All posts by Julie

COVID-19 Resources for Small and Medium-sized Businesses

Guides to Applying for the Paycheck Protection Program under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act:

 

 

SBA Resources for Counseling and Training

You can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program at any lending institution that is approved to participate in the program through the existing U.S. Small Business Administration lending program and additional lenders approved by the Department of Treasury.

There are thousands of banks and credit unions that already participate in the SBA’s lending programs. You do not have to visit any government institution to apply for the program, you can call your bank or find SBA-approved lenders in your area through SBA’s online Lender Match tool. Your local Small Business Development Center, SCORE or Women’s Business Centers (below) can provide free assistance and guide you to lenders. When you call, tell them you are interested in the “Paycheck Protection Program” and they will guide you through the steps for applying for the program.

The application process should be open by Friday, April 3, 2020.

State and Local Government Coronavirus-related information

North Carolina

Local Resources

 

Advice for Homeownership Associations

  • In response to the unprecedented number of calls received by Jordan Price association attorneys asking about legal implications of cancelling or postponing meetings or suspending amenities or community services, their attorneys have collectively put together these Recommendations for Communities.

 

 

 

Practical Management in the Age of COVID-19

By  now, most have read the best practices for hygiene, cleaning, and limiting exposure to COVID-19 through remote working where possible and urging ill employees to stay home.

York’s Property Management team has been in contact with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to formulate a common-sense approach to COVID-19.  If, on the off chance, your business has had contact with an active, confirmed COVID-19 case, please follow the protocol below.

  1. Inform the North Carolina Department for Health and Human Services at 919-856-7044 who will help track down others exposed to the sick person.
  2. Inform your property manager who can notify tenants and building service providers.
  3. Undertake a deep cleaning of your space.  Your York Property Managers will do the same for common areas and can provide recommendations for janitorial services if needed.

Concerned you may be sick?  Please read here for information on where to get tested.

Our objectives are to help you:

  • Minimize the impact on your customers, owners, and investors.
  • Maintain business operations.
  • Be your calm and controlled adviser.

 

Don’t hesitate to contact us.

110 and Counting

York just completed its 110th year in business, solidifying us as one of the oldest companies in the Research Triangle region and certainly the oldest commercial real estate company. And, since we can’t comprehensively fact check the “oldest” claim (although Our State Magazine profiled the oldest 100 NC family businesses in 2017 and it checks out), we challenge any other locally-owned and operated CRE firm in the Triangle to debunk our claim!

In honor of this milestone, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at Raleigh in 1910 when Charles Vance (C.V.) York relocated from Greenville, NC to hang his shingle in the yet-to-be founded Research Triangle region.

Trolley at Fayetteville and Martin Streets

First a quick history lesson:  Raleigh was founded in 1792 near the geographical center of the state on the Joel Lane plantation. Lane’s house was a popular stop for travelers, so the entrepreneurial Lane built a tavern and a church to cover all needs. This precursor to Raleigh was known as Wake Courthouse or Bloomsbury (also the name of our landscaping division!).

By 1910, Raleigh was modernizing and growing into a veritable city:

  • 19,218 residents lived in Raleigh and the city encompassed 4.026 square miles. Durham’s population was slightly smaller at 18,241 residents.
  • Not only well-placed as the center of NC, the city was also marketed as the midpoint between Boston and New Orleans; NYC and Jacksonville; Quebec and Miami – “equidistant between the icebergs and the palms.”
  • The North Carolina State College basketball team, known as the Red Terrors, had a bull terrier mascot named Togo and was a huge source of pride.
  • 14 blocks downtown were paved with asphalt that year.
  • Raleigh was already an educational center boasting “..a larger school population in proportion to its total than any other place in the country and.. no fewer than twenty-nine educational institutions of all degrees” including:
    • The above-referenced North Carolina State College (now university)
    • Two historically black universities: Shaw University, the oldest HBCU in the South, and St. Augustine’s University. NC Central University in Durham was just being founded this year.

Shaw University Faculty

  • Three women’s colleges: St. Mary’s College (now St. Mary’s Highschool), Peace Institute (now William Peace University) and Meredith College (renamed in 1909 from Baptist Female University) at the corner of Edenton and Blount Streets.

Baptist Female University/Meredith College

  • The Raleigh Electric Company Power House on Jones Street was constructed that year. Little did C.V. York know that his descendants would purchase the Powerhouse Square in 2014 in a joint venture.
  • The Masonic Temple Building (133-135 Fayetteville St, NE corner of Hargett) had just opened its doors, becoming the first reinforced concrete skyscraper in NC. The building now houses a First National Bank branch and offices.
  • Raleigh’s elites were planning the Raleigh Country Club (now Carolina Country Club) and “one of the finest golf links in the South.”  C.V. York would construct the Clubhouse which opened in 1911.
  • Carolina Power & Light’s Bloomsbury Amusement Park was under construction at the end of the trolley line on Glenwood Avenue. The 100-acre amusement park, opened in 1912, was built to promote use of the company’s electric trolley and electricity, and was brilliantly lit by 8,000 bulbs.  Its original carousel is still in use at Pullen Park.

A self-proclaimed “City of Opportunity,” Raleigh was already attracting young, smart entrepreneurs like C.V. York from smaller NC towns to build their lives and businesses.  Now on the fourth generation of York leadership, York Properties continues to grow its business based on the bedrock values of excellent service, integrity and community engagement.

Sources: “Raleigh: a City at the Crossroads, 1914”; Alumni News NCSU; “Charles V. York – Builder and Entrepreneur,” by Terry Henderson; Meredith College Timeline; City of Oaks by David Fleming; National Park Service “Raleigh: A Capital City”

 

 

John Koonce appointed to City of Raleigh Board of Adjustment

Congratulations to York Broker-In-Charge, John Koonce, who was recently appointed to the City of Raleigh Board of Adjustment for a two-year term.

Purpose

The Raleigh Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial body which acts on appeals for variances, special exceptions, and interpretations in the zoning regulations. Its decisions are final but may be subject to court action. The Board consists of eight members: four regular members and two alternate members are appointed to two-year terms by the City Council and must reside within the City limits; one regular member and one alternate are appointed by Wake County Commissioners and must reside within the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Back to the Roaring 20s?

The Cary Chamber got the jump on the 2020 economic forecasts this morning at a breakfast presentation with NCSU economist Mike Walden, PhD.

The forecast was decidedly rosy, with indications that the current expansion should continue throughout this year.  Unlike the 2019 forecast when there was talk about 2020 being the year of the slowdown, 2021 wasn’t even mentioned.

Some key take-aways included:

  • Unemployment is at a 50-year low.
  • Wages are starting to rise.  Low-wage workers are getting the biggest pay raises.
  • Inverted yield curve is back to normal (does that make it a verted yield curve?). With its return to normal, the outlook for recession has lessened.
  • The soon-to-be-ratified USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada Agreement) should benefit North Carolina dairy and auto parts industries. Dairy will benefit from the Canadian market accepting more imports, and auto parts will benefit partially due to Mexico’s agreement to raise domestic auto-part manufacturing wages making NC wages more competitive.
  • The US/China trade negotiations are making slow progress. However, Dr. Walden cautions against any champagne popping since China has reneged on implementation in the past.
  • US labor force participation is not back to historic levels, partially due to personal choice and partially due to those unable to work. An estimated 2.4 million individuals can’t work due to opioid addiction.
  • We’re in a Goldilocks economy — low inflation combined with low unemployment.
  • Wage inequality continues. In NC, high-wage jobs and low-wage jobs are the fastest growing.  Middle-wage jobs are lagging.

 

So, what might cause a slowdown?

  • Stock market continues to roar. Is everyone getting too optimistic?  Price-earnings ratio has risen – watch carefully for signs of overheating.
  • Business debt is up – if spending slows, businesses holding too much debt could be in a world of hurt.

Overall outlook? Continued steady, if slow, growth.

Breathe a sigh of relief.