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Economic leaders put on a brave face

Posted on September 25, 2008September 25, 2008 by Staff

Downturn hits the charts throughout Orange County
Photo by Kirk Ross. Diane Lea asks about economic development plans while Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce executive director Aaron Nelson listens in during a Q&A section of the chamber’s Orange County Development Briefing Tuesday at the Friday Center.

Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Closer ties with UNC and RTP, more coordination in recruiting between local governments, setting up an economic incentive program and leveraging a new Orange County Airport were among the ideas discussed Tuesday at an Orange County development briefing at UNC’s Friday Center.

One by one, planners from Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Orange County and Hillsborough spelled out in detail what the 150 or so business leaders assembled already knew or suspected: Commercial and residential construction is down considerably from heights hit in 2000.

As each took a turn at the lectern at the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event, the charts displaying the bad news came up front. They were quickly followed by a more enthusiastic presentation of what’s ahead, a litany of building projects that countywide would add millions of square feet of residential and commercial space.
Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Aaron Nelson said he was impressed with the amount of building taking place in a down economy. But Nelson and others acknowledged that one of the big challenges ahead would be finding businesses to fill the new spaces being created.

Brad Broadwell, Orange County’s new director of the Economic Development Commission, said that the county’s reputation as a difficult place to do business and the current economic climate makes building jobs and increasing the commercial tax base harder. But the county’s assets, particularly the university, still make them possible, he said.

“We do have strong assets in Orange County, so I’m very encouraged despite the current situation,” he said.

Broadwell said the county needs to do a better job of “matching assets to opportunity,” citing UNC’s $700 million in annual research funding.

“We need to draw closer to UNC to look for economic opportunities and spin-offs from the university,” he said. “We haven’t done that very well in the past.”.

A new airport, he said, could help bring in federal investment and help in recruiting new industries. Asked for specifics by audience member Mary Trosclair, Broadwell said that aerospace research and technology businesses that want to handle their own shipping are possibilities.

Nelson said it might be time for local governments to “embrace the third rail” of incentives in order to recruit new businesses to fill new inventories of commercial space.

Broadwell called incentives a “perilous journey,” but agreed that targeted incentives such as a green building fund to help developers build LEED structures could have some utility.

Chapel Hill’s economic development officer, Dwight Bassett, said he would like to see better coordination between the county and the towns on incentives. One reason the town lost a bid to recruit a company with 450 jobs, he said, was that they learned that the county would not offer incentives.

Nelson also acknowledged that the county and its municipalities have made strides in streamlining their review process and that complaining about how hard it is to do business here is not going to help the recruiting mission.

Following are snapshots offered by planners on the state of development in the county and towns.

Carrboro

Roy Williford, Carrboro’s planning director, noted that Carrboro had issued 143 building permits for single-family housing units and six for multi-family units. Those numbers dropped over the past few years to 51 single-family and four multi-family this year. Certificates of Occupancy issued by the town show a similar picture with 160 COs issued in 2000 and 50 this year. Looking at the two lines drifting south on the chart, Williford mused, “I don’t know if this is the NASDQ or the Dow.”

On the upside, Williford outlined the major commercial changes in store for downtown, including the large 300 East Main Street project, which could be voted on in a special meeting called by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen for next Tuesday. The town is also looking at a sizeable increase in downtown housing thanks to recently approved condominium projects and is anticipating the continued buildout of already approved subdivisions on the town’s north side.

Hillsborough

Planning director Margaret Houth called the county seat the “smallest but most happening town” in the county. She noted the town has seen a drop in the past couple of years in the average number of new projects, but that several major residential developments are moving ahead and others are in the planning stage.
Houth said that redevelopment in the downtown will lead to more activity there and that a new senior center and improvements around the Sportsplex is creating interest in that area.

Chapel Hill

Bassett acknowledged a slowdown in single-family attached homes and multi-family housing construction, but pointed to several large commercial projects around town as the bright spot. The current mix of development projects is 39 percent commercial, a “tremendous shift” for a town with an 80/20 ratio of residential to commercial space.

Chapel Hill has about two million square feet of building taking place, representing an investment of roughly $408 million.

Orange County

Planning director Craig Benedict said that the county will continue to push for development in its Economic Development Districts, with the proposed Buckhorn Village project a prime example. That project, he said, is close to the finish line and should help stem the flow of Orange County sales tax dollars out of county.
Benedict also cited a new airport as having economic development potential.

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