Future of Work report: Developers ‘aggressively trying to shore up land positions’ in Triangle

Editor’s Note: Recently, WRAL TechWire launched a new series, the “Future of Work” that showcases the changing nature of the Triangle’s economy, its places, and its spaces. The Future of Work series is supported by commercial real estate firm JLL and other partners. The first report is here, and the second story is here. Last week, the series explored the relationship between work spaces, work places, and the current labor market. The series continues this week, and includes an in-depth Q&A with Matt Winters and Sarah Godwin of JLL, as well as the LinkedIn Live broadcast with Matt Winters, now available for playback on WRAL TechWire’s LinkedIn page.

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RALEIGH – There’s an insatiable appetite for commercially-developable land anywhere in the Triangle.

That’s according to Matt Winters, an executive vice president at commercial real estate firm JLL, who spoke with WRAL TechWire reporter Jason Parker during a LinkedIn Live session on Tuesday morning.

Winters shared why companies are seeking sites in the region, and what they’re looking for when they’re conducting their search. While a leading criteria for companies continues to be access to a talented workforce, even in a competitive labor market, there’s another factor that companies are seeking as well: speed to market.

“Can’t speak enough about being able to have large sites, with zoning in place, utilities that are there, because when users come, they really need speed to market,” said Winters. “That’s so critical to us landing these major economic development projects in the state of North Carolina.”

Land in demand

But it’s not just large projects that are seeking land in the Triangle, said Winters. And they’re not just seeking land where, historically, the region experienced high demand, he added.

“Typically, the two primary submarkets for the industrial market have been in RTP/I-40 as well as the East Raleigh submarket,” said Winters. “Now we’re seeing a lot of growth along the US-1 corridor between Apex and Sanford, additional growth to the west of RTP in Orange County and several major projects in Mebane, as well as to the east and southeast in areas such as Johnston County, Clayton, and Smithfield.”

“Developers are aggressively trying to shore up land positions,” said Winters. “Really, anywhere across the Triangle.”