Summerville is becoming the place to be with more and more people establishing roots here, and development shifting from the center city of Charleston to the suburbs. One in three multifamily units built in the last three years have been in such outlying areas as Summerville, Ladson, and southwest Charleston. Colliers International’s Research & Forecast Report (Q4 2016) shows that Summerville is becoming a coveted region to live in. The area has 936 new multifamily developments since 2014. There are 240 units in development for 2017. New retailers and employers moving into the area are driving the population growth.
New Development
“The wave of employers and new residents moving to Charleston is driving the success of new multifamily developments market-wide,” the report states. “The strength of development is not expected to slow anytime soon, with nearly 4,800 units under construction and another 5,800 units in the pipeline.” The development in Summerville is in large part due to the expanding skilled, educated labor force that is attracted to jobs at Volvo, Daimler-Benz and Boeing.
Volvo recently received 40,000 applications for 2,000 jobs that are available in its new facility in Summerville. Many of these individuals applying for the Volvo jobs were from outside the Charleston market. Daimler will be looking to hire highly skilled workers this summer for 1,700 new jobs. The demand for skilled labor is high due to other manufacturers in the area, such as Boeing and Bosch. This will attract new residents to meet the demand.
According to the report, “There is an estimated 4x multiplier effect on jobs from a large automotive manufacturer, meaning the 2,000 direct jobs from Volvo are expected to create a total of 8,000 jobs in the region, while Daimler-Benz is expected to generate another 6,800 jobs,”. The area is attracting automotive suppliers that are building facilities in the area to service these large automotive manufacturers.
Charleston’s Economic Future
The key takeaways from the latest research and forecast report show a strong economic future for the Charleston region.
- Experts expect Charleston’s growth rate to be 39 people a day. This is three times the national rate.
- Multifamily development continues to grow at record levels.
- The labor force is growing at four times the national rate.
- The average rental rate in the Charleston region increased by 7.3 percent in one year.
Source: Colliers International Research & Forecast Report,(Q4 2016)”Development on the Summerville Horizon
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