Hundreds of Jobs Coming to Charlotte

Big news for Charlotte! Now home to seven Fortune 500 headquarters, Honeywell announced in November that it will be relocating headquarters to Charlotte from Morris Plains, NJ bringing hundreds of jobs to Charlotte. Honeywell, currently sitting at #77 on the Fortune 100 list, is a technology company that manufactures a wide variety of products from aerospace to performance materials and technologies.

Other Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Charlotte include:

Bank of America, # 24

Lowe’s Cos, # 40

Duke Energy, # 125

Nucor, # 151

Sonic Automotive, # 298

Up against four competing states including South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Florida, the decision to move Honeywell’s headquarters to NC was largely dependent on the state’s economics’ incentive package.

In late 2018, the General Assembly passed a bill called the High-Pay JDIG Job Cap Modification, which increased the size of the state’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) from $6,500 to $16,000 per job for high-salary corporate relocations. The Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) is a performance-based, discretionary incentive program that provides cash grants directly to new and expanding companies to help offset the cost of locating or expanding a facility in the state.

Relocation of Honeywell’s headquarters means 750 more jobs and brings more than $248 million in investment to Charlotte according to the NC Department of Commerce’s November press-release.  Honeywell announced that about 150 to 200 senior management positions and 100 South Carolina-based positions will relocate to Charlotte between November 2018 and September 2019.

Charlotte is the ideal location for an elite company like Honeywell because “Charlotte is perfectly positioned to provide the education and training, infrastructure and amenities to attract and retain Honeywell’s top talent”, stated Governor Roy Cooper.

It’s anticipated that Honeywell will remain headquartered in Charlotte for the long term. Honeywell’s chairman and CEO, Darius Adamczyk stated that “Charlotte is a top-10 destination city in the U.S. that will readily enable us to recruit and retain the world-class talent we will need over the long term to support Honeywell’s strategic focus on leading technology and software solutions within our end market.” The company plans to hire 500 more employees over the next five years with an average salary of $340,000 and a median wage of $85,000.

With almost 300 employees relocating to the Charlotte area, the real estate market can expect to see a shift in sales. The passing of the High-Pay JDIG Job Cap Modification could mean that Charlotte is likely to see many other major companies headed its way.  According to Sen. Jerry Tillman, the project could create “1,000; 2000 total jobs” as reported in an article by Charlotte Business Journal.

Currently, the Charlotte area is experiencing a lull in real estate, consistent with this time of year compared to prior years. However, with the relocation of Honeywell’s headquarters and potentially other companies coming this way as well, Charlotte and surrounding areas should be prepared for a booming market in 2019 and beyond.

As previously reported, November sales increased 7.3 percent from last year and average sales prices increased 6.7 percent to $286,428 from $268,344 from 2017. The demand from buyers is likely to continue into 2019 due to employee relocations and could substantially increase even more rapidly as inventory begins to deplete.

Charlotte has a promising start to the New Year!