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Conversation - Emma Littlejohn |
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Written by Celina Mincey
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What is your outlook for multi-family market 1 year, 2 years, 3 years down the road?
In the long term, Charlotte and the greater Charlotte area will continue to be a vibrant, healthy market. I can say this for several reasons. Charlotte has done a great job of planning and creating a vision. They have acknowledged and worked towards an overall housing plan that fits the needs of Charlotte’s employment growth and demographics. Multi-family housing based on city planning and along the transit corridors will continue to be viable. Also, land prices have remained steady despite an overall downward national real estate climate. At least at this juncture, this is an indicator that we will be resilient because people are holding property for its long term potential.
Over the short term, there is not going to be much new product brought on board since growth and sales have slowed noticeably in the new construction market. However, we are not seeing a degradation of prices, which is a good sign. The only issue is when people can move based on how long it takes them to sell existing homes and if they can get financing. People are still moving around and moving to Charlotte; we have good real estate activity. We need to keep the job growth up, but we are doing fine.
My question is in the midterm. Are people going to be able to get property redeveloped? There are lots of opportunities in Charlotte for small-scale projects including low- and mid-rise developments, say a mid-rise proposal as well as infill development. But lenders are not lending on residential product and we will need it here in Charlotte to fulfill a diversity of housing and the overall housing demand in the mid- and long term.
There has been a lot of apartment construction recently. How does this affect Charlotte’s real estate market?
We need rental housing and a vibrant rental market. We’ve had so many rental units converted to condos in the Center City that we’ve had loss of product for rent. I’m not sure what the cap is—how much we will absorb—but there is definitely a demand for new rental product at a variety of price points.
Are there enough residents and newcomers to support all the residential Uptown towers?
Yes! We are actually going to need more product downtown because if even one or two projects don’t get financed, where are those hundreds of people going to go? Even if the banks and other employers shift and grow only marginally, people want to live downtown. They want to get rid of their cars and live in walkable neighborhoods. With this high demand, we’ll run through the inventory that is currently being built and then we won’t have anything!
Which retail venues are missing from Charlotte’s Uptown that would complement residential growth?
The variety of Uptown restaurants is great; we are well served. An expanded grocery is very needed. After that, I think retail development in Uptown needs to focus on core services for the working people that live there and specialty stores to meet their needs: sundry shops, coffee houses, small goods retailers. With SouthPark mall so close and well established, I don’t feel Uptown needs to try to compete with that. Uptown has art galleries, museums, nightlife, and the retail should grow organically with the people who live and visit Uptown to enjoy these amenities.
Any other comments for Uptown’s Readers?
We have established a palette that is appropriate for a wide range of housing types along inner city and transit corridors. We will see well-designed and interesting housing choices that will attract a diversity of people. Expect projects with good architecture, good design. It’s really something to be excited about!
~ Celina Mincey |
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