REITs of passage 
Fewer people own their own homes now than since the mid-1990s, not necessarily because they don’t want to buy, but because they can’t. Apartment rents and occupancy rates are as sky-high as all those new, under-construction and just-announced apartment buildings.
FEATURE STORIES
On the Level with Bill Miley of Metrostudy
Get this: As a kid, Bill Miley used to play tennis with … but we’ll let him tell you. The Charlotte regional director for the Houston-based Metrostudy housing analytics firm just released his latest quarterly report, and it says that developed lots in the nine-county Charlotte market are … well, it’s complicated; better you should hear it in his words.
Renaissance Man: On the Level with Frank Spencer, president of Habitat for Humanity Charlotte
On the Level apologizes to Frank Spencer. All the articulate gent wanted to do was talk about Habitat for Humanity Charlotte. But we kept interrupting him and encouraging him to digress. That's because Spencer, president of the Charlotte affiliate of the national affordable-housing nonprofit, is a dang interesting guy.
2013 MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN
2013 50 Most Influential Women winners announced
The Mecklenburg Times will host the fifth annual 50 Most Influential Women dinner and awards presentation to recognize the important role women play in the Greater Charlotte region, the economy and society. The honorees represent the most influential women in business, government, education, and nonprofit fields. They are selected by a panel of business leaders based on professional accomplishment and community involvement.
REAL ESTATE, DEVELOPMENT & CONSTRUCTION NEWS
- Commercial Confidential: Matthews Corners
It sits at the intersection of Matthews Township and Northeast parkways, but Matthews Corners hasn’t cornered the market for attracting shoppers. The 167,459-square-foot shopping center is literally on the corner of the busiest section of retail in the town of Matthews.
- Site unseen: filling space in Charlotte that isn’t built yet
Imagine signing a lease for offices in a building at the same time you have to imagine both the offices and the building. That’s what’s happening in uptown Charlotte, where Portman Holdings, a worldwide development and architecture firm based in Atlanta, is planning a large office tower on Stonewall Street, on top of the existing parking deck at The Westin, which Portman also owns.
- Mecklenburg County contractors have $104M week in permits
Whether it was a fluke or the start of something big, contractors rocked last week in Mecklenburg County. Builders pulled more than $104 million in county building permits from Sunday, May 12, through Saturday, May 18, the 20th week of 2013, according to county data records.
