COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION INTERVIEW
Hotspots Downtowns in Raleigh and Durham have emerged as exciting live, work, play areas
George York President & CEO – York Properties
What are the most important infrastructure projects in the region? The mass transit opportunity is top of mind to me. We have the bus rapid transit system coming online soon, which does not sound all that appealing to me but it’s a good interim step for moving people around the community. The light rail/commuter option is still years away but it will be a significant opportunity to assist our ability to grow in this region. At some point, having that type of transportation option to get us around the Triangle will be critical. It needs to go where people want to go but it can’t stop at everybody’s house, so the details still need to be drawn out to help maximize usage and efficiency. Which areas of Raleigh-Durham are the fastestgrowing? 74
Downtown Raleigh was not a very exciting area 10-15 years ago. It has been wonderful to see the resurgence of Downtown Raleigh with the 24-hour city vibe, the live, work, play environment, the great restaurants and entertainment options. The same can be said for the Downtown Durham area. It has really been transformed over the same period of time as Downtown Raleigh. Downtown Durham has the benefit of being adjacent to Research Triangle Park, too. The boundaries of Downtown Durham and the Research Triangle Park are actually really close, so they have an opportunity to serve as the town center for much of RTP. Then there is the whole North Hills area. It’s fantastic what has been done with that neighborhood. It has cemented its very own, wonderful live, work, play environment, including lots of great office product and new apartments to complement the retail shopping. Residential communities around North Hills have benefited from all the wonderful things that have been done there. It has been great to see it transition from a sleepy, old mall to what it is today. What is your near-term outlook for your properties? We believe 2021 will continue to be a tough year for our properties as we continue to navigate the COVID environment and it is apparent that the return to normal won’t happen until later in 2021 at the earliest. We will continue to work with our property owners and our merchants to create an environment where they can both be as successful as possible. A partnership approach between the property owners and their tenants will be essential in 2021 as we fight through this difficult period together. Going forward, our market and our properties are well positioned to take advantage of regional growth that we believe will continue to be strong for the foreseeable future.
| Invest: Raleigh-Durham 2021 | COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
