Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[KJHburg]

Here is another story this one from Triangle Biz Journal talking about office prospects for NC relocation or expansion.

""As 2024 begins, there’s a noticeable gap when it comes to companies promising to bring jobs to North Carolina — the lack of big headquarters projects.

Chris Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, said office projects used to account for 30% of his team’s pipeline of companies considering the state for relocations and expansions. But those wins were before the pandemic and the rise of remote work.

“We’re all waiting to see if and when and to what degree things like office-based employee projects return,” Chung said. “We still haven’t seen any meaningful bump in that activity. It’s been consistently 5% or less.  

But he’s optimistic and says interest hasn’t completely vanished. His team saw a few new office projects join the pipeline in November, including one headquarters facility eyeing the state. And in December, luxury watch company Audemars Piguet announced plans to bring 105 jobs to Raleigh Iron Works in a 60,000-square-foot space.

The more immediate economic development opportunities appear to be in automotive and energy sectors. One out of every seven projects in the pipeline is automotive — and that includes battery manufacturers.  Of the 260 active projects that Chung's team had at the start of December, three-fourths were recruitment deals — companies not currently operating in North Carolina. The remainder are existing employers considering expansions.  Deals that include foreign direct investment — companies coming from overseas — are increasing. Right now, they make up 45% of the pipeline, with China, Germany and Japan as the top three markets for foreign opportunities.""

Manufacturing jobs pipeline in North Carolina is growing - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

>>> I have lost faith in my Chinese announcements as they have a huge dropoff and cancellation rate.  For example Triangle Tyre a Chinese tire company never built their plant east of Rocky Mount.  Closer to home Golden Home also of China has not broken ground on their plant in Concord even though it was announced way before Eli Lilly which is ready to open their new plant soon.  Photos from 1/1/24 of the new  Eli Lilly plant. 

 

[go_vertical]

I really wish office/residential mixed use projects would become more common.  I'm sure there are intricacies (zoning laws, issues with the different rules regarding financing, etc.) that I wouldn't even begin to pretend to be knowledgeable on, but it would be great to see more announcements with five, eight, or ten floors of office topped with ten to fifteen floors of residential.  This would provide small, incremental increases in office availability that should be easier to fill up thus more palatable for lenders and result in some solid density with more people potentially living within the same building they work in or at least a couple blocks away from where they work.

Edited January 4 by go_vertical

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, go_vertical said:

I really wish office/residential mixed use projects would become more common.  I'm sure there are intricacies (zoning laws, issues with the different rules regarding financing, etc.) that I wouldn't even begin to pretend to be knowledgeable on, but it would be great to see more announcements with five, eight, or ten floors of office topped with ten to fifteen floors of residential.  This would provide small, incremental increases in office availability that should be easier to fill up thus more palatable for lenders and result in some solid density with more people potentially living within the same building they work in or at least a couple blocks away from where they work.

almost every super tall building in Austin is a mixed use tower like this office on the lower levels and residential on top.  Here are a few 

Residences at 6G | Apartments in Austin, TX (liveat6g.com)   66 stories 875 feet

Waterline, Austin TX - Work, Live & Stay (waterlineaustin.com)  this is the new tallest in Texas and Austin  73 stories and over 1000 feet  

so yes we need to do more of this in Charlotte if we want a really tall building.  

[sclark]

15 hours ago, KJHburg said:

almost every super tall building in Austin is a mixed use tower like this office on the lower levels and residential on top.  Here are a few 

Residences at 6G | Apartments in Austin, TX (liveat6g.com)   66 stories 875 feet

Waterline, Austin TX - Work, Live & Stay (waterlineaustin.com)  this is the new tallest in Texas and Austin  73 stories and over 1000 feet  

so yes we need to do more of this in Charlotte if we want a really tall building.  

And notice who the RE developer is for Waterline... formerly Lincoln Harrris' new company Lincoln Property Company... not sure if we've discussed implications of Lincoln Harris moving their HQ to Dallas. Anyone have a read on that?

[KJHburg]

4 hours ago, sclark said:

And notice who the RE developer is for Waterline... formerly Lincoln Harrris' new company Lincoln Property Company... not sure if we've discussed implications of Lincoln Harris moving their HQ to Dallas. Anyone have a read on that?

Lincoln Harris has always been affliated with Lincoln Property Co of Dallas.  Johno Harris son of Johnny Harris will run the Carolinas.  Lincoln Property of Dallas is quite comfortable with residential and mixed used towers more so that LH ever was.  So I think it will be better for their developments here.  Legacy Union that name is the name of a Lincoln Property office park in Plano or Frisco outside of Dallas.  

[sclark]

6 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Lincoln Harris has always been affliated with Lincoln Property Co of Dallas.  Johno Harris son of Johnny Harris will run the Carolinas.  Lincoln Property of Dallas is quite comfortable with residential and mixed used towers more so that LH ever was.  So I think it will be better for their developments here.  Legacy Union that name is the name of a Lincoln Property office park in Plano or Frisco outside of Dallas.  

makes sense... thank you! 

[KJHburg]

City county local economic development may be changing somewhat from the local government prespective.

Mecklenburg County wants to drive development in the Charlotte region - Axios Charlotte

as for the project talked about in Wilmington it is called River Place and it is a major success and I have parking in the new deck there and went to eat one of their restaurants.

 

 

[KJHburg]

New unicorn company is setting up its HQ here in Charlotte after an investment from Charlotte based Ridgemont Partners with current annual revenue of $680 M and expects to employ 50 at its Southend office. 

Ridgemont-backed Crete United sets up HQ in Charlotte - Business North Carolina (businessnc.com)

I wonder if this was the un-named tenant new  10,000 sq ft office lease in LoSo Station 3?  

Edited February 1 by KJHburg

[Prodev]

8 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

New unicorn company is setting up its HQ here in Charlotte after an investment from Charlotte based Ridgemont Partners with current annual revenue of $680 M and expects to employ 50 at its Southend office. 

Ridgemont-backed Crete United sets up HQ in Charlotte - Business North Carolina (businessnc.com)

In Beacon's announcement yesterday about office leasing updates at LoSo Station, there was a 10,000 SF "unnamed" tenant. Wonder if this is who it is, particularly given that they referred to the office location as "South End-area"?

[KJHburg]

Just now, Prodev said:

In Beacon's announcement yesterday about office leasing updates at LoSo Station, there was a 10,000 SF "unnamed" tenant. Wonder if this is who it is, particularly given that they referred to the office location as "South End-area"?

I think it could be the company 10,000 sq ft sounds right for 50 people and allows for growth.  

[KJHburg]

They are the un named lease for Loso 3 as I looked up their webpage and there it was.  So good new to market office lease!

[KJHburg]

BIGGEST JOB ANNOUNCEMENT IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN SEVERAL YEARS!

""Siemens Energy is bringing more than 500 jobs to North Carolina.

The manufacturing jobs, to be located in both Mecklenburg and Wake counties, were disclosed during today's meeting of the Economic Investment Committee, a group under the N.C. Department of Commerce responsible for approving incentive packages.

The majority of the 559 announced positions will be in Mecklenburg, and 85 jobs will be in Wake County, according to Gov. Roy Cooper's office. The jobs are high-paying, with minimum wages of more than $87,000, according to what the company told the state.   

In Mecklenburg County, the company will establish its first manufacturing site in the U.S. to build Large Power Transformers (LPTs), a critical component of the nation’s power grid.

"Siemens Energy is bringing even more great energy manufacturing jobs to the Charlotte community, and this latest expansion demonstrates once again their confidence in our state and its outstanding workforce,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. “Bringing production of these high voltage transformers onshore not only creates American jobs but makes our electric grid more resilient and ready for the transition to clean energy.”

In Wake County, the expansion is happening at the firm's existing offices in North Raleigh, according to a company spokesman.  Siemens AG has more than 3,500 employees across North Carolina. Of those employees, more than 1,250 are based in Charlotte.""

Siemens Energy to add 500-plus jobs in Charlotte, Raleigh areas - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[KJHburg]

Major investment by German manufacturer and office in Mooresville that was announced recently.  Here are the why's and once again CLT our international airport cinched the deal and the airport continues to be the biggest arrow in our quiver.   This includes a 30,000 sq ft office lease in the historic Merino Mill south of downtown Mooresville and a new 70,000 sq ft manufacturing plant to start with.  

Mooresville proximity to Charlotte convinced German tech employer (carolinapublicpress.org)

so our local labor pool and airport beat out areas with free land and greater incentives.

""Charlotte Douglas International Airport and the highway connectivity in the region were major draws, Rutenberg said, as well as strong Internet infrastructure. Some other locations even offered land for free, but were not as attractive because they weren’t nearby an international airport. DEHN wanted an “overall package,” he said.

“In terms of talent availability, what was the overall area like, and who were your other corporate neighbors going to be – that’s where those other areas, even though they had stronger dollar figures in terms of incentives, they were not as attractive,” Rutenberg said. ""

[KJHburg]

Cabarrus County does a great job explaining economic development and how the projects impact the county.  

Here is their annual  community impact report:     (In other news the name is now up and it is big on the new $1 Billion Eli Lilly plant in Concord) 
71238508-a3fa-4889-9440-1ac47193718a.pdf (constantcontact.com)

[KJHburg]

Saw this on the socials the other day the Eli Lilly plant in Concord I think it was from the architect's account, WGM Design.  This is what a $1 Billion dollar pharmacuetical plant looks like.

 

 

[KJHburg]

Swiss based Octoplasma is expanding their US HQ here in Charlotte.   No word on more jobs but I would guess more jobs or growth is planned.  

""Octapharma Plasma Inc. is growing its U.S. headquarters with the $18.75 million purchase of a southwest Charlotte complex.

The company, a division of Switzerland-based Octapharma AG, bought a 177,000-square-foot building at 10021 Westlake Drive — and a neighboring 6-acre site — last month.

Octapharma Plasma's Bre Byrne said the new facilities will be used for the company's corporate expansion in Charlotte, more than doubling the space it currently occupies here. The division operates 175 plasma donation centers across the U.S.  Octapharma Plasma has its existing corporate location nearby at 10644 Westlake Drive. That building spans 87,000 square feet and houses 257 employees. The new facility, which was sold by Schaefer Systems International Inc., is just off Steele Creek Road and has room for over 300 employees.""

Octapharma Plasma buys Charlotte building for expansion - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[atlrvr]

On 3/16/2022 at 9:10 PM, JRCLT said:

NC not getting Rivian is a major L in the future prospects of vehicle manufacturing in NC.

https://www.ajc.com/news/business/breaking-rivian-pauses-plan-to-build-5b-georgia-factory/RH7HC6QEAJGOFJMZWF3Q6IKN3Y/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ajcnews_tw

Rivian is also not going to Georgia., but this is what they'll have to remember them by:

 

Of course, we let VinFast do this to us, so feels like Georgia still "won", just in the "did less damage" sense.

[nicholas]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:25 PM, atlrvr said:

https://www.ajc.com/news/business/breaking-rivian-pauses-plan-to-build-5b-georgia-factory/RH7HC6QEAJGOFJMZWF3Q6IKN3Y/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ajcnews_tw

Rivian is also not going to Georgia.,

Rivian (and virtually every other non-legacy EV automaker except Tesla) is in an extremely precarious position. It is losing money on each R1T/R1S sold (around $35k per unit if I recall correctly). I think it breaks even on the Amazon electric vans, but unless something changes drastically, scaling up production will just magnify Rivian's losses. Maybe the coming R2 and R3 models boost production enough for supplier contracts to be re-negotiated which could help control per-unit costs to some degree, but aside from a drastic change in per-unit costs (or merging with an established automaker), I don't see how Rivian survives long term.  Lucid is in an even worse spot, losing over six figures per vehicle.

Even very early on, Tesla was reportedly making a profit (or at worst breaking even) on each vehicle produced even if Tesla itself was still in the negative. Accordingly, as production ramped up, Tesla eventually became a profitable company as a whole.

I think landing the Toyota battery plant near Greensboro will end up being the best-case scenario for NC.  Subsidies for future EV production facilities should only be pursued if a legacy automaker is involved because too many of these EV startups are going to die off within the next decade.

[DCMetroRaleigh]

The response to the new Rivian models has been massive though. The models look phenomenal 

[KJHburg]

Big expansion up in Wake County of a Japanese pharmaceutical company Fuji.

Fujifilm expands Wake County project with 680 more jobs, average pay $110,000 - Business North Carolina (businessnc.com)

Charlotte will host the prestigious Japan Southeast US Conference in October.

SEUS/Japan Conference 2024 - Charlotte | NC Commerce

The Charlotte region has many Japanese companies (89 according to CRBA) most are smaller operations than the large Toyota, HondaJet, Fuji plants in Greensboro and Raleigh areas.   However, it looks like they are going to tour the NC Research Campus and Eli Lilly in Cabarrus County so I wish we would get a large pharma plant from a Japanese company.  I have managed 2 homes with Japanese executives here in the Charlotte area one with Sompo Insurance in Ballantyne and another with Dai Nippon in Concord.   They usually rotate execs into a US office and stay 4-5 years sometimes longer.  Of course, we have had some Japanese banks in Charlotte but I wish they would consider larger offices here.  

[KJHburg]

Sometimes change is good that's all I can say.

from the Biz Journal

""Charlotte Regional Business Alliance CEO Janet LaBar resigned Wednesday afternoon, effective next month, informing the economic development and advocacy group’s leadership of her plans during a regularly scheduled board meeting.

LaBar’s tenure began in April 2019, several months after CLT Alliance was formed in a merger between the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

Rob Horton, CLT Alliance chief marketing and communications officer, told CBJ the CLT Alliance board will name an interim CEO within the next couple of weeks and preside over hiring LaBar’s replacement. LaBar’s departure comes at the same time CLT Alliance still lacks a lead economic recruiter. In December, Danny Chavez, the organization’s chief business recruitment officer, stepped down after two years on the job. Chavez has yet to be replaced.""

Janet LaBar stepping down as CLT Alliance CEO - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

I sure hope the next leader of CRBA pushes for a mega site in the Charlotte region and there is NO go reason why this region with all it offers can not attract a huge advanced manufacturing plant like those sites in Siler City and Greensboro.  

 

[rancenc]

Various state grants throughout the state has created new jobs and private investment.

https://businessnc.com/31-economic-development-projects-in-n-c-rural-counties-split-10-9-million-in-grants/

[rancenc]

Follow up posting to the one in the Cabarrus/Rowan Development file...apparently this is the largest industrial development that has been announced recently for the Charlotte metro area.

https://www.worldconstructionnetwork.com/news/landis-ridge-industrial-park-construction/?cf-view