HopHead

750 new jobs from USAA! 600 from Credit Karma earlier this week. 1350 total between the two firms. Not a bad week in CLT!

This is a screen cap from the Charlotte Biz Journal article that KJHBurg referenced above. Construction in Lower SouthEnd with partial Uptown skyline in the background. It's really cool and summerizes the ever growing Queen City...

For years, I've wondered why the retail spots at the bottom of the parking deck next to the Spring Hill Suites stayed vacant. Thought that would be the perfect spot for some kind of cheap beer dive bar type of joint. It would kill before and after events, much like QCQ did before it shut down b/c of Covid. Just noticed that there is now an Axe throwing venue there now. Is that new? If so, perhaps that would jump start a few more places.

Something to keep an eye on with Centene building their massive east coast campus in Charlotte: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/centene-ceo-again-threatens-to-leave-missouri-this-time-over-medicaid-expansion/article_3cb90f39-60d3-5196-a972-c5bbcf4c6f76.html Centene (Fortune 42) is the largest provider Medicaid in the country and Missouri recently voted against Medicaid expansion. CEO is obviously not happy about that.

Like a lot of places, Covid killed it.

This is great news IMO. If Wells doesn't back fill the DEC, it's a prime location for a nice HQ relocation....

Further evidence that these "best of" lists are stupid lol. Charlotte certainly has it's share of really good BBQ restaurants. But, all the best BBQ in the state is east of I-95. B's BBQ in Greenville is one of my all time favorites.

From my understanding, the A's owners are not looking to sell the team, but are looking at relocation. They can still move the team without selling to another ownership group. Supposedly, Las Vegas is the front runner if they do pick up an move. Amazing that just a few years ago the city of Oakland had 3 professional sports teams. Now on the verge of none.

Rory McIIroy won his 3rd Wells Fargo Championship this past weekend in Charlotte. He posted this on FB and Twitter after winning yesterday. Free press is sometimes the best press: "Fell in love with Quail Hollow the first time I played it and knew it was special. From my first win in 2010 to today, each year the fans, staff, city of Charlotte make the week an unforgettable experience. The fans carried me through today. Thank you for the continued support." https://twitter.com/McIlroyRory/status/1391582713459662848?s=20 EDIT: Not sure why the tweet wasn't showing up, so just copied the text.

Great pics of Cincinnati, Matthew. Brendan! I love this city actually. Feel like it flies under the radar and has some neat history (Union Terminal is beautiful). I used to frequent Cincy every few years and always love the charm. People were always very cool, too. Great sites on the river and catching a Reds game was always a treat. Also, the Great American tower is pretty sweet looking to boot!

100% this.. At some point these lists just becoming meaningless. Especially when you see some of the other cities on said list. The average person probably couldn't even tell you the different between some of them too. Lol

Will be interesting to see what other secondary markets in the western part of the US, like an El Paso, that will start seeing nonstop flights to Charlotte. Really feel like air travel in the 3rd quarter of the year will really start taking off again -- and I can't wait to start traveling for work again lol

Panthers are changing the playing surface at BofA Stadium to FieldTurf from natural grass: https://www.panthers.com/news/new-playing-surface-bank-of-america-stadium Given the number of events that will be happening at the stadium in the near and long term future of the venue this isn't surprising. Panthers home games, 4 college games next season (ECU/App State, Clemson/Georgia, ACC Title Game, Duke's Mayo Bowl), new MLS team Charlotte FC starting in 2022, and the increased number of concerts it's hard for a natural surface to be maintained without being re-sodded over and over. Also, Teddy Bridgewater was traded to the Broncos this afternoon... So who will be the pick at 8 now? Hmmm...

I've been to roughly 20 of the existing MLB stadiums that are around today. For me personally, my top 3 are Petco Park (San Diego), AT&T Park (San Francisco) and PNC Park (Pittsburgh). AT&T is my favorite. Hard to beat McCovey Cove behind right field. Especially during the day... Fun fact though. It's the only ballpark in the US that you'll need a jacket for in July lol. Haven't been to the new Braves stadium yet though, but based on everything I've heard and seen here, it won't enter the top 5 chat.

Some updated renderings for the upgrades at BofA Stadium to accommodate Charlotte FC who start play in 2022: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNr5IzonGkp/?igshid=13chg7e0xou3h

If you are worth billions you also have multiple homes. Great example is Panthers owner, David Tepper, who is the NFL’s richest owner with an estimated wealth of $14.5B. He has a home here on the Quail Hollow golf course. Spends plenty of time here and donates lots of his money and time to good causes. But has interests in FL, NJ, and more. Honestly, I don’t care about how many billionaires that live here. We have a hard enough time with the skyrocketing real estate as it is. Lots of money floating around here with the pro athletes, bankers, transplants, etc that all keep putting a stake in the QC.

Some more details on this development... And this is BIG! 1.3M sqft of development as a part of the medical school. Including 1,000 apartments and 600 hotel rooms are what's in scope for the petition filed today.

Out of all the good news that's come out today, this is what I'm most excited about

Damn, missed this and posted in the other Economic thread lol

Robinhood will also be filing for an IPO too: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-23/robinhood-is-said-to-have-filed-confidentially-for-u-s-ipo Also in more local IPO news, it looks like Charlotte's own AvidXchange will be filing for an IPO later this year valued at up to $7B: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-avidxchange-ipo-exclusive-idUSKBN2BF1YJ

^I haven't been there so can't compare. Definitely would like to check out based on your review. Several people I know also rave about Old Stone in Belmont. It's on my list as well, but haven't been there yet either. We went to Steak 48 about a month ago, which has locations in Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. It was on point. I always rave about Capital Grille and Del Frisco's for high end steakhouses in Charlotte, but Steak 48 was fantastic. Drinks (we had martinis which I'd put there with Capital Grille), apps and Steaks were cooked to perfection. It's probably 10-15% more expensive so just know that, but it's a great option for high end steakhouses if you're into that..

Got it. I looked at the far left column and just divided by 365. Need to know the airline acronyms better.

^So is San Jose slated to come back? Apologies if it's already been mentioned, but I'd assume so if it isn't already with nearly 100 people per day from here going there. Interesting stats on some of those destinations. Calgary, I'd never thought they'd be up there. Also, and just speaking from experience, but I'd bet Colorado Springs would see a much higher number if there was a non-stop from CLT. Pre-Covid, I used to go out there 5-6 times a year for work and it was always waaaay easier to fly into Denver and drive the 1 hour 15 minutes to COS than it was to get the connection in Dallas to COS. A number of people I'd travel with did the same but would jump on that non-stop in a heart beat.

Great news. Not to go off on a pizza tangent, but Detroit style pizza doesn't get enough love. I'll take that every day over Chicago. Don't @ me lol

Yea, that's been an ongoing problem. Sucks because it prices out a lot of buyers that actually want to live there.