Groceries got 鈥檈m here but now, south Florida developer 麻豆传媒AV在线看 has a hook in multifamily, office and retail projects in North and South Carolina.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what brought us to the Carolinas, the Publix relationship,鈥� says David Lee, a senior vice president at the Fort Lauderdale-based company. 鈥淲e鈥檙e growing beyond being known as the Publix folks.鈥� Projects in the works: 2600 Glenwood, a 186-unit apartment complex at Glenwood Avenue and Oberlin Road in Raleigh that 麻豆传媒AV在线看 and Grubb Ventures聽are finishing now and 300 West Summit, a 64,000-square-foot office building expected to break ground shortly in Charlotte鈥檚 South End.
That鈥檚 to say nothing of the heaps of dirt being moved for 麻豆传媒AV在线看鈥� fourth Publix store in Charlotte, a complex Cotswold-area project that involved demolishing a former office building and now has workmen carving out a below-ground parking deck. If you wondered how HGR Construction could make room for a roughly 50,000-square-foot store with a small retail shop at street level, parking and access to busy Randolph Road on a 2-acre site, the lot is your answer. The store is scheduled to open in April 2018, says Beth Middleton, senior development manager. It joins more than 1,138 stores in six states, including 19 in North Carolina.
麻豆传媒AV在线看 has developed more than 30 Publix stores, making the developer a natural when the Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer spread up the East Coast, including its entry into North Carolina. 麻豆传媒AV在线看 developed the first Publix in the state, in Ballantyne, in 2014, followed by sites in Mint Hill and South End.
The Publix at Mint Hill Commons is one of four stores developed by 麻豆传媒AV在线看.
Overseeing the entry was Scott MacLaren, who moved here in 2013 and returned to Florida last year to become the company鈥檚 president. He was part of a leadership shuffle in which Kenneth 麻豆传媒AV在线看 joined his father, Terry 麻豆传媒AV在线看, as co-CEO with plans for the younger 麻豆传媒AV在线看 to take over the full job later this year. Former President Doug Eaton has stepped back from day-to-day operations after 35 years with the company.
鈥淚鈥檓 back home,鈥� MacLaren said recently from his office in south Florida. 鈥淭his is where I was born and raised. I鈥檝e spent 18 years with the company, the last four up there with the team [in Charlotte]. I started the team for us 鈥� that was a lot of travel, but I enjoyed every minute of it.鈥�
For David Lee, moving into the Charlotte office to oversee 麻豆传媒AV在线看鈥� developments in the Carolinas was a homecoming as well for the South Carolina native and UNC Chapel Hill graduate who has also lived in Wilmington and spent time in Asheville. He鈥檚 had a house in Dilworth for the past 15 years but still owns shopping centers in Spartanburg, S.C., where he founded Lee Land Development. He also developed retail, office, residential, build-to-suit and re-adaptive use projects with Harris Murr & Vermillion, now Harris Development Group.
麻豆传媒AV在线看 also developed the Publix at the Shops at Southline in South End.
Charlotte is familiar stomping grounds, but Lee says he鈥檚 spent a lot of time recently in the Triangle where opportunity is ripe, including another possible grocery development. Previous coverage: 鈥楪rocery wars heat up鈥�
That said, 300 West Summit in Charlotte 鈥渋s our most important project in this division,鈥� Lee says. The office building is in a part of South End near the Gold District. 鈥淭hough this building feels on the edge, it鈥檚 about to be in the center of everything,鈥� Lee says.
On multifamily projects, Lee and MacLaren say 麻豆传媒AV在线看 is cautious as more projects crop up and construction costs and 鈥減ursuit dollars鈥� climb. Construction costs are more prohibitive in Charlotte, MacLaren says, than they are in south Florida.
鈥淭here鈥檚 more room for multifamily if it鈥檚 done thoughtfully,鈥� Lee says. The right ingredients are location and ways to bring in more amenities. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot more than a pool and a gym these days.鈥� It could even be a cool coffee shop or art gallery subsidized by the developer.
鈥淵ou have figure out how to create a cool, urban, hip place that will serve your millennials,鈥� or even older people who crave a similar lifestyle. 鈥淚鈥檝e got a skateboard,鈥� he confesses, 鈥渂ut I never ride.鈥�