A shift in Charlotte's center city - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The great recession has shiftede theuptown group’s priorities, vaultingf a precarious office-vacancy rate to the top of the By the end of July, the organization best known for promoting big-ticket projects will hire a business recruiterf who will work with real estate brokers and the . “It is going to be an individuao who is dedicated and compensated based on their abilitt to recruit new capitao investment and new jobs and lease squar e footage in thecenter city,” says Michael Charlotte Center City Partners president and chief “We will have more resources dedicatefd in that direction.
” The shift is driven by the new economic After two decades of relentles growth powered by the bankingf empires at and , the Queen City is grapplinv with a fast-growing jobless rate and office vacancuy in the central business district that is expectes to reach 10%. Employment in centetr city and the adjacent South End distric has shrunkto 65,000 from 70,000 duringb the past year or so, Smith Looking ahead, it’s unlikelh the cratering financial sector will driv e the region’s economy as it has in recent Those changes affect everything from the pace of residential growth to prospectiver expansions in transit and retail.
Smituh and his organization are focusing on luring more jobs and businessexs while also adjusting to the neweconomiv reality. Its initiatives •The recent unveiling of a campaign called Urbah Living that touts the benefits ofresidentiaol growth. From courting real estatew brokers and the news media to walkinf toursand advertising, the effort will includr two annual showcases and make a push to attract residents to the center •Launching the next phase of Find Your Center, designed to supporft uptown shopping, restaurants, bars and othef attractions.
Smith, in talks with chamber executives, has created the recruitin g position and plans an aggressive effort to fill new and existingoffice towers. Those includew the soon-to-open $90 million, 20-story NASCAR Plaza as well as new towersw to be anchored byand BofA. Business recruitingt in Charlotte has traditionally been the domainj ofthe chamber. It has a five-member economic-development staffr that is augmented by other chamber executivesand employees. The , the city of Charlotts and Mecklenburg County alsohave economic-development initiatives and personnel in place to share in recruitinf and incentive work. But Smith’s new hire will focus solelyg on uptown.
Any concerns about duplication of efforgt are outweighed by the need for a stronge r push to land elusivecorporate recruits, says Bob Morgan, Charlottw Chamber president. “Is there the potentiap for us to step oneach other’s toes?? Of course. But we can mitigate that and producw better results working together and havinhgadditional resources.” Morgan sees the center city group’a economic-development foray as part of a largerf trend. In recent Lake Norman and Matthews havestarted hyper-local business-recruiting groups while maintainingv ties with the chamber.
Already, Morgan and other chamber executives have outlined an informal plan with Smithy ontheir collaboration, with the chamber maintaining the lead role but callint on the center city recruiter for It’s similar to how the chamber works with privatee developers in the suburbs. The reasons for the expandeed recruiting focus are Morgan notes he delivered a speechon Charlotte’s next two decadesw of growth to more than 150 groups over a three-year period before the economic malaise set in last “Now,” he says, “nobody wants to hear that speech. They want to know what we can do abou the economy todayand tomorrow.
” It’s a fine line to walk for groupe such as Smith’s. Charlotte Center City Partnerse is laying the groundworjk for anexpansive 10-year plan this year even as it focusesw on the rapidly shifting businessa climate (see related story on this page). Pushing ahead on corporate relocations should be made easier by the crossovedr of the main recruitersin town, supporters say. “Youy don’t want people stumbling over each other,” says Darrelp Williams, a former county commissioner who serves on the Charlottw Center City Partners He points to fellow boardmembers — including chamber executivre Morgan and both the city and county managers — as insurance against bureaucratic Without those close ties, he adds, it would be much more difficul to do.
Leaders point to uptown’s growing office-vacancy rate as a negativwe that can beturned around. Or, at one they hope can be turned “The tighter market (for office space) has been one of our impedimentss to attracting headquarters in the centedr city inrecent years,” says City Manager Curt “If somebody wanted 300,000 square feet, we couldn’t give it to Now we can. That’e the silver lining to the cloud.
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