RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION INTERVIEW
Trending Mixed-use development is expected to lead the post-pandemic market
Shannon Dixon Executive Vice President – Casto Southeast Realty Services them or a multifamily component. For those that lack one, we are looking at ways to add them in. Do you think there will be a real estate market correction? All talk right now is about the housing market and I would expect some corrections here in the future. Local housing prices have increased significantly and inventory is at an all-time low and although there is a huge amount of new development underway, construction prices and labor availability is still an issue. I do see this settling out over the next few years as inventory in single homes and rental availability increases. Retail real estate is continuing to see a bit of a correction. The pandemic has really pushed forward the inevitable with solidifying the consumers online shopping trend, which has impacted some of our centers, but we still see cap rates at historic lows for many asset types which offsets some of the concern. What long-term trends do you see emerging as the door slowly closes on the pandemic? The trend is toward more mixed-use development. People are driven to places where they can live and work, and these assets allow developers to put that concept into a more curated, fun experience than just your typical shopping center. We’re doing quite a bit more mixed use. We’re looking at a lot of our retail assets now and assessing the ways we can incorporate new concepts like multifamily or entertainment, focusing more on bringing curated brands into the portfolio, as well as just trying to attract a variety of tenants within the food, entertainment, health and wellness spaces to give our customers a wider variety for their shopping and living experience. Most of our larger centers do have a mixed-use component to 88
What particular areas or neighborhoods are emerging as real estate hotspots? Holly Springs and Apex have really come into their own. Both are in the process of redeveloping and transforming their downtown areas. What used to be very quiet streets have now become activity hubs with residential living and new mixed-use buildings going up in Downtown Apex and Holly Springs. These towns are slowly being transformed while maintaining their smalltown character in the middle of all this growth, which is really attractive to families moving to the area. There are thousands of new homes and apartments under construction in these markets and it never slowed down during the pandemic. Fuji’s announcement about their move to Holly Springs is a great indicator that companies see the value in what these communities can offer.
| Invest: Raleigh-Durham 2021 | RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
