Boeing lifts local real estate industry's spirits

Local housing experts who feel the weight of the region's ailing real estate market have the promise of thousands of jobs to look forward to, courtesy of Boeing Co.

The aviation giant's pledge to create at least 3,800 jobs during the next seven years has real estate experts spinning possibilities. Even economic analyst Brad Rundbaken, the bluntest critic of the market while the local housing bubble was forming, has turned optimistic.

"It is what it is," he said.

Rundbaken dedicated his November edition of his "Charleston Market Report" to how Boeing's announcement could chip away at the region's glut of residential inventory. Roughly 9,000 homes are listed for sale on the Charleston Trident Association of Realtor's Multiple Listing Service.

Rundbaken took Boeing's projected number of jobs and then factored in a multiplier provided by the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy. He added in estimated job figures for Clemson University's wind turbine project on the former Navy base.

Based on what he said was a conservative estimate, if half the workers at those two employers buy homes during the next five years, it would wipe out existing inventory in their price range, which he put at $350,000 and below. On top of that, the region would have a shortage of roughly 4,800 homes.

"I don't have a crystal ball, but based on what we're looking at right now and with what's coming, it's a game changer for that segment of the market," he said.

Still, the future economic impact of those investments is clouded with lingering questions: Will they hire locally or bring in workers from elsewhere? How much will these employees make? Will Boeing locate other manufacturing lines here in the future? "Those are the billion dollar questions that I don't know," he said.

The Post and Courier's
Boeing Special Section.

A big deal

Boeing seems to be absorbing all the limelight, but heavy construction machinery is rumbling at another notable economic development project in the Charleston area. TBC Corp. , a Florida-based national tire distributor, is following through on its October announcement to build a 1.1-million-square-foot warehouse and import center near Summerville.

At that size, the building would rank as the largest industrial structure in the Charleston area. (Even Boeing's new final assembly building would have a footprint of 731,261 square feet.)

Recently filed environmental permits show the $48 million TBC project is expected to wrap up in early 2011. Once open, the distribution center could employ about 100 workers.

TBC officials picked a site off Interstate 26 near Jedburg at a new industrial park being developed by New York-based Rockefeller Group and packaging giant MeadWestvaco Corp. The development venture began improving the 400-acre site in June to accommodate an estimated 2.7 million square feet of space.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549.