Interview: Gordon Grubb, Founder

Gordon Grubb

Founder Grubb Ventures

What were some ways Grubb Ventures was able to continue to grow despite the pandemic?

We just consider ourselves very grateful that we were able to keep our properties operating. We converted just like everybody to online leasing and we kept construction going as well. We actually kicked off our Raleigh Iron Works project and have started site work there. We have kept plowing ahead with basically the same model and growth expectations that we had pre-COVID. We might have been a bit delayed, particularly with the kick-off of that project. Otherwise, we are tracking pretty well with construction here. We were also able to continue with Raleigh Ironworks. It took the city of Raleigh a while to really get up to speed but now we are moving forward with that.

What are Raleigh’s up-and-coming development hotbeds?

We’re very excited about our Iron Works project because that is a part of town that had really been neglected. Unfortunately, we are becoming a victim of our own success because now that people know what we’re doing, the prices have really started escalating over there. Southeast Raleigh has a Downtown South project and there is a lot going on there. That area had also been neglected for a long time. There are concerns about gentrification and displacement. We are growing so fast and housing costs are going up but those are the areas where we see growth.

At the same time, we do have some challenges, primarily infrastructure and affordable housing. With more smart growth and densification, we hope that will ultimately allow us to think more about transit and infrastructure. With 60,000 people working out of RTP we have a reverse model unlike in Charlotte. We did not have a strong population coming to a Downtown core. We have people living in Raleigh who drive out to RTP. But now with the growth of Downtown Raleigh and Downtown Durham, we are starting to see the development of three major employment nodes, which we did not have before.

The Research Triangle Foundation is investing over $1 billion in developing a new urban center in the park.

( ) budgets and delivery dates. Despite the challenges, given the Triangle’s resilience amid a global pandemic and a foundation rooted in innovation, technology, education and collaboration, all signs point to a strong recovery buoyed by the development of and investment in commercial real estate assets.

Multifamily With an estimated population just north of 2 million people, the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area is one of the fastest-growing MSAs in the nation. According to the University of North Carolina, the population in the Raleigh-Cary market grew by 23% from 2010 to 2019, ranked just behind Austin as the fastest-growing MSA in the country. Though official 2020 census figures do not publish until the end of the year, it is estimated that the population is growing at a rate of 0.99% annually, according to World Population Review, which means good news for the residential and multifamily housing market.

“We have always been known as a market leader in