| Volume 4, Issue 11 | November, 2009 |
The Real Estate Report Local Government News Impacting the Real Estate Industry |
New Development Three new downtown real estate projects, Greenbridge, 140 West Franklin, and University Square, will increase retail space in the downtown by 13 percent. Currently, downtown has about one million square feet of retail space. After construction is finished on the projects, another 126,000 to 136,000 square feet will be added. Town leaders and downtown business owners hope the addition of new retail brings in new shoppers from Durham and Raleigh. The developers of the three projects have not announced what new businesses will open in the retail space to date. For the full story from The Daily Tar Heel, click here. Track Development in Chapel Hill The Town of Chapel Hill has created a new Web site that allows the public to review current development activity online. The new web pages are the result of a collaborative effort among Town staff members, including planning, economic development, public works, engineering and information technology. Next steps for the group include providing recommendations and implementing improvements to the development review process. A development activity interactive map will also be coming soon. Click here to view the development Web page. Town Council Approves Larger Kidzu Kidzu Children’s Museum will be expanding at a new location—on top of the Wallace Parking Deck in downtown Chapel Hill. The move will have a major impact on the museum’s exhibit space adding 9,000 more square feet. The Chapel Hill Town Council’s approval to grant Kidzu a 99-year lease for $99 for the use of the property made the expansion possible. Many believe the growth of the Children’s Museum will help increase foot traffic on Franklin Street and give Chapel Hill a necessary youthful energy. For the full story from The News & Observer, click here. Goddard School Wins Approval The Goddard School, a daycare facility that is part of the Winmore development in Carrboro, won approval on November 17 from the Board of Aldermen. There were several minor changes needed in order to approve the school, which had been delayed the past few months. Changes included the slant of the roof and parking spaces; the developer worked with the planning board to make the improvements and received unanimous approval from the Aldermen. For the full story from WCHL 1360AM, click here. Schools Chapel Hill- Carrboro City School Board Results (Vote for 3)
Election Results
Chapel Hill Council Race (Vote for 4)
Carrboro Mayor's Race (Vote for 1)
Carrboro Alderman Race (Vote for 3)
Council Weighs Strom Appointment One of the first orders of business for the newly Chapel Hill Town Council is to determine who will fill former Councilmember Bill Strom's vacant seat. Some residents are petitioning the Council to appoint to the fifth place finisher, Matt Pohlman, as they view it as the most democratic move. However, Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP president Michelle Cotton Laws has submitted letters to Mayor Foy and the Council endorsing the two black applicants, Donna Bell and Aaron Shah. The letter outlines several points about the recent election, stating that a “racially homogenous” council does not reflect a broader Chapel Hill community. For the full story from the Daily Tar Heel, click here. Commissioners Discuss Economic Development At their annual retreat last week, Orange County Commissioners discussed economic development extensively and examined ways to increase County revenue in the face of increased expenses and decreasing sales tax collections. Commissioners were hit with some stark figures: the County tax base is growing at half the rate of ten years ago, sales tax collections have declined by more than ten percent, too small a fund balance and too much debt. According to new county manager Frank Clifton, property taxes generated $130.6 million or 73.5 percent of the County's general fund budget. Sales tax revenue was $16.9 million or about 9.5 percent of the general fund budget. Last year, the County cut $5.4 million from its budget and manager Clifton warned it could continue this year. Clifton and economic developer Brad Broadwell also spoke with Commissioners about the need for incentives, class B office space, and business incubators. We need to move "from things we don't want to things we do want. We can become more pro-development oriented," said Clifton. For the full story from the Chapel Hill News, click here. Board of Aldermen Approve Parking Lot Last week, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved a plan to lease the lot on Greensboro Street across from GlassHalFull and next to Open Eye Cafe for parking. Currently, the lot is a makeshift parking lot that was going to be developed in the Roberson Square project. But with the economy going south, the Roberson Square project has stalled. The 90 space lot will be leased for $7,500 per month for the next two years. The Aldermen also expressed a desire to see the lot open before the holiday season. From the Carrboro Citizen Irish Pub to Open on Franklin Street Kildare’s Irish Pub is planning to open one of its pubs on Franklin Street on December 10, moving into the space left behind by Buffalo Wild Wings. Kildare’s pubs are decorated with Irish relics and styled after a combination of five different pubs such as the Cottage pub, Victorian pub and Shop pub. The pub will offer two different bars, one in front and one in back, with 50 beers on tap. For the full story from The Herald Sun, click here. Bookstore Set to Open near Foster's This month, a new independent bookstore will open in Chapel Hill next to the Foster's Market on Martin Luther King Blvd. The store, called Flyleaf Books, is being opened by three former employees of McIntyre Books in Fearrington Village and will open in the former Ladies Fitness location. The store will have about 5,000 square feet of space and feature new and used books, children's literature and book-related events such as author readings, book club meetings and open mic nights. For the full story from the Chapel Hill News, click here. Orange County Homes Sales See Major Rise After terrible sales in October of last year, Orange County saw significant increases in residential sales this year. Ninety-one homes sold in October this year compared to 62 homes the year before--that's a 47 percent increase. In terms of total dollar volume of homes sold, October of 2009 posted a $28.3 million figure, up 43 percent from the year prior. The gains in Orange County were by far the largest; Durham County was second with a 28 percent increase in number of homes sold. "We’ve hit the floor, and at least we know how low we can go – hopefully -- and operate our business off of that,” Stacey Anfindsen, real estate analyst, says. For the full story from the Triangle Business Journal, click here. University Mall in Chapel Hill is undergoing some significant changes in the coming months that will enhance it as a commercial center in town. The mall will welcome eight new businesses over the next few months including Night Gallery, featuring vintage furnishings and garden antiques, the Virginia Gail Collection, a retail store and design studio focusing on luxury bed linens, throws, and furniture, the North Carolina Hammock Company, a purveyor of high quality hammocks, Izabelle's Closet, a women's casual and resort wear store, Southern Charm, an arts and craft co-op with over 30 local artisans, the Manana, featuring the work of craftspeople from the US and around the world, Day-by-Day Calendar, a kiosk that offers calendars for 2010, and Soft and Sleepy Sheets, a kiosk offering high quality bed linens. In addition, the mall will be upgrading various parts of its facade and entryways. For the full story from the Chapel Hill News, click here. The Triangle Third quarter crime statistics for Durham were released last week and violent crime continued to drop but burglaries rose. For the first nine months of the year, violent crime (robberies and aggravated assault) dropped 13 percent. Burglaries rose across the city, likely as a result of the recession. In January burglaries were at 278, 387 in July and 379 in August. The clearance rate, or the number of cases in which an arrest is made, is down in 2009 from 45 percent last year to 29 percent this year for violent crime. And down from 22 percent to 20 percent in property crime. For the full story from the News and Observer, click here. DPS Superintendent Accepts Washington Post At a meeting last week, Raleigh city councilors voted to start incorporating three neighborhoods into Raleigh. The residential areas are Woodlawn Drive and James Street in northeast Raleigh; another residential area in Sumerset Acres off of Trawick Road; and a small parcel of land off Broad Street in northeast Raleigh. The total area would add 350 acres,123 homes, and 307 people to Raleigh. The vote triggers a a process to hold public hearings on the annexation and will not formally begin proceedings until January 19. For the full story from the News and Observer, click here. Commercial Market Stabilizing According to a new report by Grubb and Ellis, the office and retail markets are beginning to stabilize in the Triangle. After two quarters of record-breaking negative absorption, the Triangle office market held steady at 19.6 percent vacancy with rents remaining the same. In the retail market, the Triangle experienced another strong quarter of absorption as vacant spaces were backfilled by big box stores. Overall, the report predicts that rent rates in the office market will decline more steeply and that the retail market will see a rise in vacancy in 2010. On the positive side, Grubb and Ellis believe the long term demographic patterns in the Triangle will make it an appealing place new retailers as the recovery unfolds. From Grubb an Ellis 3Q Reports Residential Market Showing Varied Improvements State and Nation The nation’s gross domestic product has hit its highest growth rate since the third quarter in 2007 at 3.5 percent, leading economists to believe the Great Recession has ended. The actual month the recession ended won’t be known until the National Bureau of Economic Research released their data, which is generally several months after the fact. These numbers are definitely a good sign for commercial real estate and will increase the job growth rate, but without governmental programs such as “cash for clunkers” and tax rebates for first-time-homebuyers next year, experts say the economy’s newfound strength will be put to the test. Report by Robert Bach of Grubb & Ellis |
