Dealing With City Hall

As much fun as it is watching national leaders quibble over debt limts, we've got our own problems here in Charlotte.

It might be boom time for apartment landlords, but that doesn't mean they don't have to deal with government regulations. Yet officials don't quite understand the multifamily development process, Greater Charlotte Apartment Association's new government affairs manager Bryan Holladay tells us. Since time equals money, red-tape-type delays result in additional costs. What does he wish municipal leaders (and the general public) understood? He wants them to "recognize the inherent efficiency of apartments. Multifamily housing makes optimal use of municipal infrastructure, from roads to water to utilities to mass transit." Part of his new role is to close these gaps of misunderstanding between our members and the public sector.

QSRs All the Rage....for now

Another day, another quick-service restaurant comes to town. QSRs are hot, but at what point will there be too many in Charlotte? Regardless of the state of the market or how many jobs the local economy is producing, there's always risk of saturation in a market, Merrifield Patrick Vermillion's director of retail services Keely Simerville tells us. While she thinks Charlotte can support more QSRs, they "need to be conscious of competition from like concepts, location, quality of food, and service."Â

Natural selection is at play. The best food quality and service will win out every time, no matter how many QSR concepts are in a market, Keely says. (The irony of employing "survival of the fittest" in a story about our race to fill ourselves with more food is not lost on us.) Recently, Keely repped Moe's Southwest Grill in its lease of 2,400 SF in the Carmel Village retail center in Charlotte. The Keith Corp's Alan Marshall repped the landlord, Quail Hollow Investment Group. It will be Atlanta-based Moe's 12th location.

More Buildings To Go Pink

Queen City in Pink kicks off Sept. 28, and CREW Charlotte tells us 160 locations have signed up, 45 more than 2012. Owners and tenants illuminate their buildings with pink lighting, or hang ribbons, banners or flags, to show support for survivors of breast cancer. Snapped: Barbara Briccotto, CREW President (INTEC Group); Nicole Green, QCIP Committee Co-Chair (JLL); Whitney Pelton, QCIP Committee Co-Chair (Modular Designs); and Susan G. Komen Charlotte's Lori Vaccaro.

Young CRE Pros Talk Streetcar

YREP Carolinas (that would be Young Real Estate Professionals, if acronyms aren't your thing) met Wednesday at 1900 Mexican Bar and Grill on Elizabeth to discuss the Charlotte Streetcar project with the City of Charlotte's Andy Widenhouse, senior project manager for the development. Interesting conversation and frosty beverages were available (if you're jealous, we heard that all are welcome to these events, not just young folk). Above, FMW Real Estate's Josh Chambers, Andy Widenhouse, and SilverCap Partners' James Delaney.

Preferred Electric'sÂ Jonathan Gibbs,Â Harwell Law Firm'sÂ HelenHarwell, and the Keith Corp'sÂ Nicole Frambach. The streetcar was started last December. The first phase, the only one that's paid for yet, runs 1.5 miles along Trade St from Time Warner Cable Arena to Presbyterian Hospital. Later phases would expand the line for a total of 10 miles along Beatties Ford Road near I-85 through the CBD along Trade Street, up Elizabeth Ave by Central Piedmont Community College and out to Central Ave at Eastland Mall.Ã