John Ball, Charlotte Market Leader, Foundry Commercial

In an interview with Invest:, John Ball, Charlotte market leader at Foundry Commercial, discussed the company’s recent achievements, adaptation to evolving real estate trends, and the strategies driving growth and innovation in the Charlotte market.

What have been the key milestones and achievements for Foundry Commercial over the past year?

I am the Market Leader for Foundry in Charlotte and have been in this role for about two and a half years. Before that, my career in commercial real estate was focused exclusively on representing office landlords for about 15 years. Today, I wear two hats at Foundry: market leader and active member of our office leasing team. This dual role provides me with diverse perspectives.

We’ve had a strong start to 2024, both in Charlotte and at the platform level. Our revenues have increased, driven primarily by the brokerage side. We’ve also secured significant new property management accounts in multiple markets. Finally, despite a challenging investment climate, our internal Charlotte Development & Investments team (D&I) has closed several meaningful transactions in both our more traditional product types as well as new targeted verticals. 

Foundry Commercial’s services and investments business now has about 500 associates, representing 70 million square feet of leasing and management business across our markets. In Charlotte, we have 65 associates handling approximately 20 million square feet of leasing and management business.

How is your company adapting to changing real estate trends, especially with economic fluctuations and interest rates?

From a platform perspective, we’ve predominantly been a Sun Belt-focused firm, which has been advantageous due to the region’s influx of talent and capital. We’ve strategically expanded, focusing on markets where we’re already established to offer a consistent level of service. Our goal is to deepen relationships with clients across multiple high growth markets, especially where talent and capital are moving, rather than attempting some form of rapid global expansion.

Charlotte is experiencing tremendous growth. Besides immigration, what other factors are driving the strength and growth of the Charlotte market?

Charlotte excels in quality of life, offering a balanced mix of employment opportunities, great education programs, and entertainment options. Since I moved here almost 20 years ago, the city has only improved. We have strong job prospects, exciting sports teams, and a welcoming community that embraces new ideas and innovation. This intentionality and willingness to adapt has significantly contributed to the city’s growth and investment.

What changes are you seeing in office expectations, and how is Foundry adapting its services to meet these evolving demands?

Our team is more bullish about the office market than we have been since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few years, leasing demand has focused on class-A and AA products, and that trend continues. However, as we move further from the pandemic, companies have a better handle on what works for them. Recently, we’ve seen corporations more willing to commit to longer-term leases and make significant investments and relocations. In Charlotte, demand spans all major submarkets, particularly in areas like South End and South Park. Tenants are still focused on best-in-class options within each submarket and also the financial stability of the assets themselves and ownership.

What sets Foundry Commercial apart from other players in the market?

Our “secret sauce” lies in a few key factors. We pride ourselves on having associates who are institutionally trained yet appreciate Foundry’s entrepreneurial spirit. Additionally, our fully integrated services, along with our development and investment business, create a more talented set of service providers. Our brokers and property managers understand clients’ investments at a higher level, and our local knowledge benefits our JV partners on the investment side. We are very humbled to have many client partners we work with as both a pure services provider but also JV partners. It is a testament to some great relationships. 

Another highlight is our in-house marketing and graphic design teams. In particular, their focus on social media and print materials has been instrumental in turning heads. Our team in Charlotte recently won a Gold Addy Award for the second consecutive year, collaborating with our colleagues in Raleigh. We’re very proud of this recognition and will continue to invest in this area of our business.

How are you leveraging technology to streamline your operations?

There’s a lot of noise around technology and its impact on real estate, but it’s clear there will be significant changes and continued evolution. On the marketing side, anything involving social media and digital space is crucial and here to stay. In terms of design, we’re seeing companies invest in AI generative technologies for faster project layouts and base-building development. At Foundry, we believe technology helps us close the gap with larger competitors rather than being some sort of an extinction event. While we may not spend as much on R&D as our larger peers, we can still leverage these new technologies to better serve our clients.

All that said, for as great as technology is, this is a relationship business and nothing is more important than getting on the road and meeting face to face with colleagues and clients. Some things don’t change. 

What is your outlook for the commercial real estate industry and Foundry Commercial over the next couple of years?

There are potential headwinds we must focus on in the near term, such as the political environment, geopolitical issues, and the debt markets and interest rates. However, we’re fortunate to be in Charlotte and the Sun Belt, where companies continue to move, grow, and invest. We’ll remain opportunistic in our growth, trying to predict where talented people and capital are flowing.

How is Foundry capitalizing on market trends to drive growth and innovation in Charlotte?

Despite a challenging investment market, our internal Charlotte development team has closed several deals in 2024. Our bread and butter has always been in speculative industrial development. For instance, earlier this year we closed a deal in North Charlotte at I-77 and I-485 near an existing project called Bryton, and the new project, Eastfield, will add an additional 600,000 square feet of spec industrial space.

More interestingly, we recently purchased two vacant office buildings near the South Carolina-North Carolina border. We plan to demolish these buildings and rebuild new spec industrial buildings in this infill submarket of Charlotte, where industrial demand has been strong. This project is part of a broader trend where Foundry is repurposing office buildings into industrial developments across our platform.

We’re also exploring niche investment opportunities in the medical space and senior living facilities. In senior living, our strategy includes acquiring both the real estate and partnering with operators to bring an institutional approach to running these facilities. This sector offers interesting opportunities.

Additionally, adaptive reuse projects in Charlotte have been exciting. For example, our team is involved in Savona Mill, a project in West Charlotte where a 100-year-old textile mill is being renovated into a creative office and retail space by Portman Holdings and JP Morgan. This project will also add 600 residences, transforming a previously dormant site.