Volume 3, Issue 8 | August, 2008 |
The Real Estate Report
Local Government News Impacting the Real Estate Industry |
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Orange County Development Briefing The Briefing will be held from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Friday Center across from Meadowmont. Planners and economic developers from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County will present detailed information about new residential and commercial development as well as recent policy changes that will affect future development in Orange County. This event sold out quickly last year, so reserve your spot now by clicking here or calling 967-7075. Registration is $30 for members and $40 for nonmembers and includes breakfast. Carrboro High School Names New Principal
ABC Results Released On August 7, the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction released the ABC growth results for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District. Thirteen of the district’s schools attained “high-growth”, up from twelve last year, while four schools met “expected growth”. Growth is a measurement of how much students have improved from one year to the next, with high growth being the highest designation of improvement. The thirteen high-growth schools were Chapel Hill High School, Carrboro High School, Scroggs Elementary, Estes Hills Elementary, Culbreth Middle, Carrboro Elementary, McDougle Middle School, Smith Middle School, Glenwood Elementary, Phillips Middle, Ephesus Elementary, Seawell Elementary and Rashkis Elementary. The expected growth schools were McDougle Elementary, Frank Porter Graham Elementary, the Hospital School and East Chapel Hill High School. The “School of Excellence” and “School of Distinction” awards should be forthcoming. For the full story, click here.
Eastgate Shopping Center Prepares for New Stores Report Lays Out Process for Glen Lennox NCD Southern Community Park Nearly Finished Orange County Comprehensive Plan Update Violent Crime Down in Chapel Hill According to Police Chief Wallace Deck Can Support Kidzu Carolina North Fiscal Impact Study Released Second Quarter Office/Retail Figures Released by Grubb and Ellis In the Orange County retail market, vacancy totaled 5.27 percent and there was negative net absorption over the past quarter. Around 60,000 square feet of retail is under construction, most of which is located in mixed use projects throughout the County. To provide a relative size comparison, retail project Buckhorn Village, which is scheduled to be voted on by the Commissioners in September, is over 1 million square feet. Carrboro Limits Towing Fees Local Housing Market Bucks Trend The “real news,” according to Mark Zimmerman, Vice President of the Greater Chapel Hill Realtors Association, is that prices in Orange County are holding up while local housing markets across the country are seeing up to 25-percent price reductions. New Chatham GIS Website Unveiled Uniboard to Create 104 Jobs in Chatham County Triangle Office Market Figures Released Going forward, Collier Pinkard forecasts that office vacancy will rise slightly in the coming quarter due to slowing net absorption. Overall, though, the Triangle market should remain strong due to a projected 2 percent employment growth and continued migration to the area.
Green Building Council to Modify LEED Standards Over LEED’s 8 year history, the USGBC has changed the way people look at building. There are over 10,000 buildings waiting to be certified. LEED certifies the following construction categories: New construction, existing buildings, commercial interiors, core, and shell, retail, schools, health care, and homes. LEED certifications take a look at the entire building process from start to finish while taking a whole-building approach to sustainability once the project is complete. Points are awarded in categories including water savings and energy efficiency; points will earn a building certification. The LEED 2009 changes will tackle criticism that it is too rigid and costly, and for awarding a single point to both additions that are cheap and easy as well as to serious time and money investments (you earn one point for having a bike rack, and one point for installing a costly new efficient HVAC system, for example). Ashley Katz, USGBC spokesperson says that LEED 2009 will be “simpler and more elegant and committed to continuous improvement.” For the full story, click here. Governor Mike Easley’s office announced Wednesday that Amtrak will add a third passenger train to its service between Raleigh and Charlotte. Increased ridership due to the recent spate in gas prices has prompted the addition of a mid-day run. Ridership on the current Charlotte-Raleigh was up 22 percent between October 2007 and April 2008. The Governor’s office said that the $3 million needed to operate the new route will come from the federal government for the next three years. The new train should be operational within a year. For the full story, click here. The Real Estate Report is produced monthly by the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtors |