JLL, CBRE top list of Charlotte’s biggest commercial real estate companies

The most recent Charlotte Business Journal lists the area’s largest commercial real estate firms, ranked by number of full-time local employees. All companies on the list have local brokerage operations.

JLL tops The List with 1,068 employees in the Charlotte area. The company currently has 27 licensed commercial real estate brokers here.

JLL recently brokered an office lease in NoDa for engineering and architecture firm Pond & Co. and a distribution facility sale in Conover to Diamond Properties. That property is fully leased by BSN Medical.

CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield round out the top three on The List. CBRE has 743 employees and 40 licensed brokers locally. Cushman & Wakefield ranks No. 3 with 276 local employees and 46 brokers, the most of any firm in the Charlotte area.

CBRE this summer represented homebuilder PulteGroup in an office relocation to Toringdon Office Park. The company also recently brokered the sale of a Rock Hill plant formerly occupied by packaging company Greif Inc. for nearly $4.7 million.

Cushman & Wakefield recently reported that Charlotte’s overall office vacancy hit an all-time high of 24.7% in the second quarter of 2024. 

Charlotte Business Journal

Novant charts major push into Raleigh area amid statewide expansion

Novant Health is one of the largest health care systems in North Carolina, but it lacks a strong presence in the Triangle. The organization is aiming to change that.

The health system, based in Winston-Salem, recently filed an application with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to develop a new hospital in eastern Wake County. This would mark a major expansion for Novant into a region that already has three well-established health systems in Duke Health, UNC Health and WakeMed.

In its August application for the Novant Health Knightdale Medical Center, the health system outlines its plan for a facility that would consist of 36 licensed acute care beds, 12 unlicensed observation beds and one operating room. If approved, this would allow Novant to build a smaller community hospital that could grow and potentially add additional beds and services over time, said Dr. John Mann, president of specialty institutes for Novant.

Triangle Business Journal

Charlotte’s Douglas International chooses Crosland Southeast to develop site that could transform corridor

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is in exclusive negotiations with Crosland Southeast on a deal to develop the city-owned Destination District Central property.

CLT chose Crosland through a request for proposals process that kicked off earlier this year. The parties are in the early stages of negotiations. Stuart Hair, CLT’s director of commercial and community engagement, said he hopes to present a deal to Charlotte City Council for final approval this winter. The property is critical to the airport’s commercial development strategy as it sits at CLT’s entrance.

Destination District Central spans nearly 40 acres at Wilkinson Boulevard and North Josh Birmingham Parkway. A specific site plan has not been finalized for the Crosland-led development. Bobby Speir, Crosland’s senior vice president for mixed-use investment, said the project would likely include multiple phases initially focused on retail and hospitality development.

Triad Business Journal

Duke University receives $30 million to hire for AI, research

Duke University has received $30 million to support research and hiring around the areas of computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The funding comes from an award given to the university by the The Duke Endowment, a private foundation based in Charlotte. This is part of a broader faculty hiring initiative at Duke focused on science and technology.

The Duke Endowment’s award will support the creation of the Elevating Duke Computing program, which will fund the hiring and start-up costs for the university to add one senior faculty member and four to seven mid-career faculty positions over the next five years. The first hires funded through this award will be based at the department of computer science at the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and the department of electrical and computer engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering.

Triangle Business Journal

Winston-Salem to join Forsyth County in considering incentives for produce distributor

The city of Winston-Salem will join Forsyth County in considering incentives for a produce wholesaler and distributor considering bringing 300 jobs to the city.

Forsyth County Commissioner’s had already scheduled a Sept. 5 public hearing to consider incentives for what has identified only by the code name Project Kohlrabi.

On Friday, Winston-Salem posted notice that it will hold a hearing at its Sept. 3 meeting to consider incentives for the unnamed company, which would invest $6.25 million in a Winston-Salem facility with plans to move about 140 jobs to the Triad and created another 165.

The company is seeking up to $86,550 in performance-based incentives from the city and up to $88,749 from Forsyth County over a five-year period.

Forsyth County Community & Economic Development Program Administrator Hasani Mitchell told county commissioners earlier this month the state of North Carolina is also expected to offer economic-development incentives. Mitchell said the company is also considering sites in Charlotte and Columbia, S.C.

The company serves schools, prisons, restaurants and growers in the mid-Atlantic region and is looking to expand, Mitchell told commissioners. It also wants to add ripening rooms and lines for cutting and chopping as well as a cold storage warehouse for its distribution operation.

Triad Business Journal

Greater Louisville Inc reports 26% growth in project pipeline in 2nd quarter of ’24

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In its quarterly Economic Summary, Greater Louisville Inc. shared new data that paints a positive picture for the trajectory of the regional economy. Despite national economic pressures, the region’s economic development project pipeline grew by 26% in the second quarter showing sustained momentum for investment and job growth.

GLI’s project pipeline includes business expansion and relocation opportunities considering Greater Louisville. At the end of the second quarter, the pipeline included 72 projects considering relocating or expanding to the region, potentially generating over 8,200 new jobs and $3.8 billion in investment. This is a conservative estimate, as many companies disclose the investment and job numbers late in the process. Among the active projects, 43 are attraction projects, and 29 are expansion projects.

The Lane Report

R+L Carriers building $25M Owensboro, Ky. terminal with 63 jobs

OWENSBORO, Ky. — R+L Carriers, a leader in the transportation and logistics industry, is investing approximately $25 million into a significant new project in Owensboro that will create 63 new jobs.

With over 55 years of service, R+L Carriers Inc. of Wilmington, Ohio, has grown from one truck to a fleet of over 21,000 tractors and trailers. Family-owned and operated, the company repeatedly invests in modern technology, improving driver safety and upgrading our infrastructure.

“We are thrilled and thank R+L for choosing our community,” said Claude Bacon, president/CEO Greater Owensboro Economic Development. “This project at Mid America Airpark marks another significant step forward for our community’s economic development. GOEDC has been working on this project with R+L for over 10 months and look forward to working with them towards completion of the project and beyond.”

The Lane Report

BE NKY sees growth for aerospace in Northern Kentucky

FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — The aerospace industry in Northern Kentucky provides residents with immense excitement and pride. The work that thousands of residents do for aerospace companies has an impact that’s global. And beyond.

Within the aerospace sector in Kentucky, companies are working on:

  • aircrafts
  • aircraft engines
  • parts and supplies
  • missiles
  • vehicles for use in space

This work is being done by new and long-established companies. They have come together in this region because of the experience, innovation and opportunities available. Let’s take a look at Kentucky’s aerospace industry and discover why so many successful aerospace companies call Northern Kentucky home.

The Lane Report

Child-care costs are squeezing small businesses. There’s no easy solution.

Natosha and Lloyd Jones launched Midnight Comics in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and while raising three young children.

Natosha juggled voice-acting work, homeschooling her children and frequent doctor’s visits, while Lloyd worked at a traditional job. They would work on their nascent small business in the afternoons and evenings.

It was a learning process but, gradually, the couple built a Black- and family-owned comic and manga publisher. Their hard work even scored them a slot in freelance platform Fiverr’s The Future Collective, a six-month accelerator program that came with a cash grant and Fiverr credit.

The Business Journals

Powell says ‘time has come’ for rate cuts. These NC bankers are ready.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday “the time has come” for rate cuts. And several North Carolina bankers say they are ready. But even an interest rate cut wouldn’t solve all their problems overnight.

Powell, at the Fed’s annual retreat in Wyoming, said “the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”

His statements prompted the Dow to jump 350 points by Friday afternoon.

Bankers in the Raleigh area said they see the comments as signaling good news in the long run for their institutions and their customers.

Brian Reid, Triangle president for TowneBank (Nasdaq: TOWN), said the timing is “right for a rate cut,” guessing rates could get sliced by 25 basis points next month, in line with economists’ expectations.

Reid suspects banks could see “a nice uptick in activity” when it comes to consumer real estate if rates decline. In terms of commercial, he expects the big spike to happen after the election and into 2025, “depending on the business sector.” Bankers in the Raleigh area said they see the comments as signaling good news in the long run for their institutions and their customers.

Triad Business Journal