Charlotte Business Notes from The Week 11-16-08
November 16th, 2008 Categories: Charlotte News and Politics, Real Estate News
Charlotte Real Estate, Development, Local Politics, Economic and Bailout News
Charlotte NC North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore is stepping up the pressure to block the Well’s Fargo takeover of Wachovia and keep Wachovia an independent bank. Political stunt? Maybe- but he has a point. If the US Treasury had stepped in a week or two earlier, most feel Wachovia would still be independent. Also- the deal is subject to shareholder approval, but somehow Wells got 39% of the voting stock independent of the purchase, assuring that the “shareholders” will vote in favor of the $7/per share sale. Say whaat? This is what angers folks who want a free market to decide who survives and who doesn’t- well not any more. The US government/ Treasury, seems to be- IS- picking the winners and losers.
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Word came down this week that The Bridges of Mint Hill, a major New Urban style (think Birkdale) shopping center at Lawyers Road and Rt 485–suspended in July because one partner was having financing difficulty- well the deal IS on according to todays Charlotte Observer, Belk Department Stores has committed to the 1.3M sf project which has been described as “Birkdale with department stores” and work is to resume sometime in 2009. Grading stopped in August, we will be watching. This represent a major investment in SE Charlotte, and would bring major shopping to Albemarle and close in Union County as well.
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The Lynx- Charlotte’s Light Rail, is One Year Old
Charlotte’s 9.5 mile light rail line began service just one short year ago… and its overwhelming success has made waves here and across the country. Waves? More like a tsunami. First year ridership projections were met in 90 days, and now at 16,000 riders per month, parking at rail stations has become an issue and CATs had to order two more train cars. And that all happened before gas was $4.00/gallon! So, independent of the gas price, Charlotte Consumers have loved the train- so much that Carts Director —— submitted a funding request to the Federal government for 2 additional lines, one to The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and one to Mooresville. For seeing the potential of an Obama presidency, Charlotte is perfectly positioned to receive federal funding with a renewed interest in mass transit.
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In real estate news,
it was announced that foreclosures across the country were 25% higher than October 2007 reaching and at the same time new homes sales increased 2.7% over September a year ago. Why is it I think the New Home numbers are an anamoloy, and the foreclosure numbers not so much… also, the new Home reported median prices falling 9% in September year over year. One Caution- when we see median prices falling, a favorite measure of the NAR and many others, it may also mean people are just buying, on average,smaller more affordable houses. That is why I, and others, use a Sold Cost per square foot model for year over year pricing comparisons. A tiny bit more complicated, a whole lot more accurate.
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So after spending $250B Secretary Paulson has asked for a “Do-Over”– you remember the world was going to end if the banks didn’t get these bad loans off their books, and we simply Must believe him and bail out the banks buy buying the bad loans. Remember? Well, not so much. Stay tuned. I need a check, what was that e-mail we send too?
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Mr. McDonald, it was nice speaking to you this morning. I was exploring the business opportunities in Charlotte about 2 weeks ago, and I really like Mooresville area. Keeping in touch.
Thanks,
Ba You