Originally published on October 8, 2024 by Kathryn Hamilton, CAE for NAIOP.

Cold storage warehouses differ from traditional buildings in more ways than just temperature, and new technologies and trends are reshaping the sector as it grows.

Vince Free, president and CEO, FREEZ Construction, moderated a panel this week at NAIOP’s I.CON Cold Storage that featured experts Jeremy Bentley, NCARB, director of architecture, United Insulated Structures; Michael Jones, AIA, president, Primus Design; and Gary O’Donnell, vice president of construction, Karis Cold.

Their conversation ran the gamut, from design and construction to automation trends to best practices in refrigeration, electrical, structural, fire protection and thermal systems and beyond.

Originally published on October 9, 2024, by Marie Ruff for NAIOP.

“We’re in a really unique point in history in the sense that we have this huge demand curve for data centers at a time when we also have some constraints in power,” said Elissa Wilson, attorney, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, LLP, to begin a panel discussion on data center development at NAIOP’s CRE.Converge. “But the reason data centers are so important is they are fundamental to our modern economy. They’re fundamental to our way of life. They’re fundamental to every single transaction that happens online.”

“Every single person in this room accesses a data center in some way, shape, or form every single day, and probably every single time you use your phone,” said Tony Burkart, head of market development and economic development, at Google. Even a simple task like navigating directions to a local restaurant uses a data center.

Contrary to the perceptions of some state and local governments that data centers take up large amounts of land and power without being offset by large gains in jobs, Burkart said data center development is a catalyst for growth in economies. The primary impacts are data center construction and operations, he said, but also in the wider economy through all the different business services that are enabled using our phones and other digitized tools like AI and the cloud.

Originally published on October 7, 2024, by Kathryn Hamilton, CAE for NAIOP.

Cold storage is a collective term that encompasses multiple types of facilities, agreed on the first panel at NAIOP’s I.CON Cold Storage this week in Las Vegas. A record-setting crowd of almost 700 professionals in the sector gathered for NAIOP’s second conference on the topic.

Led by moderator Cory Singer, senior vice president, of Griffco Design/Build Inc., panelists included
Andrew Armstrong, chief operating officer, Scout Cold Logistics; Jake Finley, founder and CEO, Karis Cold; Josh Lewis, chief operating officer, RL Cold; Scott McGarity, executive vice president, Industrial, Barber Partners; and Anthony Rinaldi, founder and managing principal, Saxum Real Estate.

The four asset classes that coalesce under the common term of cold storage are:

1. Public refrigerated warehouse (PRW), in which third-party logistics (3PL) companies operate facilities for food manufacturers and processors.
2. Food manufacturing and food processing, where the product is leased and operated by the tenant (think companies like Kraft-Heinz and Ocean Spray).
3. Grocery and e-commerce, where traditional grocery and food service providers distribute products.
4. Pharma and life science, are used for medical services.

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YOU ARE INVITED TO SHARE YOUR INPUT! Charlotte Future 2040 Community Area Planning Workshops continue this fall, and information shared at the workshops is available online through the "Supporting the Vision" Webtool.

Navigate through 5 virtual stations to learn about planned projects and available programs that will support future development. Then share your input about other needed projects and programs in your community via the surveys at the end of each page. Station topics include:

The web tool will be active and receiving input through November 15, 2024. Input received through the “Supporting The Vision” web tool will be used to develop the Charlotte Future 2040 Community Area Plans.

The City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are seeking members to fill vacancies on two important advisory committees.

ONE

City Council action established the City’s Alternative Compliance Review Board (ACRB) as a quasi-judicial board on June 17, 2024. This board will become effective no sooner than October 1, 2024 (more likely to be confirmed in November). The ACRB provides alternative compliance for certain design regulations based on the criteria found in Articles 35.5 and 37.1 of the Unified Development Ordinance. The ACRB will approve, approve with modifications, or deny requests for alternative compliance to select standards identified in the UDO for the applicable zoning districts. If interested, please get in touch with one of the following:

[email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]

Committee Member Details

5 regular members (1 must live outside of Charlotte city limits, but within the Charlotte ETJ (extraterritorial jurisdiction)

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At NAIOP, we’re not just empowering our members as they build their businesses – we’re shaping the future of commercial real estate.

NAIOP’s 21,000 members – top developers, owners, investors, brokers and other suppliers to the industry – know that we are their strongest support as they aim high and accomplish their professional goals. Achieve professional success equipped with the information and connections you need for your commercial real estate career.

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Originally published on September 18, 2024, by Aquiles Suarez for NAIOP.

On Sept. 10, in a speech given at the Brookings Institution of Washington, D.C., the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr announced that the central bank would be revising and re-proposing its bank-capital rules proposal commonly referred to as their Basel III Endgame Regulation. The regulation, first proposed in 2023, would have mandated a dramatic hike in the capital requirements on major banks and garnered intense criticism from the private sector, including from NAIOP and its real estate allies, who raised concerns about the negative impact the new regulations would have on the availability of credit for commercial real estate. In a clear victory for NAIOP and real estate, Barr made clear in his speech that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would be scaling back the regulation.

Basel III is a reference to the Basel Accords, an international standardized approach to banking regulation focused on levels of bank capital and other requirements designed to enhance the safety and soundness of global financial institutions. The Basel Committee on Bank Supervision administers the accords, and Basel III, which originated in response to the great financial crisis of 2007-2008, is the third phase of Basel. The “Basel III Endgame Regulation” is the term used to refer to the final regulation of that phase. In July 2023, the Fed, along with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, jointly proposed the Basel III Endgame regulations for public comment, with the intent of issuing these in final form by mid-year 2024.

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Originally published on September 6, 2024, by Veronica Grecu for NAIOP.

In 2024, the U.S. is set to achieve a new milestone in apartment construction: For the first time in history, the number of apartments completed in one year is anticipated to surpass the 500,000-unit mark. Developers are on track to complete over 518,000 rental units, which marks a significant 9% increase compared to 2023 and a 30% rise from 2022.

The New York metro area leads the nation in new apartment construction in 2024, followed by Dallas and Austin. Together, these three metros are expected to account for about 10% of all new apartments nationwide by the end of the year.

Looking ahead, developers plan to bring 2 million new apartments online by 2028, despite facing uncertainties in many markets. Approximately 47% of the 369 metro areas analyzed are projected to build more apartments in the next five years than they did between 2019 and 2023.

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Originally published on August 24, 2024, by Veronica Grecu for NAIOP.

In 2023, the trend of transforming buildings into apartments saw a significant revival, nearing the peak levels of 2019 and 2020, as developers responded swiftly to the increased demand for housing after a two-year slowdown.

This resurgence resulted in 12,713 new apartments, marking a substantial 17.6% increase from the previous year. The momentum for adaptive reuse is expected to continue, with an estimated 151,000 rental apartments currently being converted, including 58,000 from former office spaces.

While office spaces are popular for future projects, hotel conversions dominated last year’s adaptive reuse landscape: A record 4,556 apartments emerged from repurposed hotels in 2023 alone, a 38.8% increase from the previous year and nearly double the output in 2021. This surge in hotel conversions is the most significant since 2016, with 3,061 apartments created.

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September 10 | 4:30PM - 7:30PM | The Hamilton

Join CREW Charlotte for its Alphabet Soup Networking event. Come network with colleagues from all of the local CRE Organizations!

This year we will have karaoke again so be ready to sing! Hear from some of the CREW Charlotte Board and other members and guests! Don’t worry, it is not required and is in a separate space so you only participate if you want to!

Appetizers and two drink tickets included (good for non-alcoholic beverages, beer, wine, or use 2 tickets for a mixed drink)

$95 per ticket if purchased before August 20th, $115 after August 20th

Originally published on August 7, 2024, by Eric Schmutz for NAIOP.

In June the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building (ZEB). This definition is the result of DOE and White House listening sessions held over the past year to obtain stakeholder concerns and feedback. 

Under the national definition, a building that achieves zero operational emissions from energy use must be, at a minimum:

• Energy efficient.
• Free of on-site emissions from energy use.
• Powered solely by clean energy.

DOE states that the new ZEB definition is not a regulatory standard or certification; the definition should be used as a guidance that public and private entities may adopt to determine whether a building has zero emissions from operational energy use. The definition has been developed to apply to existing buildings and new commercial and residential structures construction. Operational emissions are based on the whole building’s energy use, including emissions from tenants, and do not include carbon offsets.

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We are proud to introduce our new association members! The following is a list of individuals who have joined NAIOP Charlotte since April 2024:

• Kailan Boston, eXp Commercial
• Thomas Brafford, Patterson Pope Inc
• Garrott Braswell, Avison Young
• Noah Carper, Suddath Relocation & Logistics
• Margaret Doolin, Barings
• Andy Eades, Patriot Surveying & Infrastructure PLLC
• Keely Edwards, Ratzlaff Construction Company, LLC
• Jewell Gentry, Avison Young
• Will Grant, Ascent Construction Group
• Grandin Howell, DAVENPORT
• Geoffrey Lewis, GEL Engineering, LLC
• Chad Melberg, Gable Company
• Trent Michels, FuND
• Brian Mountcastle, L.F. Jennings General Contractor
• Sean Pardy, Terracon Consultants, Inc
• Zach Spencer, The Bainbridge Companies
• James Thompson, Dogwood Industrial Properties
• Paul Viverette, Multivista
• Tyler Windham, USI Insurance Services
• Adam Winters, ARCO Design/Build, Inc.

Originally published on August 13, 2024 by Brielle Scott for NAIOP.

From John Oliver to CNN to the Wall Street Journal, everyone seems to be talking about PFAS. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a family of manmade chemicals that have been used in manufacturing everything from apparel to cosmetics to food packaging.

In April, the federal government issued the first enforceable national PFAS regulations, and rather than just a problem for manufacturers of products with PFAS, this is now an immediate issue for owners and developers of all types of commercial real estate, and anywhere where PFAS may have been created or used.

In a recent NAIOP webinar, experts from Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, including Beth Davis, partner, and co-chair of the firm’s environmental practice; Morgan Harrison, litigation partner; and David Marmins, litigation partner; joined Patrick McKeown, business development manager for ECT2, a provider of solutions for removing difficult-to-treat contaminants from water and vapor, to discuss how developers can prepare for PFAS regulations.

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Sponsorships Now Available

Laura Boorman Truesdale
Mary Katherine H. Stukes
Moore & Van Allen

Early preview of the article to be featured in the NAIOP Development Magazine this fall.

If you have read the news lately, you have likely heard about “forever chemicals” and the dangers they may pose. While you might be familiar with the potential impacts on human health and the environment, the implications of these chemicals on the commercial real estate industry may be less obvious.

The term “forever chemicals” refers generally to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, also known as “PFAS.” PFAS are man-made and have been manufactured in the United States for over 70 years. They are used in a wide array of consumer and commercial products and processes across industry sectors and have achieved popularity and success in large part because of their unique resilience to degradation. While the chemical makeup of PFAS has made them critical to certain industries, it has also allowed them to persist widely in the environment (and potentially in humans and animals).

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The mission of the Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition (REBIC) is to catalyze positive outcomes for those working to create a healthy real estate market in the Charlotte region by using our voices to advocate, educate, connect, and advise. Subscribe to REBIC’s Two for Tuesday: quick reads and upcoming events in the region.

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For several years now there has been an ongoing dialogue among government leaders about how best to meet our transportation and mobility challenges within Mecklenburg County and throughout the region.  Last Friday an initial agreement was reached, and the following statement was issued to the media:

The Managers of Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, and a majority of the six towns included within the County have successfully concluded meetings leading to the preparation of draft legislation enabling a countywide referendum on a one-percent local sales tax to fund mobility initiatives countywide, and the ability to establish a regional transit Authority.  

Elected officials for each jurisdiction will now consider this draft legislation and after review will be asked to pass resolutions supporting its advancement to the North Carolina General Assembly.  If approved, the request will be formally submitted to the North Carolina General Assembly where local government, business, and community leaders hope to gain adoption of enabling legislation to allow the voters of Mecklenburg County to determine their transportation future by making a choice for increased regional transportation infrastructure investments for both roads and transit.  

If the referendum is authorized, local leaders will engage the broader community about how previous mobility plans, including those for expansion of our public transit network, may be modified to match available resources and support the continued growth our region is experiencing.  That process will be essential to winning broad public support for the mobility plan.  This is a vital step toward meeting our region’s numerous mobility needs over the coming decades.

Originally published on July 24, 2024, by Ethan Harris for NAIOP.

From design/build condos to built-to-suit warehouses, one factor remains the highest priority regardless of the project type: the approach to upholding the highest level of safety. Although safety exists as a core value across all areas of the construction industry, the increased risk of serious injuries or fatalities persists. Construction workers are ranked number four on the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics list of occupations with the most fatality rates.

Considering this heightened risk, it’s important for every team member, from subcontractors to superintendents, to take responsibility for safety compliance, empowering others to take responsibility for not only their own actions but the actions of those around them. To help enhance safety efforts for the project from start to finish, safety leaders are focusing on ways to implement safety standards within each component of the building’s design. Although this approach requires comprehensive planning and strategizing on the front end, it is intended to reduce and mitigate hazards before they become issues. Keeping this idea in mind, the following are a few actionable methods for managing projects designed around safety compliance.

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Originally published on July 29, 2024, by Malaika Rivers for NAIOP,

How many different commercial areas in your market are in transition? Maybe a professional or minor league sports team is considering a new mixed-use development, or an industrial area is attracting a growing residential community. On the flip side, perhaps the nearby office campus sits partially empty, or the local mall cannot attract shoppers the way it once had. These changes are familiar market landscapes to commercial real estate professionals, but they may not be as familiar with the tools to help maneuver these transitions.

One such tool can channel the voices and dollars of commercial real estate owners to great effect. Known as special purpose districts, special service districts, or a host of other names, special districts harness resources that benefit a variety of commercial centers.

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