Agenda - 08-19-2010 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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C' SS71MATE'GY S 50 to live and work. By extension the infrastructure also includes a depth of human capital constituted by a highly educated demographic that few regions can match. • There are some essential questions raised by the demand discussion: Will demand continue to filter into the Chapel Hill market and manifest itself in new construction, additional tax base, and ensure low vacancy rates into the future? Or, will aggressive competition from outside areas erode Chapel Hill's demand base, weaken the existing office market, slow development of planned projects and impede overall absorption? The answer offered by the study is that the future of office demand and related occupancy, development etc. can — and possibly should - be influenced through a variety of means. • Based on the various economic and market perspectives advanced in this report; the Town of Chapel Hill proactively seeking to maintain and increase it's competitive advantages over market rivals; ability to foster a development environment that further encourages office growth; and a strategy of capturing demand from "foreign" markets; Strategy 5 projects that the local market can support the introduction of an additional 1 million square feet of office space over the 5 -10 years. This is roughly consistent with combining current vacant space inventories with planned projects, leaving about 300,000 additional square feet of "net supportable" space to be conceived, located, built and occupied during this period. • Given the variety of market characteristics associated with the Town of Chapel Hill, the Research Triangle, regional, national and international arenas etc. it is clear that there is significant, but not overwhelming, potential for future office business activity as a component of the local economic development environment. The ability of the Town to capture its fair share of this market hinges on key business /political principles that will influence the presence, sustainability and future vitality of the office community. These principles can be roughly categorized and described as follows: Policy, Positioning and Promotion. • Policy decisions could include review the development approvals process and overall business environment with a close eye on the opportunities and constraints as delineated in this and other studies; Consideration of the economic and fiscal implications of sustaining the office community that currently exists, and those associated with planned projects as well as those which may come to fill the opportunity gap that the consultant believes can be created; and, acting through resolution and other means to embed decisions and policies that will foster growth in this sector in the foreseeable future, and over the timeframe associated with the forecasts included in this analysis 5 -10 years. 7