BUSINESS BRIEFS

business briefs COMPILED BY CATHERINE KOZAK

Rodanthe Pier Restored

Power Line Upgrade

A “grid hardening” project intended to improve electric service reliability in Nags Head and on Roanoke Island is scheduled to be completed before Memorial Day, according to Paula Miller, a communication specialist with Dominion Energy. The project, which is situated along the Nags Head-Manteo Causeway, replaces 42 wooden power poles with 37 galvanized steel poles that are stronger and more resilient in storms – and will also include more “aesthetically appealing” circuits to replace the old circuits on the poles. Numerous utility poles along the causeway, which crosses Roanoke Sound, have snapped during storms, including two dozen during Hurricane Dorian. Five poles removed along Pond Island will not be replaced.

The storm-battered and aging Rodanthe Pier reopened on March 27 after a major restoration over the winter. Deteriorated pilings, bolts and structural timbers were replaced, according to the pier’s Facebook page, and additional benches along the length of the pier will be installed by summer. To celebrate the reopening, the pier will continue to host its annual Youth Fishing Tournament on May 29, and seasonal live music is expected to resume after Memorial Day.

market snapshot Real Estate

As the busy summer season approaches, the Outer Banks’ white-hot real estate market is showing no signs of slowing down – with month-to-month sales up 86%, yearly sales up 80%, and total inventory down 55%, according to the Outer Banks Association of Realtors’ March 2021 MLS Statistical Report.

Woman’s Club Still Going Strong

On April 21, the Outer Banks Woman’s Club celebrated 50 years of service and support for the local community – which has included many hours of volunteering and brainstorming creative ways to meet unmet needs through programs such as student scholarships. Over the years, the Woman’s Club was also instrumental in helping to establish the Outer Banks Health Center, the Dare County Youth Center and the annual Angel Gift Project held during the Christmas season. Current projects include volunteer work at Hotline and Food for Thought, as well as participating in beach clean-ups and grass planting efforts. Sales were up in every Outer Banks community, but Corolla’s eye-popping 210% spike in sales, from 20 sales in March 2020 to 62 sales in March 2021, topped the list. Roanoke Island, however, had the largest increase over the same period in median sale prices at 51%, from $354,925 in March 2020 to $537,500 just a year later.

Overall, the upward trend is strong. Residential sales are up 87%, and land/lot sales are up 74%. The number of properties under contract in March 2021 (883) doubled the number under contract in March 2020. The median residential sale price during that time period jumped 37%, from $347,900 to $475,000. For land/lot sales, the median price jumped 43%, from $77,000 in March 2020 to $110,250 in March 2021.

Meanwhile, residential inventory is down 72% and land inventory is down 26% compared to last March. As a result, the average number of days on the market is down 43%, from 121 to 69 days.

A Fishing Primer

A new online guide, A Primer on North Carolina Seafood, is a valuable resource for anyone who’s interested in fish – whether eating them, catching them or conserving them. Released in April by North Carolina Sea Grant, the guide is focused on the commercial seafood industry, but it also provides enormous amounts of interesting data and research that touches on the cultural heritage, history, science and economic impact of the industry.

According to the study, North Carolina’s wild-caught seafood contributes about $300 million in value and 5,500 jobs to the state economy. From 2016 to 2019, the volume of all species landed commercially ranged from about 46 million pounds to 53 million pounds. The state’s most valuable wild-caught commercial fisheries in 2019 were live Atlantic blue crabs, shrimp, flounder and shellfish, including clams and oysters.

The most popular seafood in the U.S. since 2013 are shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia and Alaskan pollock – which together equal nearly three-quarters of all the seafood consumed nationally. Shrimp – a huge fishery on the Outer Banks – has also topped the list since 2006.

Funds for Buxton Beach

A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for $5,782,866 has been awarded to help restore the beach and stabilize the dunes in Buxton that were damaged in 2018 by Hurricane Florence, according to a May announcement by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Other state grants were announced in October to cover the cost of beach renourishment along Buxton.

Dare County will be reimbursed by FEMA’s public assistance program funds for the cost of depositing 303,732 cubic yards of engineered dune beach sand and 5,000 feet of sand fencing along three miles of the north and south ends of the beaches in Buxton, according to a press release. The state’s cost share for the project is $1,445,716.