Maybe you’ve noticed when you’re out and about: Construction in Charlotte still seems slower. New quarterly data from CoStar show the number of new apartments and industrial projects have dropped sharply, while almost no new offices are being built. For more on this, and other business stories, WFAE's Marshall Terry is joined by Tony Mecia, of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter, for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: I feel like I have some whiplash. I still have this mental picture of Charlotte as booming, covered in cranes. So why is construction continuing to be slow?
Tony Mecia: One is that interest rates now are higher than they were a few years ago. There's also some economic uncertainty. And so, we also had this building boom a couple years ago, in which there were a lot of apartments being built and a lot of industrial spaces being built and office towers going up. And that's just not really true anymore.
For example, when you talk about multifamily, you talk about apartments, there are nearly 2,000 built in the second quarter. OK, that sounds like a lot. But just a few years ago there were 20,000 built in 2022. So we're on a much slower pace.
Terry: But aren't there a lot of people still moving to Charlotte? Don't they need places to live and work — at least those who go into an office?
Mecia: The numbers show that, yes, there are still a lot of people moving to Charlotte and to the Charlotte region. Now, Charlotte had built up a lot of apartments in the last couple of years. Those are now coming online. It's not like we're building zero apartments, but it's at a slower pace. So the thinking is, OK, well what is that going to do to rents if people keep moving here but we're not building as many? And the thinking is, well, the rents would go up. It might get even more expensive to live here than it is now.
Terry: Well, speaking of why people could be moving to Charlotte, the Governor's Office this week announced about 750 new finance jobs are being created here. What are they?
Mecia: Citigroup, which is one of the world's largest banking institutions, said it's going to create 510 jobs in Charlotte and invest $16.1 million here.
And at the same time, AssetMark, which is a wealth management platform, which is based in California, it's going to establish a hub in Charlotte — and it's adding 252 jobs and investing $10 million.
These are incidentally, Marshall, pretty good paying jobs. They all pay on average over six figures. Charlotte has always been strong and financial services, and this is really a continuation.
Terry: OK, I want to shift gears here now. This week The Ledger is taking a break from serious news coverage to go nautical with stories about pirates and ghost ships in North Carolina. What led to that choice and subject?
Mecia: Well, we had a very experienced and talented writer, Mark Washburn, who pitched us that idea. He said, well, what if I research pirates and buried treasure off the coast of North Carolina, and we put that in the Charlotte Ledger during a week when there are a lot of people at the beach during the summer?
So it's really a well-researched, well-written piece just about some of the unknown history. It's called Graveyard of the Atlantic, where somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 ships sank over the last several centuries.
Terry: And, of course, you also had a piece about Blackbeard. He's a very famous North Carolina pirate. Since this is a segment about business, let me end by asking you what lessons you think the pirates of yore could impart on the business world of today?
Mecia: Well, a few things, Marshall. I mean, number one, I would say — you mentioned Blackbeard. I think he really shows the importance of building a strong brand. He's North Carolina's most infamous pirate. His achievements were actually fairly minimal, according to our series, and there's no evidence he actually killed anyone. But as his name suggests, Blackbeard had a striking black beard with braids. He was said to have lit cannon fuses and stick them in his hair. So, he had a strong brand that's now stuck around for hundreds of years.
I would also say it points to the importance of research and planning. The series says that a number of ships ran a ground off Cape Hatteras, including one in 1921 that was a so-called ghost ship — because when rescuers got there, there was nobody aboard except for a six-toed cat. So it suggests it might be worth doing some homework to determine where those shallow waters are.
And I think it also shows the importance of having a contingency plan — about being nimble and flexible. If you run your ship aground, make sure you've got enough life jackets for everyone.
And we have one example of quick thinking in which a crew ran aground near Wilmington and had the presence of mind to wrap a rope around the ship's dog and have the dog swim a mile to shore to help with the rescue.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson and Associates.
