We held its Annual Meeting at the Myers Park Country Club, where we elected the 2025 Board of Directors and awarded the 2024 Award of Excellence to Tim Sittema, the Managing Partner at Crosland Southeast.

Attendees delved into Charlotte's commercial real estate future, exploring pivotal public policy shifts, legislative changes, and evolving business practices. The panel of industry leaders examined critical topics including ESG initiatives, Basel III, environmental regulations, and local public policy, offering insights to help stakeholders stay ahead of emerging trends in the region.

Event Photos

Meeting Resource Information

Moderators

Sagar Rathie Crescent Communities			Tim Sittema Crosland Southeast

 

Panelists

Bobbi Jo Lazarus Elliott Davis		Peet Poillon NFP		Mary Katherine Stukes Moore & Van Allen

Charlotte’s Planning Director, Alyson Craig, provided a lengthy presentation yesterday to members of the Transportation, Planning, and Development Committee on proposed changes to the UDO.  She began her remarks with an update on “Clean Up Text Amendment #4”.  Some highlights included the following:

• Adds, deletes and modifies several general definitions.
• For N1 districts, clarifies where setbacks are measured from
• For residential development on corner lots, clarifies building orientation
• Updates procedural and applicability requirements for Neighborhood Character Overlay (NCO) and Residential Infill Overlay (RIO) districts
• Adjusts allowable building lengths for schools and places of worship
• Clarifies connection requirements for attached housing
• Allows duplexes, triplexes, and quads in additional zoning districts
• Another text amendment related to housing supply is likely to be filed after the first of the year.  Some of Craig’s reasons for pursuing such a measure appear sound.  Here were some of her thoughts:
• We are experiencing a housing crisis in Charlotte with demand outpacing supply.
• Gentle density can provide supply that is aligned to the Charlotte Future 2040 Plan, while providing for-sale housing opportunities.
• Initial Council referral dealt primarily with larger, greenfield development projects.
• A need exists moving us to focus on infill and small-scale development options (missing middle) to increase homeownership opportunities and inventory.

Some key elements to be included are:

• Appropriately scaled density: Explore ways to encourage stacked quads (2 over 2)
• Allow housing in more places: Develop more flexibility for housing through partnerships and conversions
• Affordable small-scale solutions: Revise ADU standards
• Make it easier to develop preferred housing types: Create preapproved pattern books for missing middle housing types
• Increase affordable housing tools and explore options to fast-track affordable projects

Time did not allow for the final presentation on the Community Area Planning Process which will be discussed in further detail at the next meeting.

Special thanks to the Developing Leaders who participated in a community service project in October. Partnering with The Y to support NourishUp, volunteers helped distribute food to local communities in need. They packed large quantities of donated food into individual boxes and handed them out to cars in a drive-through line. It was a fantastic experience!

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What’s happening here? Make sure you read to the end:

In an earlier edition of Two For Tuesday, we reported that the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) Board had requested that the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) prepare a comparative analysis to compare a traditional toll alongside and a Public Private Partnership (P3) delivery for additional lanes for the eleven-mile segment of I-77 running through the City of Charlotte and south to the border of South Carolina. Those results were presented by representatives of NCDOT at the August 21, 2024, Board Meeting (Agenda, Minutes - item 14, pages 5-8).   

During a recent Charlotte City Council business meeting, an update was provided by NCDOT containing highlights of its NCDOT: I-77 South Express Lanes Supplemental Report and the next steps were discussed.

Some of the details of the project along with recommendations include:

This fall, several communities within the region have referred bond measures to the voters for their consideration. Today we are highlighting two of those efforts.

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The City of Charlotte is asking residents to approve three measures related to housing, neighborhoods, and transportation.

Housing - The housing bond will invest $100 million into new affordable housing for low and moderate-income residents. The breakdown looks like this:

Meet Angela Charles, Director of Charlotte Water

As the director, Angela is responsible for the county-wide water treatment and distribution, wastewater treatment and collection, utility planning, and most recently the city's stormwater system along with management activities. She leads a staff of approximately $2.46 billion. Charlotte Water maintains more than 11,000 miles of water, sewer, and stormwater pipelines, with nearly 300,000 active water connections county-wide. 

She will be updating attendees on Charlotte Water's current operations as well as sewer capacity and other relevant matters.

RSVP Now

 

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has selected Crescent Communities as its 2024 Developer of the Year – the association’s highest honor. The award was presented during NAIOP’s CRE.Converge conference in Las Vegas this month.  

“It is NAIOP’s honor to recognize the tremendous work of Crescent Communities as the 2024 Developer of the Year. Their ongoing commitment to advancing the commercial real estate industry through cutting-edge innovation and exemplary real estate development across many property sectors is impressive,” said Marc Selvitelli, NAIOP president and CEO. “Crescent Communities has demonstrated significant market resilience and adaptability, overcoming economic headwinds to deliver value consistently.”

Since 1979, the NAIOP Developer of the Year award has been presented to a development company that best exemplifies leadership and innovation in the commercial real estate industry. Crescent Communities was selected from an impressive slate of nominees and was evaluated by a team of seasoned developers on the following criteria: outstanding quality of projects and services; active support of the industry through NAIOP; financial consistency and stability; ability to adapt to market conditions; and support of the local community.

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)

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

The Charlotte Future 2040 Team is pleased to announce the release of the Annual Report Mid-Year Highlight video. This video showcases stories from their partners about progress toward implementing the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan. It serves to honor the hard work being done by various city and county departments.

The Mid-Year Highlight offers a snapshot of select projects and programs being implemented by their partners. Additional projects and programs will be featured in the upcoming Charlotte Future 2040 Annual Report. For more comprehensive information on the Annual Report, interested parties can visit the official website.

Viewers are encouraged to watch the Mid-Year Highlight video to learn more about how the City of Charlotte is honoring the vision for their beloved city and advancing the goals of the Charlotte Future 2040 Plan. The video can be accessed via a button provided in the original communication.

Watch Mid-Year Highlight VIdeo

Originally published on June 24, 2024, by NAIOP.

NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has selected Crescent Communities as its 2024 Developer of the Year – the association’s highest honor. The award will be presented during NAIOP’s CRE.Converge conference in Las Vegas this October.  

“It is NAIOP’s honor to recognize the tremendous work of Crescent Communities as the 2024 Developer of the Year. Their ongoing commitment to advancing the commercial real estate industry through cutting-edge innovation and exemplary real estate development across many property sectors is impressive,” said Marc Selvitelli, NAIOP president and CEO. “Crescent Communities has demonstrated significant market resilience and adaptability, overcoming economic headwinds to consistently deliver value.”

Since 1979, the NAIOP Developer of the Year award has been presented to a development company that best exemplifies leadership and innovation in the commercial real estate industry. Crescent Communities was selected from an impressive slate of nominees and was evaluated by a team of seasoned developers on the following criteria: outstanding quality of projects and services; active support of the industry through NAIOP; financial consistency and stability; ability to adapt to market conditions; and support of the local community.

Full Article

The Compact Development provision proposed by Planning staff and discussed during a prior council and committee meeting, and ultimately approved by the Planning Commission's Zoning Committee was approved during last night's Charlotte City Council meeting.  This text amendment seeks to partially address the need for entry-level and workforce housing by allowing higher density developments in certain parts of the city.  Next up will be a summer discussion of strategies to increase the amount of allowable townhome developments.  We look forward to further engagement and are optimistic about the potential approval of another text amendment targeting this need this coming fall.

Our attention is also directed toward the City's Alignment Rezoning process that is already underway.  City staff is hosting webinars this evening at 6:00 pm, tomorrow during the lunch hour, and again on Thursday at 2:00 pm.  Please take time to register and participate in one of these informational sessions.

Please join us from 9:00 to 10:30 am on Wednesday, July 17th for an informational session about building code changes, ongoing technology transition efforts, and a status report about plan review and third-party inspections.  For more information, please email [email protected].

During the Charlotte City Council Zoning meeting, rezoning petition #2024-033 also known as "Clean-up Text Amendment #3" was unanimously approved.  Another item, rezoning petition #2024-067, the Compact Residential Development Text Amendment, to which we have provided significant input, also received a public hearing.  While this measure is not a perfect solution it does bridge the gap until additional text amendments can be drafted that allow for additional higher-density developments to meet attainable housing supply needs.  The full Council is expected to vote on this amendment during next Monday night's meeting.   

 

• Mecklenburg County proposing development fee increases in FY 2025 Budget - In partnership with the HBAGC we are initiating meetings with key staff at Mecklenburg County to discuss the potential impact of these proposed fee increases.  Here is the Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA) presentation that was provided to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners on April 23, 2024.

• Gastonia Looking for Feedback on Micro-Transit Fares - The City of Gastonia will host a public hearing on a fare increase at its regular City Council meeting which begins at 6 p.m. on May 7 and will be held at Gastonia’s City Hall, located at 181 S. South Street, Gastonia.  Additional information may be found here.

• Town of Waxhaw Proposed Land Reservation Text Amendment - The Town Board of Commissioners has introduced Text Amendment 14-2024 purportedly to address reserving future school sites but could have the impact of curbing growth in an already difficult building environment.

• Charlotte Tree Manual Updated - Links now available!  Redline Version, Clean Version

• U.S. Supreme Court Rules that Legislation Does Not Protect Improper Impact Fees - In a unanimous ruling, the court found that local impact fees must pass the rough proportionality test previously established in two landmark cases (Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard, Oregon) whether or not the fees were legislatively adopted or applied individually.  See more details from the National Association of Home Builders.

The NAIOP CRE Sentiment Index for April 2024 is 52, a rebound from the September 2023 reading of 46, indicating that respondents expect conditions for commercial real estate to improve over the next 12 months. 

 

Key Findings:

• Respondents have a positive outlook for every component that comprises the Index except for construction costs, which they expect to be higher next year. This marks a turnaround in sentiment for most CRE fundamentals, which was negative for almost every Index component in September.
   
• Respondents are now much more optimistic about capital market conditions than they were in September. The outlook for the availability of debt, the availability of equity and first-year cap rates improved more than for other measures. This shift is likely due to an expectation that interest rates will fall over the next 12 months. In response to a question that is not used to calculate the Index, developers and building owners indicated they expect interest rates to be lower than they had predicted in September.
   
• Respondents also expect demand for commercial real estate to improve slightly. Their outlook for occupancy rates and effective rents rose, with both measures now suggesting some improvement over the next year. Open-ended comments suggest that most respondents expect favorable demand for industrial, retail and multifamily, whereas office will likely continue to struggle.
    
• Developers and building owners now expect their deal volume to grow slightly over the next year. This is an improvement from September, when they had projected a decline in activity. Their expectation of handling a higher dollar volume of new projects and acquisitions reflects an improving outlook for capital availability.

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