10 reasons why you should be reading the Meck Times

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My 4-year-old son is sort of obsessed with David Bowie.

When he was 3, he wanted, for Halloween, to wear the pirate costume that Bowie dons in the video for “Rebel Rebel.”

Much to my wife’s relief, my son settled for a Jack Skellington (as in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” movie) costume versus a glam pirate one.

My son has always had artistic proclivities, and I’m sure he’s fascinated by Bowie’s theatrics and glittery clothing, especially from the early part of his career.

At the Meck Times, we’re not obsessed with David Bowie — OK, some of us over here are — but we are very much preoccupied with something else, our new focus: real estate, development and construction news.

For those who haven’t noticed, we made big “changes” (there’s another Bowie reference for you) last year, our new focus being the most significant change for us as a news organization and for our readers. And that’s really want I want to talk about in this column.

We are the only news organization devoted to covering Charlotte-area residential and commercial real estate, development and construction news, and no one is going deeper into those industries than we are. Other publications might dedicate some of their coverage to commercial and residential real estate, development and construction news. But at the Meck Times, it’s all we do.

Remember when the Trump Organization announced late last year that it was backing away from buying The Point Lake and Golf Club, claiming there was too much infighting between the golf club’s members and Crescent Communities? Well, we were the first to report on that.

As a new year starts, I, rather shamelessly, thought it might be a good time to point out why professionals in the Charlotte-area real estate, development and construction industries read our paper. And I can’t think of any better reasons than the following 10 features that you can find on our website and in our pages.

By the way, readers, we’ll be producing more content for all of these features throughout the year, so keep reading.

1. License to Build: This feature profiles an area project that has recently been awarded a building permit. We give you information on the developer or project owner, the construction company(ies) involved, the project’s costs and other insights.

2. Tech Land: How are real estate agents, developers, architects, homebuilders and others in the industry using technology to stay competitive, and how is technology changing the industry?

3. Groundbreakers: Here we profile a project that has already broken ground, providing information on who’s involved in the development, the costs and specifics on the development, among other things.

4. What’s on My Desk/What’s on My Phone: I’ve never much liked fluffy journalism, and someone might consider this feature to be just that. Still, we think we’re being pretty bold by asking industry officials to let us publish a photo of their desks — empty Starbucks cups and all — or let us know what’s on their smart phones.

5. Bottom Dollars: We take an awarded project and break down the bid results. We also provide details on the project and identify the losing bidders and their bids.

6. Open Houses: Real estate agents are always showing off the inside of other people’s homes. But what are their homes like? We give readers the grand tour of the Charlotte-area casas of agents, homebuilders and others in the industry.

7. These Walls: We don’t just love writing about people in the industry. We also get our jollies by profiling buildings in the region, from the old to the aesthetically interesting. Who built them and when? What have their uses been?

8. My First: Everyone had to start somewhere. These are interesting stories from real estate agents, developers, homebuilders, architects and others on the first home they ever sold, the first project they developed, the first home they built, the first building they designed.

9. Gaining Ground: Need to know who’s moving up and around in the industry? Just keep track of this feature.

10. In on the Ground Floor: We give you the scoop on the latest trends and developments affecting the industry, from new techniques to new ideas.

We hope you enjoy reading these features as much as we enjoy writing them. And, of course, reader feedback is always welcome.

As for my 4-year-old, he turns 5 next month. Anyone know where I can get cheap tickets to a Bowie concert?

Roberts can be reached at [email protected].