Renewal. While the new year causes us to plan with goals and resolutions, the warmth of spring brings a fresh perspective. When the weather warms and folks come out of hibernation, we seek places that bring a calm sense of community. Coming together on trails, greenways, parks and outdoor cafés. Spring is a time to revisit and renew our front porches, outdoor spaces and the common areas we share. So perhaps this spring while we are freshening up our homes, we might take a fresh look at our communities and help create the kind of spaces – whether in our workplaces or public spaces – we all want to share. Help with a cleanup day, plant flowers with the garden club, or paint a mural or utility box. Whatever you choose, be part of the spring renewal to make our homes beautiful.
We also looked at freshening up the Rose Report this spring. We will add a few things, like Flashback Moments and Clients in the News to feature some of our client success stories. And share more useful information and resources. Hope you enjoy it and share it with others.
FEATURED ARTICLE
A prediction market is a marketplace where participants buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of future events, such as elections, economic indicators, technological milestones, or even sporting events. Major players fall into a few broad categories, spanning commercial platforms, academic or research-focused markets, and decentralized systems such as Kalshi, Polymarket, PredictIt, and now in the sports world such as DraftKings.
Prediction markets for commercial real estate (CRE) and local economic outcomes do exist, but they are far less developed than markets for national politics or macroeconomic indicators.
Where do they appear?
- Indirect markets: Some platforms allow bets on interest rates, inflation, or regional housing price indices, which strongly affect CRE and local economies but aren’t property-specific.
- Internal or private markets: Real estate firms, developers, and investment funds sometimes run internal prediction markets (or market-like forecasting tools) to forecast lease-up rates, rent growth, project completion timelines, or local demand.
- Research and experimental platforms: Academic or play-money platforms occasionally experiment with city-level outcomes such as population growth, housing starts, or employment trends.
- Betting exchanges: In some jurisdictions, betting-style markets touch on regional economic outcomes (e.g., housing price movements or recession odds), though not usually at a city or asset-specific level.
Because formal prediction markets are limited, CRE and local economic forecasting more often relies on brokerage and research forecasts, econometric models, expert panels and industry surveys, and transaction-based signals such as cap rate movements and lending trends. If regulation becomes clearer and data standards improve, prediction markets could be especially valuable for:
- Forecasting vacancy rates, rent growth, or absorption in specific submarkets;
- Predicting infrastructure approvals, rezoning outcomes, or tax changes.
PROBLEM? SOLVED. SITE SELECTION & ADVISORY
These are a few private sector clients we helped in the Carolinas:
- Our brokerage division provided site selection/tenant representation services for PlanPay and represented them in a lease arrangement for their North American headquarters in Huntersville, NC. The landlord was represented by Knox Realty Group.
- Rose also represented APlace4Me in a lease for its expanded administrative offices and training facility. They are relocating from Concord, NC.
FLASHBACK MOMENT!
I discovered a lot of flashback moments while doing some spring cleaning of 35+ years of files and clutter. Back in the ’90s I wrote a few articles for this publication, Shopping Center Business.
At that time, I was handling acquisitions & development for a major shopping developer in the Northeast (in-house consultant). During the era of “grocery store wars” many communities feared the onslaught of commercial development.
Our development teams consisted of engineers, architects and planners, but also PR firms and litigation attorneys.
Decades later much of the organized opposition to projects that we now experience traveled to the south, and that was before the rise of social media! The same principles of community engagement and public relations still hold true.
Funny how since 1996 some things change while others remain the same.
CLIENTS IN THE NEWS - GROWTH IN THE CAROLINAS
We often say that many of our municipal client communities have become an overnight success that took 5-10-15-20 years! Building place and prosperity takes time, dedication and fortitude in the wake of changing trends and succession of leadership. Here are some of them that are moving from ideas and plans into implementation and action. We congratulate you – keep up the good work!
-
- Sanford/Lee County, NC – gains big benefits from new Target project
- Rolesville/Wake County, NC – attracts WakeMed for a new emergency center
- Harnett County, NC – secures funding to advance Innovation Park
- Dillon, SC – awarded $100k for economic development projects
MARKET MOMENTUM REPORT
We are pleased to partner with CRCBR and Moody’s/Site Index to develop this quarterly
report. Find the latest one here: Market Momentum Report
We have Teamed Up With Award Winning Lancer Films
We are creating videos that highlight our client communities. With the results of the Prosperity Builder Scorecard, we will curate a promotional video that highlights each of the unique features of your community. See a sample version here that we did for our hometown of Davidson, NC: Prosperity Builder Scorecard 2024
How Can We Help?
Land use, real estate or economic development dilemma?
Rose Associates is a real estate and economic development advisory firm that helps local governments, non-profits, private investors, and real estate developers analyze markets and build strategies for stability, growth, and prosperity. Our 35+ years of experience in both urban and rural communities throughout the Carolinas and Southeast will guide you on a path toward success and help you make decisions that will expand your fiscal performance and get closer to your vision.
Connect with Rose Associates
Subscribe on YouTube: @roseassociatesnc
Follow us on LinkedIn: Rose Associates Southeast, Inc.
Need help with implementation? We provide fractional services for your real estate and/or economic development department to fill the gap. Reach out to Kathleen at krose@roseassociates.com if you want to know more and put “Help” in the subject line.
