A bill that NAIOP and its members spearheaded was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives. The “Revitalizing Downtowns and Main Streets Act” establishes a new 20% tax credit to convert many underutilized or vacant commercial properties to residential use.

The bipartisan bill is sponsored by U.S. Representatives Mike Carey (R-OH) and Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).

“This legislation will spur the conversion of vacant spaces that can stimulate local economies and begin to address the housing crisis in communities across the U.S.,” said Marc Selvitelli, CAE, president and CEO of NAIOP. “This important bill allows Congress to begin rectifying many of the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that are still affecting the lives of Americans and impacting local tax revenues.”

The proposed legislation includes:

The Town of Matthews has initiated an effort to curb Short Term Rentals (STRs) through the introduction of a text amendment to its Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).  Text Amendment 2024-2 does the following:

• STRs would be required to be separated from each other by a minimum of 800 feet, measured from property lines.
• They would be required to have a zoning permit and the permit would need to be posted publicly.
• Renters would not be allowed to hold special events or gatherings.
• A local manager or operator would be required to be located in or adjacent to Mecklenburg County.

During recent Commissioner meetings, several residents spoke in favor of imposing these restrictions but based on information provided by the Town, it is unclear how significant a concern this is to the vast majority of the population.  A review of the minutes of recent meetings indicates there have been a total of ten calls to the police related to STRs during the past three and a half years.  Of those, five were initiated by the STR owners and the other five came from area homeowners.  According to Town Staff, there are currently somewhere between 20 and 40 STR properties located within the Town of Matthews where the current population stands at over 30,000.

The public hearing on the text amendment began last night and has been extended to August 12th (STR conversation runs from 2:50:36 through 4:51:40).  Look for more updates and opportunities for engagement on this topic very shortly.    

On July 1st, 2024, the City of Gastonia ended public bus operations for its residents and initiated the GoGastonia Microtransit service.  This came about when the Gastonia City Council approved a 36-month contract with River North Transit, LLC to provide on-demand transit services to riders, who currently complete approximately 144,000 trips annually.  This new delivery system will not displace ADA transportation services.

The City also determined that on-demand microtransit would better address its limited-service area, alleviate hour-long wait times, eliminate an aging fleet of buses, and provide better access to the majority of its users.  In the past fiscal year, Gastonia Transit had been operating six fixed bus routes covering nearly 295,000 miles per year while providing service to over 144,000 passengers.  The previous system was averaging only seven passengers per vehicle hour across all routes.

Want to learn more?  Tomorrow, July 17th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Gastonia Career Center, 116 Armstrong Street, Gastonia, NC 28054, the City of Gastonia will be holding several information sessions about the new service. 

RSVP Here 

Originally published on June 24, 2024, by NAIOP.

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has selected Crescent Communities as its 2024 Developer of the Year – the association’s highest honor. The award will be presented during NAIOP’s CRE.Converge conference in Las Vegas this October.  

“It is NAIOP’s honor to recognize the tremendous work of Crescent Communities as the 2024 Developer of the Year. Their ongoing commitment to advancing the commercial real estate industry through cutting-edge innovation and exemplary real estate development across many property sectors is impressive,” said Marc Selvitelli, NAIOP president and CEO. “Crescent Communities has demonstrated significant market resilience and adaptability, overcoming economic headwinds to consistently deliver value.”

Since 1979, the NAIOP Developer of the Year award has been presented to a development company that best exemplifies leadership and innovation in the commercial real estate industry. Crescent Communities was selected from an impressive slate of nominees and was evaluated by a team of seasoned developers on the following criteria: outstanding quality of projects and services; active support of the industry through NAIOP; financial consistency and stability; ability to adapt to market conditions; and support of the local community.

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Originally published on June 19, 2024, by Toby Burke for NAIOP.

Members from the three NAIOP chapters in North Carolina traveled to Raleigh last week for their legislative advocacy day within the state capitol. The two-day event provided an important opportunity for attendees to collaborate on the issues facing commercial real estate and advance the industry’s interests with state lawmakers.

NAIOP’s state card on the economic impact of commercial real estate on the national and state economies reflects the industry’s powerful contribution to North Carolina’s economy. The commercial real estate industry in North Carolina is the sixth highest-ranking state in the United States for overall contributions to the state’s gross domestic product with $44.1 billion and 312,000 jobs created and supported in 2023. NAIOP members leveraged this important information in meetings with lawmakers as part of their three legislative priorities – economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and regulatory reform.

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Originally published on June 6, 2024, by Brielle Scott for NAIOP.

Rooftop and community solar projects can advance sustainability and ESG objectives, unlock a new revenue stream, enhance community relations, and boost property values. At I.CON East this week, NAIOP New Jersey CEO Dan Kennedy moderated a panel of speakers including Matt Schlindwein, P.E., managing partner for Greek Real Estate Partners; Mark Schottinger, president at Solar Landscape; and Kat West, LEED AP, director of sustainability at Turner & Townsend, to explore the transformative potential of rooftop and community solar projects for the industrial real estate sector.

Schottinger was direct from the start: “If you’ve got a warehouse, I want to lease your roof.”

Solar power, historically, meant solar panels on the roof generated power that was used by whoever was in the building, with zero potential for scalability.

Originally published on June 6, 2024, by Brielle Scott for NAIOP.

Given the explosion in new construction, the important role of Class B (and even C) industrial properties is often overlooked – especially those under 100,000 square feet. These buildings remain a functional and economic solution to a wide range of companies, even without most modern efficiencies.

At I.CON East this week in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jim Scott, principal at Avison Young, moderated a panel that included Nick Aileo, director of acquisitions for Wharton Equity Partners; Itay Ron, senior vice president for Northeast markets at Faropoint; and Stefan Sansone, director at Bridge Industrial.

He started by sharing fundamentals for Class B properties, which account for 8.5 billion square feet or 70% of all U.S. inventory. Class B properties have the lowest vacancy rates by asset class, with much less volatility than Class A properties, and have seen continued rent growth, with a narrowing spread compared to Class A properties, Scott shared.

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Originally published on May 17, 2024, for Francis Chantree for NAIOP.

The self-storage industry stepped up to the plate during recent challenging years, again proving its resilience to real estate investors. With rising housing prices, shrinking living spaces, and changing lifestyle trends, it continues to offer a lower-cost way to get extra space for keeping all other types of possessions.

A recent StorageCafe survey found that about a fifth of Americans (18%) are currently renting storage space and an additional 14% plan to do so in the future. This ongoing engagement is boosted by the widening of the industry’s customer base during recent years, with more businesses and different types of people now discovering the service’s advantages. These clients include younger renters, more vehicle owners, and greater numbers in regions experiencing growing populations.

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Originally published on June 5, 2024, by Brielle Scott for NAIOP.

ABCO Systems started as a pipe and rail provider in New York City’s Garment District over 30 years ago, but as automation and increasing consumer demands have increased the need for more efficient goods distribution, the company has evolved to build and integrate material handling solutions designed for the modern era.

Attendees at I.CON East had the opportunity to tour the company’s facility in Carlstadt, New Jersey, which showcases the latest cutting-edge automation, storage and order fulfillment technologies transforming warehouse and distribution operations. Of the dozens of robotic, artificial intelligence-enabled, cutting-edge tools demonstrated, we’ll highlight a few.

Have you ever received a package with your item thrown inside, surrounded by bubble wrap in an oversized box? The FastFetch IntelliPack® uses AI and computations to select and identify correctly sized packing cartons, tracks replenishment of consumed cartons, and manages carton reordering from a supplier. It cuts shipping costs, reduces packaging labor, reduces landfill waste and reduces fuel consumption required for transporting packages.

The Compact Development provision proposed by Planning staff and discussed during a prior council and committee meeting, and ultimately approved by the Planning Commission's Zoning Committee was approved during last night's Charlotte City Council meeting.  This text amendment seeks to partially address the need for entry-level and workforce housing by allowing higher density developments in certain parts of the city.  Next up will be a summer discussion of strategies to increase the amount of allowable townhome developments.  We look forward to further engagement and are optimistic about the potential approval of another text amendment targeting this need this coming fall.

Our attention is also directed toward the City's Alignment Rezoning process that is already underway.  City staff is hosting webinars this evening at 6:00 pm, tomorrow during the lunch hour, and again on Thursday at 2:00 pm.  Please take time to register and participate in one of these informational sessions.

Originally published on June 6, 2024, by Natalie Fidlow, CFA for NAIOP.

When a catastrophe hits an area, nearly one-third of local businesses fail within two years; another third fail after that.

Moderator Anne Strauss-Wieder, freight and public policy instructor at Rutger’s University, opened an expert panel discussion on why businesses and communities need supply chain resilience at the I.CON East conference this week in Jersey City, New Jersey. Fortifying the supply chain is essential to secure the long-term viability of a business and its surrounding community. Disruptions over the past few years like the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and cyberattacks have underscored the vulnerability of supply chains and the need for robust strategies to mitigate risks.

How should we approach disruption?

Originally published on June 6, 2024, by Natalie Fidlow, CFA for NAIOP.

“Labor availability trumps labor costs as a top concern in the Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey markets,” said David Hickey, global managing director at Hickey Associates. He led experts in a dynamic discussion at I.CON East this week in Jersey City, New Jersey. They drilled down on the region’s data and provided strategies to navigate the tight talent market.

The War for Talent

“Four out of five employers are concerned about the competitiveness of labor and if they can find it,” said Hickey, whose firm extensively studies labor markets for logistics and industrial customers.

The City of Concord will hold its next wastewater allocation meeting on Tuesday, June 25th at 11:00 am.  Here are additional details as well as the meeting packet (over 400 pages, may take a while to download).

Originally published on May 23, 2024, by Chris Grant for NAIOP.

For many decades, the construction industry has played a vital role in reshaping communities, standing as a key indicator of economic performance and prosperity. In more recent years, labor challenges have shifted the industry’s progression, threatening to disrupt integral projects and new developments throughout the country. With issues such as a shortage of skilled laborers and the need for new technology and software, today’s general contractors are faced with many industry-specific challenges that require innovative strategies and effective planning to guarantee continued success.

OVERCOMING THE SKILLED LABOR SHORTAGE

One of the most widely known issues faced by the construction industry is the need for skilled labor. As the current workforce retires and the next generation pursues alternative career paths, the industry must find new ways to retain the knowledge and skills to successfully operate large-scale construction projects. One way to attract more individuals to pursue the trades is to partner with local high schools and technical colleges to showcase the various roles and specialty areas needed on every job site. This gives students a firsthand look at what a construction career could look like and offers a valuable alternative to traditional higher education. It’s also important to retain the processes, insights, and knowledge of the retiring generation and ensure this information is accessible to future project teams and leaders. By taking these extra steps, you can help new laborers achieve confidence in their roles and deliver high-quality results on each job site.

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The City of Concord will hold its next wastewater allocation meeting on Tuesday, June 25th at 11:00 am.  Here are additional details as well as the meeting packet (over 400 pages, may take a while to download).

Please join us from 9:00 to 10:30 am on Wednesday, July 17th for an informational session about building code changes, ongoing technology transition efforts, and a status report about plan review and third-party inspections.  For more information, please email [email protected].

During the Charlotte City Council Zoning meeting, rezoning petition #2024-033 also known as "Clean-up Text Amendment #3" was unanimously approved.  Another item, rezoning petition #2024-067, the Compact Residential Development Text Amendment, to which we have provided significant input, also received a public hearing.  While this measure is not a perfect solution it does bridge the gap until additional text amendments can be drafted that allow for additional higher-density developments to meet attainable housing supply needs.  The full Council is expected to vote on this amendment during next Monday night's meeting.