Our state’s economy has been a hotbed of economic activity for the past several years, with a lot of that coming from major economic development activities across the commercial real estate spectrum. Is that likely to continue in this new time of economic uncertainties? Mike Switzer interviews Gaston Albergotti with Dunean Capital Management, in Greenville, SC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Switzer: Hello and welcome to the South Carolina Business review. This is Mike Switzer. Our state's economy has been a hotbed of economic activity for the past several years with a lot of that coming from major economic development activities across state commercial real estate spectrum. Is that likely to continue in this new time of economic uncertainties? Gaston
Albergotti is CEO at Dunean Capital Management and he joins us by phone now from his office in Greenville, South Carolina to help us with this topic. Gaston, welcome to the program.
Albergotti: Thanks Mike. I appreciate you having me on.
Switzer: Now first of all, give us an overview of what it is that you guys do.
Albergotti: Sure, yeah. So Dunean Capital Management is a firm we started in 2023. We're a small sh real estate investment firm. We just invest in all asset types, really throughout the Southeast. But the majority of our assets are in South Carolina. We have been extremely blessed to be in the industry that we're in. In a state with so much activity, South Carolina has been winning and I believe will continue to win.
Switzer: What are some of the prime areas you're seeing right now?
Albergotti: I think South Carolina is really winning because of the fundamentals. I don't think it's really based on big national trends. South Carolina is obviously an employer friendly state. great economic development incentives and all the other reasons, the beach, the mountains, the climate, you name it, we're friendly people. A lot of people want to be here for all those reasons. And that just drives job growth, population growth, which ultimately fuels development. And really what we're seeing most in the commercial real estate world right now is big master plan community developers coming from other states looking for big land sites to develop large communities. And those residential communities ultimately spur capital investments into other sectors. Schools, retail, grocery stores, distribution points, medical office is a huge trend right now. With the certificate of need going away, all, all of those sectors are seeing extreme growth.
Switzer: And now are you seeing any concerns from developers regarding the uncertainties in our economy right now nationally? With inflation, oil prices, interest rates going up, Is anybody starting to hesitate, when they're looking at South Carolina?
Albergotti: We are not seeing that. we're all sectors that we're involved with are still very active from again from residential communities to medical development to industrial manufacturing, manufacturers are still looking to relocate here. You know, the interest rates, the institutional capital is usually sort of the first to follow those interest rates. And the fuel prices, you know, certainly in the construction prices. I'm not going to say it doesn't have an effect, but I think South Carolina is a very easy place to come and be somewhat insulated from that.
Switzer: And so basically it sounds like it all boils down to the fact that we continue to be an in migration state. You know, we have more bodies coming in, we need more rooftops, we need more businesses. Is that a trend you see that's basically here to stay for a while?
Albergotti: I think so. It's very, it's a, it's, it all feeds on itself. The jobs feed the people and the people feed the jobs and the, all of that feeds the retail and the medical and you name it, development. And I don't see that slowing down. I mean certainly some macroeconomic event could have an impact on us, but for the time being we see we're a lot more insulated than some of these larger cities. And in other states, I mean, for instance, our office market here in Greenville is about as tight as you could ever be. But meanwhile there's, you know, towers getting foreclosed on left and right and other, other cities across America, same with multifamily. There's still developers wanting to come in and build apartments here in Greenville. Same, in Charleston, same in Columbia. And that's not happening in other places. Other projects are getting foreclosed on in other markets and we're still seeing the growth here in South Carolina.
Switzer: Okay. And so these projects need workers. Any issues finding workers?
Albergotti: No, I think that's where you know, we spend a lot of, a significant amount of our time in the upstate and there's just so many, the technical colleges, the, you know, what does Spartanburg have seven colleges? You can fact check me on that. But there's just so many drivers of the workforce here. Housing, as expensive as it is, is still affordable relative to most places which is keeping jobs here.
Switzer: Well, Gaston, thank you so much for your insight and for your time today.
Albergotti: Thank you Mike. Appreciate it.
Switzer: Gaston Albergotti is CEO at Dunean Capital Management. He joined us by phone from his office in Greenville, South Carolina. We will have a link to the company posted at our webpage so you can learn more SouthCarolinaPublicRadio.org where you can hear this show again and you can find us wherever you find podcasts with the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer.
The views expressed on the South Carolina Business Review do not necessarily reflect those of South Carolina Public Radio.
South Carolina Business Review transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of South Carolina Business Review’s programming.
