As Charlotte’s employment surpasses the pre-recession peak of 2007 and the metro swells to almost 2.4 million residents — growing three times faster than the national average — Charlotte is on every retailer’s radar and poised for continued retail growth. Retailers seeking customers with disposable income benefit from Charlotte’s strong affordability index, relative to similarly sized cities, and have enjoyed a positive trend in household incomes, which increased 8 percent between 2010 and 2015. This income growth is bolstered by the 35- to 54-year-old “big-spender” segment, which makes up approximately 30 percent of Charlotte’s population, and is expected to continue to grow in spite of shrinking nationally. Retail developers and investors are also big fans of these fundamentals, which have yielded positive retail absorption over the past 12 months, impressive rent growth of 4.3 percent year-over-year, and vacancy of 5.5 percent, well below the historical average. Similar periods of growth in Charlotte’s history have delivered traditional grocery-anchored neighborhood centers, garden-style apartments and mid-rise office buildings, primarily surface-parked to accommodate the vehicle-centric nature of Charlotte. That trend is changing as Charlotte adapts to the cultural shift and increased density that now prioritizes proximity, access and convenience over McMansions and white-picket-fenced suburbia. …
