck - and - neck for a few decades (Georgia's economic GDP per capita though caught up to and just passed NC in 2018).  At some point, I wonder if one of them breaks away or do they continue to grow at the same trajectory indefinitely.

 

I've always thought of the two as Illinois and Pennsylvania of the South. IL centralized around Chicago, PA around Pittsburgh and Philly. However much closer together and more similar than those two. Atlanta is fairly well connected from Birmingham, Chattanooga, Greenville and Nashville fairly close, not as isolated as you'd think. Atlanta and Charlotte will continue to grow into each other. In some ways Atlanta /Charlotte/Raleigh are the same engine, a southern megalopolis, in the same way Boston/NYC/Philly/DC all stoke growth for each other. State borders simply cut the lines of demarkation within a similar region (both politically and socially). NC will outgrow GA bc it has more undeveloped Urban/suburban areas between them but i think they will be fairly similar in growth going forward. Savannah will probably outgrow Wilmington as it gets deeper cuts in the port (also has a close relationship with JAX port), and obviously ATL has the biggest airport in the world, so the tourism #s in GA are technically higher I would imagine.

Edited September 21, 2018 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[Vitamin_N]

9 hours ago, Phillydog said:

The combined GDP of the CLT - GSO - RDU crescent is $406.3b.  

The GDP of ATL is $385B

The GDP of GA is $545B

The GDP of CLT is $174B

The GDP of NC is $538B

One more comparison.  "Metro ATL" covers over 8100 square miles, a bit more than the size of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and western Massachusetts combined.  The Atlanta CSA is 6.5 million.  The area of the "CLT - GSO - RDU crescent" is about 9000 square miles.  The population is 6.8 million.  The statistical comparison is fairly similar.  Here are some differences, as I see it.

Georgia has one engine for growth.  North Carolina has several economic centers, plus 3 major tourism regions:  1. mountains+Asheville, 2. the OBX and 3. Wilmington-MB area).  Georgia's "equivalents" to NC's coastal and mountain areas of tourism pale in comparison.  

The two states have been neck - and - neck for a few decades (Georgia's economic GDP per capita though caught up to and just passed NC in 2018).  At some point, I wonder if one of them breaks away or do they continue to grow at the same trajectory indefinitely.

 

Using these numbers above,  if CLT-GSO-RDU were a country it would be the world's 29th biggest economy, between Austria and Norway.

[cltbwimob]

To follow up on this discussion, the bizjournal had a neat little slideshow detailing the GMP rankings as well as their 5 year growth.  

Metro Charlotte is by far the biggest economic engine in the Carolinas.  Charlotte MSA's economy is larger than the economies of Raleigh, Durham/Chapel Hill, and Greensboro/High Point MSAs combined.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/21/slideshow-where-charlotte-ranks-among-us-metros.html#g/441742/18

[atlrvr]

Not sure if this is good or bad news, or maybe no news, but Citigroups office building in Fort Mill is headed towards foreclosure, as it appears Citi won't commit to signing a long term lease there.  Their lease ends in 2020.  

Possibly Citi is waiting for the last minute to decide, but the owner I'm sure offered a sweet deal to get them to renew long term.

Given that Citi keeps hiring corporate type jobs here, it's a hopeful sign they are looking to expand or move into more prominent space.

[kermit]

15 minutes ago, atlrvr said:

Not sure if this is good or bad news, or maybe no news, but Citigroups office building in Fort Mill is headed towards foreclosure, as it appears Citi won't commit to signing a long term lease there.  Their lease ends in 2020.  

Possibly Citi is waiting for the last minute to decide, but the owner I'm sure offered a sweet deal to get them to renew long term.

Given that Citi keeps hiring corporate type jobs here, it's a hopeful sign they are looking to expand or move into more prominent space.

As an aside, my neighbor was a construction supervisor on this building. When I asked about the building design, hoping to divine Citi's employee mix on site, he quipped "its a prison" in reference to it being all cubicle space. 

[KJHburg]

320 new jobs coming to Charlotte as an expansion of Dentsply Sirona a dental equipment manufacturer.  Most of the jobs are corporate headquarter type.  Here is the  press release

https://charlottechamber.com/clientuploads/Economic_pdfs/Announcements/Dentsply-Sirona-Press-Release.pdf    According to the press release at above Meck average wages which is good. 

Company press release and it will involve a training center which would seem to generate a lot of hotel nights

https://news.dentsplysirona.com/en/corporate-news/2018/dentsply-sirona-charlotte-branch-moving-offices.html

Business Journal article says average salary $72,000  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/25/dental-equipment-maker-picks-mecklenburg-county.html?ana=TRUEANTHEMTWT_CH&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5baa5f7f9ac56400011954d1&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Edited September 25, 2018 by KJHburg

[QCxpat]

From CBJ Morning Buzz: "Charlotte ZIP a hot spot for millennial homebuyers," Charlotte Business Journal. by Jen Wilson, September 26, 2018.

"A Charlotte ZIP code that encompasses a section of the newly opened light-rail extension is a hot spot for millennial home buyers,  according to a report out this morning from Realtor.com."  ...  "While no area in the Carolinas made the top 10, the 26262 ZIP code in Charlotte, stretching from just north of the NoDa neighborhood along the Interstate 85 corridor to the University area, lands at No. 22. That part of town is seeing a surge in interest tied to the opening earlier this year of the Charlotte Area Transit System's Blue Line Extension.  And according to a previous CBJ analysis, that ZIP ranked among local areas where homes were selling the fastest in 2017.  Only two other ZIPs in the Carolinas were included in the list of 50 — Raleigh's 27604 at No. 34, and Durham's 27704 at No. 46."

Links:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/09/26/cbj-morning-buzz-charlotte-zip-a-hot-spot-for.html

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/millennial-homebuyers-are-driving-realtorcoms-2018-hottest-zip-codes-in-america-report-300719069.html

[Nick2]

Not sure where I should post this but it's definitely good news so I'll post here. A three story warehouse in uptown (217 North Graham) is being saved and renovated by Nicole and Ron Sodoma (of Sodoma law). This building is only a block away from the Polk building and they're going to spend millions on it to renovate (they only paid 3.6 million to but it for reference) so maybe there is still hope for Polk.

Their plans for it seem excellent. 3,800 sq ft of street facing retail and they're going to keep as much of the original structure as possible. The Sodoma law firm will be moving into the top two floors for a new office.

Subscriber only article: https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/10/01/photos-law-firm-to-move-uptown-after-couple-upfits.html

 

Edited October 3, 2018 by Nick2

[Nick2]

This is the building:

 

[QClifer]

That’s the old Graham realty building. They moved to east Blvd I noticed recently. 

Its a great building inside but really dated.  They’ll be putting a ton of money in it for a rehab 

[Matthew.Brendan]

Where there’s a will there’s a way...

[QCxpat]

Tremendously enjoyable read by UP's very own Clayton Sealey, "16 projects under construction now in Uptown and South End - and 10 more on the way," Charlotte Agenda, October 4, 2011.

Excerpt.  "In the past 20 years urban Charlotte has gone from a sleepy office park to a true urban center teeming with residents, workers and visitors. Everywhere you go, you’ll see cranes swinging material back and forth, orange barrels lining the streets, fences wrapped with renderings and workers in hard hats buzzing about. Whether it be new restaurants, homes, stores, or the latest high rise, there’s always so much going on in Charlotte development that it gets a little hard to follow. This is a guide to the most important projects currently under construction in Uptown and South End and why you should care about them."

courtesy of Beacon Partners

Link:  https://www.charlotteagenda.com/141974/16-projects-under-construction-now-in-uptown-and-south-end-and-10-more-on-the-way/

Edited October 4, 2018 by QCxpat
rendering of RailYard

[KJHburg]

In other news US Census Bureau counted the breweries in every state and NC with its 129 as of 2016 ranks as having the most of any state in the south and yes that includes Texas and  Florida

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/10/americas-love-affair-with-craft-beer.html?eml=gd&utm_campaign=20181004msacos1ccstors&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

[jednc]

4 hours ago, KJHburg said:

In other news US Census Bureau counted the breweries in every state and NC with its 129 as of 2016 ranks as having the most of any state in the south and yes that includes Texas and  Florida

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/10/americas-love-affair-with-craft-beer.html?eml=gd&utm_campaign=20181004msacos1ccstors&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Well, contrary to what ignorant people believe, Florida and Texas are part of the South. (Not saying you are one of those, just always blows my mind how many don't grasp this fact)

Edited October 5, 2018 by jednc

[Nick2]

43 minutes ago, jednc said:

Well, contrary to what ignorant people believe, Florida and Texas are part of the South. (Not saying you are one of those, just always blows my mind how many don't grasp this fact)

Florida, the state where the further north you go, the more southern it gets. 

[KJHburg]

Charlotte is in the top 4 of US metro for attracting workers, jobs etc according to Linkedin.

Charlotte is a top destination for workers which in the low unemployment environment we are in now helps us to attract companies.  Affordable housing vis a vi the large coastal markets makes us even more attractive.  

Read the report here and the report keeps mentioning Charlotte Charlotte Charlotte LOL

https://economicgraph.linkedin.com/resources/linkedin-workforce-report-october-2018

Edited October 5, 2018 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Charlotte is one of the top 10 cities nationwide for startups according to Forbes magazine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2018/10/01/the-top-10-rising-cities-for-startups/#c5f94906b377