New development and ongoing operations of existing commercial real estate buildings in the United States – office, industrial, warehouse and retail – generates significant economic growth at the state and national levels. The combined impact of these property types supported 8.3 million American jobs and contributed $1 trillion to U.S. GDP in 2018. The study…
Commercial
BOMA and BOMI to Launch New Property Management Certification and Education Partnership
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and BOMI International, the Independent Institute for Property and Facility Management Education, announced plans to create a new “early-career” certification for commercial property managers and to partner together to produce and market online education for the commercial real estate industry. The announcement was made at BOMA International’s…
Strong Demand Will Absorb New Construction
Key Takeaways Due to high demand, absorption will continue to be positive; however, due to new construction growth, the vacancy rate is expected to rise in the next few quarters. Charleston overall market rental rates are higher relative to the last quarter and are expected to rise as new office construction is completed. As the…
Resurgence in Office Leasing: Breakout Economic Growth Forecasts Higher Rates of Net Absorption
The U.S. office market posted solid net absorption levels in the second and third quarters of 2018 of 18.0 million and 11.0 million square feet, respectively. This level of new leasing is likely due to higher-than-expected economic growth and the subsequent demand brought about by jobs created in the office-using sectors. This increase in demand…
Distribution / Warehouse
Self-Storage New Construction on the Rise in 2017
New construction of self-storage facilities is on the rise, with approximately 900 facilities expected to be constructed in 2017 – a 50% increase on the 600 new projects constructed last year, according to the latest research from CBRE. Dallas is expected to see the most new construction this year, with an estimated 49 projects and…
Amazon’s Announces Renewable Energy Plans
Amazon today announced a new initiative to generate clean energy by installing solar panels on its fulfillment facilities around the world. The company plans to deploy large-scale solar systems on rooftops of more than 15 fulfillment and sortation centers in the U.S. this year and is planning to deploy solar systems on 50 fulfillment and…
Government Facilities
Turning Old in to New In Durham, NC
The new Durham County Administration Building will be the central location for Durham County’s management and administrative functions. Once home to the Durham County Judicial Building (constructed in 1978) the newly renovated structure will house nine county departments, community meeting spaces, a fitness center, TV studio, and two-ground floor retail tenants. The design had to…
Update on State Government Complex Buildings Impacted by Raleigh Fire
Several State Government Complex buildings were impacted by the five-alarm fire in downtown Raleigh on the night of March 16. Affected buildings are expected to resume normal operations on Monday, March 20. The Department of Administration’s Facility Management Division today conducted walk-through inspections of each state government building in the vicinity of the fire to…
CFMA Presentation of The Release of a Report on an Analysis of Construction Projects with Federal Agencies and the Cause of Disputes
The Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) held a press conference in Washington, DC, to release the findings of their report, which examines the extent to which courts attribute fault to contractors as opposed to government agencies when disputes arise and are adjudicated. Public opinion often concludes that cost overruns and chronic delays are frequently the…
Health Care
Construction Complete on Award-Winning, Ambulatory, Pediatric Dental Surgery Center in Charlotte
Charlotte, NC — A M King and The Keith Corporation (TKC) announces the completion of a single specialty, dental-only ambulatory surgery center in the University area of Charlotte. The 11,000-square-foot facility is located directly behind Novant University Medical Plaza at the intersection of Medical Plaza Drive and W.T. Harris Boulevard. Carolinas Center for Ambulatory Dentistry…
Mashburn Begins Construction on 5-Story Tilt-Up Building, First of its Kind in South Carolina
Columbia, S.C. — On February 6, Mashburn Construction announced the construction of the first 5-story tilt-up building in South Carolina. HCP, Inc. and its partner, Grand Strand Medical Center (HCA), announced a new medical office building would be built adjacent to the existing hospital in Myrtle Beach. Mashburn Construction was awarded the project in late…
Clemson Project Recognized for Conceptual Design Excellence at Healthcare Design Expo
A Clemson University project integrating research and design to develop a safer, more ergonomic operating room received two awards for conceptual design excellence at the Healthcare Design Expo + Conference in Orlando. The Healthcare Environment Awards, sponsored by Contract magazine and The Center for Health Design, selected the Realizing Improved Patient Care Through Human-Centered Design…
DPR Construction Selected to Build New Plant Sciences Building at NC State University
DPR Construction, one of the nation’s leading technical builders focused on highly complex and sustainable projects, announced its selection by North Carolina State University to build the school’s new Plant Sciences Building in Raleigh, North Carolina. The project includes construction of a five-story, 187,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research building, comprising research laboratories, office space, corporate laboratory and…
Hotels / Hospitality
Carowinds Makes Bold Strike with Biggest Investment to Date
Carowinds will mark a turning point in its evolution as a destination amusement park when it introduces Copperhead Strike, the Carolinas’ first double launch coaster, for the 2019 season. Copperhead Strike simulates the harrowing chase of getaway cars racing through rolling farmland, sending riders on two launches through a relentless winding ride over half a…
Industrial
Jacobs to Sell Energy, Chemicals and Resources Business to WorleyParsons for $3.3 Billion
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Energy, Chemicals and Resources (ECR) segment to WorleyParsons Limited (ASX: WOR) for $3.3 billion, consisting of $2.6 billion in cash and $700 million in WorleyParsons ordinary shares. The transaction value represents a multiple of more than 11.5…
South Carolina Life Sciences Conference Features BIO Global CEO Jim Greenwood, 50 National Speakers
BIO global CEO Jim Greenwood will join more than 50 additional national speakers at SCBIO 2018 – the annual conference bringing top leaders and executives from life sciences organizations across the state and nation to Charleston, South Carolina October 23-25. Mr. Greenwood will address the gathering with a keynote presentation entitled “Global Perspectives for Life…
Industrial Space Demand Forecast, Third Quarter 2018
Robust Economy Means Increased Industrial Demand Download the NAIOP Industrial Space Demand Forecast, Third Quarter 2018 Report. The forecast for demand for industrial space has risen because of increased expectations of broad macroeconomic growth and job generation for the remainder of 2018 and 2019. According to Dr. Hany Guirguis of Manhattan College and Dr. Joshua…
THS Constructors Completes first U.S. Production Facility for Norafins Americas
THS Constructors, Inc., one of the Southeast’s leading design-build and contracting companies, announces the completion and grand opening of a new manufacturing facility for Norafin Americas in Mills Creek, N.C. , near Asheville. The facility is Norafin’s first U.S. production plant and will provide 50 jobs in Mills River. The world class textile plant will produce…
Mission Critical / Data Centers
Google Plans South Carolina Data Center Expansion
Google recently announced plans to make significant capital investments thought out the U.S., including at its data center in South Carolina. Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on his blog that the technology company was planing to invest over $13 billion in new facilities and expansions. “Today we’re announcing over $13 billion in investments throughout 2019…
Multi-Family Residential
Armada Hoffler Properties Announces Investment in New Development Project in Charleston, SC
Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH) announced today that it will invest in Nexton Square, a new open-air lifestyle center currently under construction in Summerville, South Carolina. Located at the entrance to a new 4,500 acre master-planned community, Nexton Square will serve as the retail gateway to over 10,000 new single-family and multifamily residential units…
South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame inducts two new members: Michael P. Nieri and J. Coleman Shouse
The South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame trustees inducted Michael P. Nieri from Columbia, S.C. and J. Coleman Shouse from Greenville, S.C. into the prestigious honor society last week for their work in and support of South Carolina’s home building industry. Both men were presented the trademark medallion and plaque during a ceremony on July…
Report Finds 9.5% Premium for High Performance Homes in North Carolina
North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA), the state’s trade association for building performance companies and professionals, announced today the release of its third annual energy efficient, green and high-performance home and building report. The report identifies 34,152 high-performance homes and buildings being built or retrofitted in the state in 2016 and finds a 9.5% price…
Zillow Predicts Suburban Sprawl to Return in 2018
Those hoping for relief from the ongoing inventory crisis won’t find it in 2018. Next year, current homeowners will look to remodel their homes rather than sell, further limiting inventory, and with limited space to add new homes in city centers, suburban sprawl will make a return. Newly built homes will be designed with both…
Office Buildings
‘101 Ways to Build Smarter’ eBook, Featuring Ideas from Skender, Corporate Real Estate Executives and Developers to Offset Rapidly Escalating Construction Prices
Construction costs have been consistently rising just when the industry can least afford it. Today, a new report from Skender offers “101 Ways to Build Smarter.” The 18-page eBook, available for download at www.skender.com/buildsmarter/, is a resource filled with quality-enhancing and value-optimizing possibilities for building owners, developers, architects, brokers, contractors, corporate real estate and workplace…
Report Finds 9.5% Premium for High Performance Homes in North Carolina
North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA), the state’s trade association for building performance companies and professionals, announced today the release of its third annual energy efficient, green and high-performance home and building report. The report identifies 34,152 high-performance homes and buildings being built or retrofitted in the state in 2016 and finds a 9.5% price…
Corporate Real Estate Managers Embrace Co-working
Co-working, the style of work marked by open shared spaces among workers of different companies and popularized by “solopreneurs” and tech workers, is quickly being embraced by those who manage real estate needs for large corporations. The trend is explored in a new whitepaper, The Evolution of Co-working and Impact on CRE, released by CoreNet…
Ally and Crescent Communities Announce New Office Tower in Charlotte
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY), a leading digital financial services company, and Crescent Communities, a nationally recognized, real estate company specializing in the development of single family, multifamily and commercial/mixed use communities, today announced that they have entered into a lease agreement for a new office building that will be constructed at 601 S. Tryon…
Power / Energy
Dominion Energy Completes SCANA Acquisition
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D), and SCANA Corporation announced today that they have completed their proposed merger, benefiting customers and communities in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. “Dominion Energy is pleased to add SCANA’s fast-growing, high-performing Southeastern businesses to our 18-state footprint. Together, we are committed to providing safe, dependable, affordable and clean energy…
Dominion Energy Seeks Solar and Onshore Wind Generation Proposals
Dominion Energy is seeking bids for up to 500 megawatts of solar and onshore wind generation as part of a plan to develop 3,000 megawatts of additional solar and wind power under Virginia’s new Grid Transformation & Security Act (GTSA). The GTSA, which became law on July 1, 2018, paves the way for the largest…
Kings Mountain Energy Center Begins Operations
Cleveland County officially became home to one of the cleanest and most efficient power plants in the nation today, as NTE Energy’s Kings Mountain Energy Center (KMEC) formally began operations. Officials from NTE Energy joined with city, county, and state leaders Tuesday to cut the ribbon on the $500 million facility. The 475 MW natural…
Keystone Power Holdings Solar Array Fully Operational in South Carolina
Keystone Power Holdings, LLC and Crown Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCK) (Crown) announced a solar energy project that will offset one-third of the annual electrical usage in Crown’s Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. Keystone Power Holdings is the financier, developer and owner of the system, with Crown enjoying the solar power via an operating lease. Keystone Power Holdings and its affiliate KPH Construction…
Retail / Shopping Centers
Carowinds Makes Bold Strike with Biggest Investment to Date
Carowinds will mark a turning point in its evolution as a destination amusement park when it introduces Copperhead Strike, the Carolinas’ first double launch coaster, for the 2019 season. Copperhead Strike simulates the harrowing chase of getaway cars racing through rolling farmland, sending riders on two launches through a relentless winding ride over half a…
BB&T Reinforces Commitment to Eastern North Carolina
BB&T Corporation (NYSE : BBT ) announced it will build an approximately 95,000-square-foot office facility on Pine Street in downtown Wilson, N.C. The new $35 million building will accommodate 650 BB&T associates who are currently working in the twin buildings at 223 West Nash St. or elsewhere in Wilson. BB&T expects to begin site work on…
SG Blocks Selected to Design and Construct 6,000-Square-Foot Container-Based Food and Beverage Venue in Greenville, SC
SG Blocks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGBX), a leading designer, innovator and fabricator of container-based structures, has secured a 6,000-square-foot retail project with Gather GVL, an eco-friendly food and beverage venue in Greenville, South Carolina. SG Blocks will be designing, fabricating and delivering 23 modules, utilizing six containers and 17 purpose-built Intermodal Container Framing Systems. The modules…
Renovations Complete at Circle Seven
Construction of Circle Seven at Garden & Gun, an interior retail build-out in the historic Cigar Factory in downtown Charleston, S.C. has been completed, according to Frampton Construction Company, LLC, a regional full-service construction firm providing planning and design support, preconstruction, and construction services, Renovations included improvements to the existing space consistent with a boutique retail…
Roads, Bridges and Highways
North Carolina Construction Project Awarded to Subsidiaries of Salini Impregilo and Vinci’s Eurovia
The design-build contract for the NC 540 – Triangle Expressway Southeast Extension in Raleigh, NC was awarded to a joint venture of Salini’s Lane Construction and Eurovia’s Blythe Construction. The project will extend the existing Triangle Expressway from US 401 to I-40 and is part of the larger Complete 540 project, designed to improve the…
New ASCE Manual of Practice Focuses on Infrastructure Resilience in a Changing Climate
ASCE’s new book, Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Adaptive Design and Risk Management, MOP 140, provides guidance for and contributes to the developing or enhancing of methods for infrastructure analysis and design in a world in which risk profiles are changing and can be projected with varying degrees of uncertainty requiring a new design philosophy to meet this…
Americans Willing to Pay Higher Tolls and Taxes for Infrastructure Improvements
Survey shows Americans believe congestion has increased over the past year Across the nation, Americans say congestion on their roads and highways has continued to worsen since last year, according to a new HNTB Corporation America THINKS national public opinion survey. The survey, “Funding Congestion Solutions-2018” found 61 percent of Americans believe traffic congestion is…
Viewpoint: Let’s Unite Behind a Transportation Bill that will Sustain our Leadership Position
Fixing our nation’s transportation network requires long-term vision and a mix of funding solutions. America’s transportation system is the lifeblood of our economy, creating jobs and expanding opportunities, connecting us all to centers of commerce and neighborhoods, and securing a sound quality of life in our communities. As this system has evolved over the past…
Schools (K-12 and Higher Education)
Power UP Workshop Gives Five-Year-Olds a Glimpse of Construction Technology
Power UP, Inc. founder Dr. Mittie Cannon believes it’s never too early to start paving the way for a possible career in engineering and construction. Just before the December 2018 holiday break, Don Wilcher, Director of Manufacturing and Technology at Jefferson State Community College, led a Power UP workshop for very young children at Robinson…
Clemson University Kicks Off 2019 Tennis Season in All-New Facility
Clemson University’s tennis teams played their first matches of 2019 last weekend inside the school’s all-new Duckworth Family Tennis Facility located in the center of Clemson’s ever-growing campus. The University held a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony in early November 2018 and the Tigers began holding practice in the new facility shortly thereafter. The new Duckworth Family…
School Safety Commission Report Supports AIA Member Design Recommendations
Report recommends establishing a federal clearinghouse for best practices to include school designs. The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2019 President William Bates, FAIA, issued the following statement regarding findings from the Federal Commission on School Safety’s new report: “While the AIA can only evaluate design-related aspects of the commission’s report, the Institute believes its…
AIA Launches Initiatives to Shape School Design Policies
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its members are launching a variety of initiatives to help address violence in schools through design. “Architects have a role to play in addressing school violence,” said 2018 AIA President Carl Elefante, FAIA. “For two decades, architects have worked with school communities racked by tragedy to develop better…
Transportation / Ports
Why Public Transit is a Key Economic Issue for Growing cities
We’d love to take our daily commute for granted. Except, we can’t. It is essential that we continue to make public transportation as efficient as possible for commuters. Over the decades, as a nation we have put investing in our transportation infrastructure, particularly our bus and rail systems, on the back burner. The result: Today’s…
Study: South Carolina’s Logistics Industry has $32.9 Billion Impact
The logistics industry cluster is one of the largest in South Carolina according to a study released by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness. Authored by Dr. Joseph Von Nessen, the study finds that there are more than 600 logistics companies operating in the state, from transportation, to air freight providers, to warehouse and distribution…
SC Ports Board Approves $69.5 Million Crane Purchase
The South Carolina Ports Authority Board of Directors approved a $69.5 million contract for the purchase of six new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to serve growing container volumes and big ships calling the Port of Charleston. “As the largest crane purchase in our history, the contract approved today is an important part of our overall investment…
McMaster Announces Interim Appointment of SCDOT Commissioner
South Carolinas Governor Henry McMaster announced the interim appointment of Tony K. Cox to the state Department of Transportation Commission representing the seventh congressional district. The appointment follows the Thursday resignation of former commissioner Mike Wooten. “Tony is a highly respected leader in our state’s business community and his service to our state will…
