Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[U_R_]

https://www.bisnow.com/atlanta/news/office/paint-giant-sherwin-williams-eyeing-atlanta-for-hq-relocation-101291

An ATL POV looking at the potential relocation of Sherwin Williams.

“I think the early favorites here, based on everything I heard, is Atlanta, Dallas and Charlotte,” The Boyd Co. principal John Boyd said. Boyd is a noted site selection consultant for private companies, although he is not working directly with Sherwin Williams in its hunt. "The common denominator to those three markets is excellent air service," Boyd said. "And also the presence of a top university that is highly regarded in chemical sciences." Officials with Sherwin Williams announced in September that the company was on the hunt for a potential new headquarters and R&D facility, with a move occurring in 2023 at the earliest. The search includes multiple potential sites in Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and several other unidentified states. Currently, the company's headquarters is housed in a 1930s era office building in Downtown Cleveland called Landmark Office Towers at 101 West Prospect Ave. It occupies other downtown buildings for other functions. The company already has its Southeast division office in Atlanta, with 48K SF at 2800 Century Parkway in Atlanta, according to CoStar.
 

[RaleighHeelsfan]

I feel like Dallas and Atlanta are the favorites. if a "top" university is a must, why would they pick Charlotte? I mean, I hope they pick Charlotte but....

[CLT2014]

15 minutes ago, RaleighHeelsfan said:

I feel like Dallas and Atlanta are the favorites. if a "top" university is a must, why would they pick Charlotte? I mean, I hope they pick Charlotte but....

The most important part of the article: "Boyd is a noted site selection consultant for private companies, although he is not working directly with Sherwin Williams in its hunt."

Aka, he doesn't have any more insight into this than anybody else.... but the newspaper article had to run a speculative story so they just find anybody looking to get some free publicity in the press. Honestly anybody could come up with those talking points. Companies want "low costs, great talent, great schools, and a great airport." NO WAY! Tell me more!

Edited October 16, 2019 by CLT2014

[SydneyCarton]

To the extent that a great university is a requirement , the Triangle should be in the drivers seat.

[KJHburg]

word in the Cleveland media is that Ohio and the city are ponying up big bucks to have them to stay in town and specific sites in Cleveland were discussed.  

[TheOneRJ]

35 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

To the extent that a great university is a requirement , the Triangle should be in the drivers seat.

What Charlotte lacks in higher education is what the Triangle lacks in air service. 

[A2.]

19 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

word in the Cleveland media is that Ohio and the city are ponying up big bucks to have them to stay in town and specific sites in Cleveland were discussed.  

One wonders if that wasn’t the plan all along. Tell em’ your leaving, see what the deal is in the proposed cities your looking at and then see if you can’t get your home city to beat the deal. Win win for SW. 

Seems like I remember not to long ago Ray W. , with the Hornets, doing this to CLT, with the whole arena debacle. 

To be fair, we probably have also done the same when looking at a new firm. Put yourself out there, get a hit, and then use the offer as leverage at the firm you wanted to stay at all along, but just wanted some more bucks. 

A2 

Edited October 16, 2019 by A2.

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, A2. said:

One wonders if that wasn’t the plan all along. Tell em your leaving, see what hits in the proposed cities your looking at and see if you can’t get your home city to beat the deal. Win win for SW. 

Seems like I remember not to long ago Ray W. , with the Hornets doing this to CLT just a while back. 

some companies do this and it might have indeed been the plan as they publicly announced they were looking at their options.  Most companies again don't do that.

https://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2019/10/15/report-sherwin-williams-will-build-massive-new-headquarters-in-downtown-cleveland-four-sites-under-consideration

[SydneyCarton]

2 hours ago, TheOneRJ said:

What Charlotte lacks in higher education is what the Triangle lacks in air service. 

I’d rather have them go to Charlotte over the Triangle as the QC is the state’s main city, and I’d like to see it grow further.  However, with respect to your point, Charlotte Douglas is hardly JFK or Heathrow or for that matter Hartsfield or DFW.

RDU basically serves the same purposes. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[DownEast]

Huh? CLT has nonstop service to like 10 cities in NC and SC alone. RDU flies to, guess where, Charlotte, only. the only purpose they share is putting people on airplanes. CLT has only 100 fewer departures than DFW. maybe 150...Don't get me wrong. RDU punches well above it's weight but its no CLT.

[SydneyCarton]

11 minutes ago, DownEast said:

Huh? CLT has nonstop service to like 10 cities in NC and SC alone. RDU flies to, guess where, Charlotte, only. the only purpose they share is putting people on airplanes. CLT has only 100 fewer departures than DFW. maybe 150...Don't get me wrong. RDU punches well above it's weight but its no CLT.

When you look at the board in JFK or Heathrow, you see every foreign carrier in the world at destinations all over the world.   Between JFK and Newark, there are around 30 flights per day to London.

Douglas is more like RDU than it is Iike a global gateway.

Edited October 17, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[DownEast]

yeah. I was thinking more domestically for SW. but I see your point.

[SydneyCarton]

Apart from that, I hope that Charlotte gets it.

Edited October 17, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[kickazzz2000]

On 10/16/2019 at 8:53 PM, SydneyCarton said:

When you look at the board in JFK or Heathrow, you see every foreign carrier in the world at destinations all over the world.   Between JFK and Newark, there are around 30 flights per day to London.

Douglas is more like RDU than it is Iike a global gateway.

I didn’t see London or New York listed as potential cities for Sherwin Williams relocation.  There’s a reason Charlotte, Atlanta,  and Dallas come up so frequently for large domestic company relocations.  What Mr. Boyd is saying is not groundbreaking and has been said before by others.

Now that I’ve moved the goalposts back to their original spot, CLT is a whole heck of a lot closer to DFW and ATL in terms of needed destinations served NONSTOP, and on a more business friendly (I.e. frequent) timeline than RDU is.  Sorry. 
 

 

[lancer22]

32 minutes ago, kickazzz2000 said:

I didn’t see London or New York listed as potential cities for Sherwin Williams relocation.  There’s a reason Charlotte, Atlanta,  and Dallas come up so frequently for large domestic company relocations.  What Mr. Boyd is saying is not groundbreaking and has been said before by others.

Now that I’ve moved the goalposts back to their original spot, CLT is a whole heck of a lot closer to DFW and ATL in terms of needed destinations served NONSTOP, and on a more business friendly (I.e. frequent) timeline than RDU is.  Sorry. 
 

 

Correct, Mr. kickazzz

[SydneyCarton]

42 minutes ago, kickazzz2000 said:

I didn’t see London or New York listed as potential cities for Sherwin Williams relocation.  There’s a reason Charlotte, Atlanta,  and Dallas come up so frequently for large domestic company relocations.  What Mr. Boyd is saying is not groundbreaking and has been said before by others.

Now that I’ve moved the goalposts back to their original spot, CLT is a whole heck of a lot closer to DFW and ATL in terms of needed destinations served NONSTOP, and on a more business friendly (I.e. frequent) timeline than RDU is.  Sorry. 
 

 

Obviously, corporations that pay people moderate salaries don’t relocate to hyper-expensive global cities.  They go to cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas, Raleigh, and Nashville where a $125,000 salary goes relatively far.

[KJHburg]

Stamford CT based United Rentals is adding 150 back office jobs here in Charlotte and is leasing an entire 90K sq ft 3 story building.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/21/united-rentals-to-add-150-jobs-in-charlotte-with.html

[SydneyCarton]

I could see United Rentals moving a lot more people to Charlotte from Connecticut.   Staff attorneys, etc. making $200k per year would be way better off in the QC than in Fairfield County.  Stamford has mediocre schools, and, therefore, anyone who is upper middle class who lives there sends their kids to private school, which is expensive.    Other people live in the surrounding towns, which have great schools, but are very expensive (i.e., you're not living in Greenwich or New Canaan on $200k per year).

That being said, I can't see the whole company moving here because if you're CEO-level rich, Fairfield County (e.g., Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Westport, etc.) is much nicer than anywhere in Charlotte.  In any event, this is good news, and, hopefully, UR will transfer more jobs to the QC.

Edited October 22, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[KJHburg]

WSOCTV reports major economic announcement at Chamber Partnership office with the Governor in attendance at 1015 am.  

[sclark]

23 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

WSOCTV reports major economic announcement at Chamber Partnership office with the Governor in attendance at 1015 am.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/25/tech-giant-microsoft-said-to-be-to-unveiling.html?iana=hpmvp_clt_news_headline

[SydneyCarton]

That’s great news.  I’m surprised that those jobs didn’t go to the Triangle.   I hope that Charlotte strengthens its tech sector.  This will help.

[KJHburg]

Interesting I see this in the Atlanta Business Chronicle just this morning

""Microsoft Corp. is looking at Atlanta for a major expansion, the third West Coast technology company reportedly scouting areas of the city for significant growth. The Redmond, Wash. software giant has made inquiries for more than 300,000 square feet, enough room for well over 1,000 jobs, and enough space to anchor any of the multiple towers rising in Midtown, where its search has initially focused, according to multiple real estate sources.  While early in its process, one option already linked to its interest is Atlantic Yards, two new buildings that global real estate company Hines and partner Invesco Real Estate are developing in Midtown’s Atlantic Station.""

Hmm could be related and could Microsoft be interested in anchoring a new building in southend maybe like the Portman or 2nd tower Spectrum's project or the Beacon's LoSo building.  

[JHart]

49 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Interesting I see this in the Atlanta Business Chronicle just this morning

""Microsoft Corp. is looking at Atlanta for a major expansion, the third West Coast technology company reportedly scouting areas of the city for significant growth. The Redmond, Wash. software giant has made inquiries for more than 300,000 square feet, enough room for well over 1,000 jobs, and enough space to anchor any of the multiple towers rising in Midtown, where its search has initially focused, according to multiple real estate sources.  While early in its process, one option already linked to its interest is Atlantic Yards, two new buildings that global real estate company Hines and partner Invesco Real Estate are developing in Midtown’s Atlantic Station.""

Hmm could be related and could Microsoft be interested in anchoring a new building in southend maybe like the Portman or 2nd tower Spectrum's project or the Beacon's LoSo building.  

If Microsoft is adding 1000 people I would strongly doubt they would chase expensive space instead of expanding their existing campus in Charlotte

[lancer22]

I think they are going to go into the vacant building on Arrowwood right by their campus.

 

[HopHead]

Microsoft to invest $23M and add 430 high paying jobs in Charlotte. Average salary $98k.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article236604708.html