Big deals.

AuthorMayfield, Lisa Pritchard
PositionCommercial real estate development in North Carolina - Industry Overview

From a stadium to skyscrapers, North Carolina's largest projects show that construction is gaining ground.

After several years of dormancy, commercial real-estate development in North Carolina is showing new vigor, heightening expectations for a lot of developers. "We're in the middle of a boom just as big as in the mid-'80s," says James Sineath Jr., president of Raleigh-based Commercial Carolina Corp. "It's the biggest corporate-demand spurt I've ever seen."

Despite the optimism, most developers are planning carefully. They remember all too vividly the overbuilding of the 1980s that led to a glut of space in the early part of this decade. Users are still absorbing the existing space, so projects remain difficult to finance unless 50% of space is pre-leased. But with the market so tight, many industry-watchers expect construction to pick up steadily over the next few years. Coffee-break speculation centers on who will announce the next skyscraper in downtown Charlotte, where the vacancy rate is among the lowest in the nation.

North Carolina's 10 largest projects this year are diverse, led by the Carolina Panthers' 72,500-seat football stadium, which, along with parking and practice fields, will occupy 33 acres in downtown Charlotte. Two are "build-to-suit" projects, one for Wachovia in Winston-Salem and the other for Southern Bell in Charlotte. Wachovia, the state's third-largest bank, is building a landmark, 28-story headquarters in the Twin City, following its two larger rivals, NationsBank and First Union, which built skyscrapers in Charlotte during the past decade.

Activity in retailing is heating up with a new mall under construction in High Point and a superstore shopping center in Charlotte. Another regional mall is likely to be unveiled in the Triangle within the next two years.

Two of the top projects are being built by nonprofit organizations -- a Charlotte doctors' office and dorms at Duke University -- compared with four nonprofit projects on last year's list.

Some contractors continue to feast off the government's demand for prisons, a response to the public outcry for tougher and longer sentences. But because we covered that sector last year, we've chosen not to include it again in 1994.

In compiling our list, more than three dozen developers, contractors, architects, chamber of commerce executives, economic development heads, officials of councils of government, issuers of building permits and industry-watchers were interviewed. Included were projects started last year or before June 15 this year and projects completed this year. In addition to prisons, we excluded highway construction and buildings that opened in 1993.

Carolinas Stadium

What to many is the state's most exciting new business is also building its biggest structure: Carolinas Stadium, the $160 million home of Charlotte's National Football League expansion team, the Carolina Panthers. A joint project of Charlotte's F.N. Thompson and New York City-based Turner Construction Co., the 72,500-seat open-air stadium has been specifically designed for football by the HOK Sports Facilities Group of Kansas City, Mo. HOK also designed the Miami Dolphins' Joe Robbie Stadium, Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Chicago White Sox's new Comiskey Park.

The Panthers' lair will bump...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT