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New Report: The Evolution of Suburban Office Parks

Posted on October 7, 2019

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published a new report titled "Profiles in the Evolution of Suburban Office Parks," by Dustin C. Read, Ph.D./J.D.

The author interviewed five developers who have recently updated suburban office parks in the United States and Canada to learn how they made these properties relevant for today's market.

Key Takeaways:

  • Redeveloped office parks must fit the preferences of the local workforce and the needs of local employers.
  • Developers should seek to understand local officials' priorities.
  • Developers should build flexibility into their plans and partner with creditors who understand that they may need to adapt to unforeseen circumstances.
  • Developers can maximize the value of their improvements by leveraging design, technology and amenities to develop a property's identity and build community.
  • Rebranding is often a critical component of a successful redevelopment strategy.
 Read the Report.

Solving the Construction Worker Shortage Puzzle

Posted on October 1, 2019

By Shawn Moura

In recent years, builders have faced a shortage of workers that has only grown more acute amid increasing demand for construction and record-low unemployment. Many of the 2.2 million construction workers who lost their jobs during the last recession either retired or found employment in other industries. At the same time, fewer new workers are taking their place because millennials are less attracted to careers in construction than past generations. Workers under the age of 25 make up only 9.0% of the construction workforce in the United States versus 12.3% of the nation’s overall workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A report published by the NAIOP Research Foundation in July , “Addressing the Workforce Skills Gap in Construction and CRE-related Trades,” examines how employers are partnering with local communities in innovative training and recruitment programs to boost the supply of skilled construction workers in both urban and rural areas.

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Profiles in the Evolution of Suburban Office Parks

Posted on September 22, 2019

By Dustin Read

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published a new report titled "Profiles in the Evolution of Suburban Office Parks," by Dustin C. Read, Ph.D./J.D.

The author interviewed five developers who have recently updated suburban office parks in the United States and Canada to learn how they made these properties relevant for today's market.

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Service Resiliency is Make-or-break for Today's Tenants

Posted on August 22, 2019

By Linda Strowbridge

Strategically parked over a manhole on a downtown Manhattan street, John Meko spent months working inside a 20-foot storage trailer and learning about resiliency the hard way.

Meko was wrestling with the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. His employer at the time was an internet service provider (ISP) that supported about 200 office buildings in New York City, primarily in the Financial District. The massive storm and flooding had destroyed electrical and internet infrastructure throughout large sections of the city, and businesses were desperate to regain service so they could resume their operations.

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Parking Perplexities Facing Developers

Posted on August 21, 2019

By Mark L. Elliott, David C. Kirk and Jenna E. Lee

Shared parking paired with technology offers solutions for changes in building usage.

Providing parking for commercial properties has always been a challenge for developers, but it’s even more so today. Why?

First, no one really knows where parking needs and requirements are heading, especially for commercial office space. On one hand, there is the densification of work space, which has seen the square footage per employee decrease. According to research from Cushman & Wakefield, the national average in 2018 was 194 square feet per employee, which is down 8.3 percent from 2009. That suggests more parking is needed for office users and their buildings, which now have more people working in the same amount of space.

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Industrial Demand Forecast Decreases as Economy Slows

Posted on August 19, 2019

By Dr. Hany Guirguis and Dr. Joshua Harris

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published the NAIOP Industrial Space Demand Forecast for Q3 2019.

Key Takeaways

  • The forecast for net industrial space demand has decreased amid slower growth in the U.S. economy. Absorption is now expected to average 37 million square feet per quarter for the next two years. This is a significant slowdown from the average 60 million square feet of quarterly net absorption experienced during 2017 and 2018.  
  • The average quarterly completions fell to 42 million square feet in the first half of 2019, down from an average of 54 million square feet per quarter during 2017 and 2018. Supply and demand are likely to stay in balance for the industrial sector; therefore, rents and vacancy rates should remain stable in many markets nationwide. 
  • A recession is not likely in the near term, but a general slowdown appears already underway; the first report of GDP growth in the second quarter fell to 2.1% from the 3.1% annualized result of the first quarter.
View the Forecast

Opportunity Zones Investment Strategies Take Hold

Posted on August 14, 2019

By Rich Tucker

In an era of divided government and even more divided politics, there are still public policies that can unite the left and right. One is opportunity zones.

Opportunity zones (OZs) – defined by the IRS as economically-distressed communities where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment – were added to the tax code by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

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Eight Things to Know About Industrial Real Estate Demand

Posted on August 12, 2019

By Gillam Campbell

Tariffs are in the air, but dealmaking continues on the ground in the U.S. industrial property market. Despite a slight softening, vacancy continues to hover at all-time historic lows. So, what’s driving the action? The following are eight things to know about demand for industrial property, according to JLL’s latest research Cheat Sheet:

  1. More tenants on the move, more locations needed. A year ago, our research showed 1,200 tenants seeking 439 million square feet of space. Now, roughly 1,600 tenants are in the market, looking for approximately 600 million square feet of space. The growing number of tenants includes not only new-to-market occupiers, but also companies that are looking to expand or replace square footage – whether  that means a last-mile e-commerce delivery center close to consumers or a more modern, flat-floor big-box warehouse that is ready for today’s high-tech distribution.
  2. Less is more when it comes to square footage. As consumers begin to expect next-day or even same-day delivery from their e-tailers, distribution strategies increasingly include smaller delivery centers, some of them in urban infill locations, that help companies cover the last mile to the customer. No wonder the average square footage requirement has shrunk by 10,000 square feet over the past year to reach 360,000 square feet.
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The Future of 5G in the Commercial Real Estate Industry

Posted on August 9, 2019

By Jeff Gudewicz

According to the Pew Research Center, 95 percent of Americans own a cellphone, with 77 percent owning smartphones. As traditional broadband usage has dropped in recent years, keeping tenants connected through a cellular signal has become more important than ever for those who want to stay competitive in the commercial real estate industry. And with 5G on the horizon and poised to become a disruptive threat to traditional Wi-Fi and wired internet systems, as well as a key force behind the rise of smart cities, connectivity is going to become more integral to daily life than ever before.

What is 5G?

5G, or the fifth generation of wireless technology, is a standard designed to deliver data speeds greater than 1 gigabit per second and low latency of less than 1 millisecond. This means much faster data speeds (100 times the speed of 4G LTE) and less delay between the request for a data transfer and the start of the data transfer in a cellular environment.

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City Hosting Meeting Next Wednesday on Sign, Tree Ordinance Revisions

Posted on August 9, 2019

New Report: Addressing the Workforce Skills Gap in Construction and CRE-related Trades

The NAIOP Research Foundation has published a new report titled "Addressing the Workforce Skills Gap in Construction and CRE-related Trades," by Barry E. Stern, Ph.D.

A shortage of construction and logistics workers has increased the cost of construction for developers and hampered the expansion and profitability of warehouse and distribution centers. The NAIOP Research Foundation commissioned this report to explore some of the contributing factors to the workforce shortage and how the construction and logistics industries can improve worker recruitment, training, productivity and retention.

Key Takeaways:

  • Contractors will increasingly need to adopt new technologies to improve worker productivity.
  • The most successful workforce development programs rely on multisector collaboration.
  • It is important to align workforce development programs with local trends.
  • Demonstrating that a job can be part of a long-term career is important to recruitment and retention in the logistics and construction industries.
  • The construction and logistics industries need to invest in training and recruiting high school students and recent graduates.
  • Investing in ongoing training for current employees ensures that workers have the latest skills and improves worker recruitment and retention.
 Download the Report

2019 REBIC BBQ & Candidate Meet & Greet is on August 28

Posted on August 2, 2019

REBIC’s annual BBQ & Candidate Meet & Greet is fast approaching on August 28, 2019! Make sure to get your tickets early! This annual bi-partisan Political Pig Pickin’ brings state and local candidates together with hundreds of members of the Charlotte real estate, homebuilders and development industries for an afternoon of food and fun!

WHEN: August 28, 11:30-1:30 p.m.

WHERE:  SMS Catering, 1764 Norland Rd., Charlotte, NC 28205 | View Map

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Charlotte Modifies Proposed Sign Ordinance to Allow Real Estate Directional Signs

Posted on July 31, 2019

Revised amendments to the Charlotte Sign Ordinance now permit the use of weekend directional signs for new home construction and real estate open houses, after REBIC raised objections to their elimination.

The proposed regulations for Temporary Off-Premises Signs now read as follows:

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Activating Public Spaces Can Attract Users, Create Community

Posted on July 26, 2019

By Angelo Carusi

A Nashville-area mixed-use development illustrates the uplifting potential of landscape architecture.

Mixed-use developers are devoting premium real estate to outdoor public spaces that invite the community to linger. These communal areas are continually being repurposed and reimagined through bold and creative design strategies.

The design for dynamic, open-air gathering spaces can be as important as the design for revenue-generating real estate products. Physical spaces that promote dwell time are increasingly appreciated by tenants and end users. Outdoor “rooms” where people pause to sit with a cup of coffee, watch their children play, respond to emails and texts or enjoy casual conversations are spaces where life, community, architecture and nature come together, allowing for meaningful experiences that encourage people to return to the property.

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Charlotte Sign Ordinance Amendments Appear to Ban Real Estate Directional Signs

Posted July 24, 2019

Proposed amendments to the Charlotte Sign Ordinance appear to ban weekend directional signs for new home construction and real estate open houses — a change with potentially devastating impacts for home builders and Realtors®, and one which REBIC will strongly oppose.

Weekend directional signs are one of the most effective tools buyers use to find homes for sale. Particularly in Charlotte, where most new home communities are in hard-to-find, infill locations (and often not yet identified on GPS), a ban on temporary directional signs would severely impact home sales, which are already falling due a lack of inventory.

The proposed Sign Ordinance amendments were presented at a community informational meeting last week, but no mention was made of the ban on temporary signs. The ban, however, is included on page 40 of the draft text, under ‘Prohibited Signs’:

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General Assembly Passes Legislation to Clarify Taxation of Property Management Contracts

Posted on July 23, 2019

The North Carolina General Assembly last week passed legislation supported by REBIC, the North Carolina Association of Realtors® (NCR), NAIOP Charlotte, and other industry trade groups that would clarify that residential and commercial Property Management agreements are largely not subject to the state’s Repair, Maintenance & Installation (RMI) sales tax.

SB 523 — Revenue Laws Clarifying & Administrative Changes, passed the Senate on Thursday with an amendment that requires Property Management companies to charge and remit RMI sales tax only in the following circumstances:

  1. They provide repair, maintenance, installation services for an additional charge above what is stated in the management contract.
  2. They arrange for a third party to provide the repair, maintenance, and installation services and impose an additional charge for arranging these services.
  3. More than twenty-five percent (25%) of the time spent managing an individual real property during a billing or invoice period is attributable to taxable repair, maintenance, and installation services. The property manager can voluntarily provide a written affidavit to attest that no more than 25% of their services on a given property constitute taxable RMI services, which would clear them of liability for taxation on any portion of the contract amount.

The legislation also provides specific exclusions to RMI services, which help ensure much of the work done by property management companies is not subject to taxation. They are:

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Business NC Accepting Nominations for Annual Building NC Awards

Posted on July 22, 2019

Business North Carolina and Manning Fulton are seeking nominations for the annual Building North Carolina awards, which will be featured in the November issue. Submit your suggestions on the most important commercial real-estate projects completed in the state between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 and the developer who has had the biggest impact on the industry.

Building North Carolina winners will be selected based on design, innovation and community impact in such categories as best public project, commercial project, renovation and overall design.

Nominations close July 31 2019.

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Expanding Applications for Modular Construction

Posted on July 18, 2019

By Shawn Moura

Modular construction has come a long way since a 2010 issue of Development magazine profiled the building process in “First Look – The Skyscraper’s New Look.” Commercial real estate developers are adopting modular construction – in which building components are manufactured at a facility and then transported to a construction site for assembly – for a broader range of applications and for larger projects. The process is best suited to projects that primarily consist of repeated and uniform spaces. For these projects, modular construction can substantially reduce construction time and improve quality control.

The extent to which modular construction relies on prefabrication varies from project to project. Writing for the New England Real Estate Journal, architect Henry Wheeler explains that projects can range from incorporating prefabricated electrical and plumbing system kits to partial modular construction (where portions of a room are assembled as a pod that is placed into a building) to full modular construction, where entire rooms are manufactured offsite and installed on-site. In the case of hotel rooms that are assembled using full modular construction, “every room element is pre-fabricated and replicated including the walls, windows, carpet, fixtures, accessories, and even artwork.”

Click here to read more.

Blue Line Corridor Rezoning Informational Drop-In Meeting

You are invited to drop in (see hours below) to learn about the City of Charlotte’s plan to rezone land along the Blue Line light rail corridor, in order to align with the adopted recommended future land use and community vision. A presentation will be given at 15 minutes after the hour. City staff will be on hand to help with any questions.

Cabarrus County Commission Considers Fee Proposals at Next Meeting by REBIC

Posted on July 16, 2019

At the Cabarrus County work session on July 1, Planning & Development Director Kelly Sifford discussed the Proposed Fee Increases on planning, zoning and building inspection fees.

During the presentation, Kelly did provide an overview of the several meetings held with REBIC, the Cabarrus Chapter of the Greater Charlotte HBA and the building community. REBIC proposed at those meetings that the Planning Department and building community continue these conversations quarterly, which they have agreed to. The first of these quarterly meetings will be announced shortly.

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