Now how about Heavy Rail or Commuter Rail? This is the high volume transit mode dubbed for the North Corridor through Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville. Five years ago this freight train line was a man-made barrier that brought property values down due to the noise and unsightly tracks… now its fertile ground for mixed-use, high density TODs. It appears that the Mooresville line is slated for year the 2012 (the Stations should start construction in 2008). Don’t forget to pay attention to the NoDa Line (first phase of the Northeast Corridor) …Doug Smith calls it the Next Big Thing. This line ultimately will reach the UNCC Campus and link it to UNCC’s Uptown Campus….Wow!

At this point, we see on the horizon a new mass transit mode…Street Cars. There is a wave of support swelling that is taking a page right out of Portland, Oregon’s success handbook. The prognosis is strong for an Uptown (Trade to Elizabeth Ave.) to Central Avenue to Eastland Mall Street-car line, and an Uptown to Morehead Street to Wilkinson Blvd. line may be a reality in the next 10 years. What a boom if this happens. We are talking from First Class to World Class City. Some feel mass transit as ludicrous and a debacle. I see it as strong leadership, clear vision and environmentally smart. Oh, and did I say a really awesome
real estate opportunity?

Check our attached portfolio and our website www.griffithrealestateservices.com to view what we offer for Sale and Lease that might fall in “The Path of Tracks.” and the TOD Overlay. I hope to see you next fall at the 4th Annual Transit Summit put on by CATS…don’t miss it!

We would like to thank Jubal Early of Lincoln-Harris for representing Carolinas HeathCare Systems in the build-to-suit at Museum Medical Plaza – 3030 Randolph Road. The tenants that will occupy the building are Mecklenburg Medical Group, Pediatric Associates, Southeast Pain & CPTN a Physical therapy division of CHS.

We also would like to welcome Level Four Pediatrics Orthotics and Prosthetics to 1901 Brunswick Avenue. Level Four specializes in prosthetics and orthotics for children. Our close proximity to the new Levine Children’s Hospital at CMC was a key factor for their Charlotte location.

Two footnotes on our office portfolio, we can accommodate a Corporate or Instituitional end user with a 15,000 square foot Free Standing Single Story Building at Tyvola Executive Park. Museum Medical Plaza has just one build-to-suit site left that can accommodate 10,000 square feet of prime exposure Clinical Space. I look forward to talking with you further.

Until summer, I bid you a refreshing and prosperous spring.

Sincerely,

Have a great week!

Preston “Fred” Griffith

Director of Marketing, Griffith Real Estate Service
Executive Vice President, E.C. Griffith Company

So now that summer ’08 is officially overdone, cooked, what does this fall have in store for us the Real Estate Community. An early economic turn around. Gas prices reducing, mass transit, light rail, commuter rail, mixed use & higher densities closer to uptown businesses needing to scale back and move institutional entities growing and looking at their facilities planning horizons, all signaling When there is change there is opportunity which years ago was hammered into me by Dr. Hugh Nourse of UGA’s Real Estate Department (Go Dawgs!). All this is a fancy way to say I need to be 100% leased in all the real estate product types in our portfolio due to that realistic Goal that I set at the beginning of 2008: You will be the key to that Goal being attained and I thank you in advance for helping. Some of our Land Holdings are shaping up to be key Corporate sites to be reckoned with in the Bryant Park @ West Morehead area and the future transit oriented Griffith Lakes @ the W. T. Harris Station stay tuned for more. Please review the ‘Rest of Our Story’ in the pages to follow. We have sprinkled market news and various other ‘Eco’ successes that we have made in recent months.

Many thanks to Alan Blom with Capital Real Estate Group for bringing a buyer for 2426 West Morehead Street. They have announced a 40,000 square foot Class A building for this tract in Bryant Park. Many thanks to Michael England from CRESA Partners in Dallas, Texas for choosing Airport 85 Business Park for U.S. Remodelers (a Home Depot affiliated Vendor). Also congrats to Tripp Alexander of Coldwell Banker Commercial for winning our $250.00 Steak Dinner drawing that was in our Spring ’08 mailer. Let’s get this fall Filled-Up, with a chance to win a $250 fuel card.

Enter the drawing by showing one of our properties “For Lease” or “For Sale”. The more times you show our properties the better your odds to win. Hey don’t forget to surf our website and check out our Historic Photos, “Fred Says Blog” and the Land and Commercial Leasing Portfolio. It may spark a memory, a thought, or even a Big Deal.

Take Care and let’s do some Business before the year’s out.

Have a great week!

Preston “Fred” Griffith

Director of Marketing, Griffith Real Estate Service
Executive Vice President, E.C. Griffith Company

The Economy to get strong again? ”By Golly it will and it Is!” Could it be for the right corporate Tenant that wants a Room With A View? Maybe an institutional tenant of sorts like an Acute Care hospital, where people heal just by seeing the Buzz of Uptown… Or a mixed use of mutli-family apartments (with roof top Deck for soirees) to watch the site of a Flyover of F-15’s for a Carolina Panthers game, Or Better yet office and retail… For now the View just waits… waits… waits for what? It is waiting for You to share with us your story and bring us whoever deserves to be atop of The Hill @ Morehead Ridge… the View awaits YOU!!!!!

Stay in touch.

We would like to thank some folks for making Airport 85 Business Park buck the Trend of economic downturn. Our many thanks to Ian Bertolina at Bertolina Commercial Real Estate for bring Uster Technologies; Jennifer Ward of the Alliance Real Estate for representing Brooker Building Services; Rich Brulato & John Marco of Brumar Logistics for choosing Airport 85 as their World Headquarters; and Michael English with CRESA Partners is Dallas for bring Home Depot Remodelers.

We appreciate your allowing us to serve your Clients with a Hospitality that they won’t soon forget. Happy Spring Y’all!

Have a great week!

Preston “Fred” Griffith

Director of Marketing, Griffith Real Estate Service
Executive Vice President, E.C. Griffith Company

The company demonstrated its environmental awareness while developing the first phase Eastover Ridge Apartments. The apartments were oriented so that the balconies face a small creek that some believed to flow only when it rained. The city, however, wanted to “rip-rap” the entire creek, which would have eliminated a sandy streambed as well as the vegetation on the stream banks. Jim Griffith vigorously protested this policy because he had observed a variety of small fish in the pools of the slow-flowing system. We worked hard to convince the bureaucrats, including one who said there was no wildlife in the creek because it was polluted with sewage runoff, Jim explained.

* E.C. Griffith Company constructed small weirs to protect fish and wildlife at the Eastover Ridge Apartments. The project is typical of the firm’s concern for the environment.

Due to Jim’s insistence the creek now has small weirs or dams to increase the depth and volume of water for aquatic and wild life. This stream is now home to mallards, great blue herons, kingfishers, muskrats, catfish, large mouth bass, and stream banks full of ornamental plants and vegetation with insects to support the food chain for the life that thrives around the stream.

Civic Engagement

E.C. Griffith Company is also deeply involved in a variety of civic activities. Generations of Charlotte families played on the ball fields along Randolph Road, which were “loaned” to the Myers Park/Trinity Little League for forty-two years. These were believed to be the oldest continuous play little league fields in the nation.

Preston Griffith has worked extensively with the BRIDGE Job Program (Building Responsible Individuals through Discipline, Guidance and Education) started by Christ Episcopal Church. They reach out to “at-risk” young adults, most of whom are drop-outs, by providing mentors, educational services and training for many needing a second chance; Preston even served as chairman of the board.

The company is also a strong supporter of such organizations as Good Will Industries, Crisis Assistance, Habitat for Humanity, Bridge Jobs Program, American Cancer Society Research, Good Fellows, Goodwill, Salvation Army, Catawba Lands Conservancy, Katawba Valley Land Trust, Mecklenburg Ministries Family-to-Family, and many others. E.C Griffith, Sr. was a founding member of the Mint Museum of Art. He donated the museum’s 3 acre site on Randolph Road, around 1933.

A lot of luck is involved in the land speculation business, and the growth and success of Charlotte is due to the efforts of many fine people and companies which the E.C. Griffith Family Company will always appreciate. Having a solid family business structure in place and nearly 100 years of experience, the E.C. Griffith Company is poised to remain a successful family owned development firm that will serve the Charlotte Community for many years to come. Please let us know how we might serve you. We have a real estate Concierge ready to serve you today.

* E.C. Griffith, Sr. was a founding member of the Mint Museum of Art and donated the museum’s three-acre site on Randolph Road
in the 1930′s

The first of Griffith’s sons came on board in 1946. E.C. “Sonny” Griffith Jr. just was finishing his tour in the Air Force during World War II. David Griffith also joined the E.C Griffith Company and after a brief stint in the Navy, he operated an insurance business within company for a short time. Griff had set a clear direction for Sonny and future generations to come; pay down debt and don’t take chances. As a result, the company was virtually free of debt and any development was done with cash. Later in 1955 James R. “Jimbo” Griffith came on board after a 4 year tour with the U.S. Air force in Europe. Griff trained Jimbo Sr. to look after operations while E.C. Jr. aided in marketing of lots and operated a construction company that built many of the elegant houses in Eastover – most notably 517 Museum Drive the residence of E.C. and Francis Griffith fondly known as Nanny and Poppy to their grandchildren. The conservative efforts of the second Generation led the company to explore the underserved medical office market, brokering build to suits and leases with Charlotte Medical Clinic, Miller Orthopedic, Nalle Women Specialty Clinic (now REACH). This pioneering spring boarded a segment of real estate for the E.C. Griffith Co. that has become a specialty. Other notable developments were the Downtowner Hotel (later to be known as the Four Points Sheraton) and the
Eastover Glenn Apartments.

The E.C. Griffith Company and the Third Generation

The third generation is now headed by James R. Griffith, Jr., as President and his brother, Preston “Fred” Griffith, who serves as Executive Vice President. Their philosophy is somewhere between their grandfather’s entrepreneurial risk taking and the second generation’s Great Depression risk-aversion approach, with the second generation overseeing and approving all their projects. The current philosophy is best described as prudent, but progressive. The family is well aware of statistics that show only about 11% of family businesses successfully survive to
the third generation.

James R. “Jim” Griffith, Jr. worked with Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. before joining the family firm in 1988. Preston, formerly with Charter Properties, Inc., followed in 1990. They both have attained their CCIM designation; which is referred to by some as the graduate degree of real estate.

* Three generations of the Griffith family (From left right): Preston Griffith, E.C. Griffith, Jr., Jim Griffith, Sr., and Jim Griffith, Jr., pose in front of a portrait of company founder E.C. Griffith, Sr.

Recognizing the importance of family first and using the Total Quality Management business philosophy, Jim and Preston managed to restructure the company in a way that satisfied the interests of the second generation while providing new opportunities for the future. This business plan earned the company the prestigious North Carolina Family Business Forum Award, presented by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1997. The E.C. Griffith Company and The Griffith Real Estate Services Company are presently active in the Wake Forest’s Babcock School & Family Business Center. The Families involvement in the Family Business Center keeps the focus on continuous improvement, constant benchmarking of the best family companies and a renewed charge for the company as a professionally managed business serving clients with care and concern for their every need – like family.

According to a recent inventory, The E.C. Griffith Company and its associated entities total nearly one thousand acres of development, including apartment complexes, shopping centers, medical offices, industrial parks, office buildings and residential neighborhoods.

The company’s portfolio of investments includes:

As the bank was contemplating repossession of the Griffith properties a Bank Officer is quoted as asking the Board, “If Griff can’t make it with these properties, what are we going to do with them?” The bankers gave Griff more time to pay off his loans and the company survived.

The hardships of the depression and the threat of nearly losing all he had worked to build, had a profound effect on E.C. Griffith, Sr. Another instance from the Great Depression tells how E.C. Griffith, Sr. built his dream house at the corner of Eastover Road and Cherokee Road for $60,000(now the Kemp House at 301Eastover Road). Because of the terrible economic conditions, he was forced to sell it for $30,000 — $15,000 in cash and $15,000 on a note. In 1934 Griff went on to buy a much smaller and less expensive house on Hempstead Place which was having difficulty selling due to the lack of available buyers. Stories and memories from that time are best described in the book “Eastover: Hempstead Revisited” written by family friend and former U.S. Congressman Alex McMillan.

During this era of caution E.C. Griffith, Sr., remained creative, financing his many projects by borrowing money from any source he could find, including his friend and civic leader Mr. Thaddeus “Thad Tate, a well known local barber. (a replica of Thad Tate Barbershop is at The Museum of the New South). According to which version of the story you choose to believe, E.C. Griffith needed cash to finance a real estate purchase on Briar Creek and Thad Tate loaned Griff $2,000 on a four percent note or $4,000 on a two percent note. Regardless, it was a large sum of money around the time of the Depression. Thad had more cash on hand than the developers who borrowed and leveraged their real estate holdings. The economy’s hardships were business lessons Griffith carried with him and later immortalized into minutes of the E.C. Griffith Board of Directors Meeting by stating “stock pile cash”in lieu of relying on Banks for conventional lending.

At some juncture of pursuing his jurist doctorate, he realized his heart was not in the legal profession. Since he was resolved not to return to “Twiford”, his homestead in Oak Grove, he looked southward to explore his entrepreneurial spirit. His sights were focused on 3 cities: Atlanta, Georgia, where it said that he had offers to work for Coca-Cola USA; Jacksonville, Florida; or the up and coming crossroads town of Charlotte, North Carolina. It may have been the prospects of the healthy growing economy, the abundance of opportunities or just a gut feeling that led Griff to choose the Queen City, because in 1910 he set out to make Charlotte his new home.