North Carolina State University Centennial Campus Bulging At The Seams.  Only 1 percent of its 2.4 million square feet of office and lab space is empty.  Because of the high demand for space in Campus buildings and despite the condition of the economy Craig Davis Properties is planning to build a 125,000 square foot office building on it.  Undertaking a $28 million building without any tenant commitments, slowing job growth and banks who don’t want to lend (or can’t), cause many to think Davis is flying in the face of reality.  On the other hand there is the lack of space where the demand is high and the fact that Campus is surrounded by two other tight office market areas; downtown Raleigh and West Raleigh.  Also, there is time for Davis to line up both the necessary financing and potential tenants since getting approval from city planning for the project will take about a year.  The plan also calls for a 5,000 square foot building and a 400 car parking deck.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com (currently being revised)

Triangle, North Carolina.  Average Pay For Full Professors At Duke And UNC Ranks High Nationally.  There is no doubt about it: top dollar draws the top talent in any field or business you care to name.  Academia is no different.  Top professorial pay is important to universities for their ability to draw top talent, to business and industry for the products and quality of students they produce, to the cities and immediate areas they serve for the business and quality of people they attract and, in many cases, the business they produce and businesses they draw to their respective states.

The average pay for full professors at Triangle universities during 2007 was: Duke - $152,600, University of North Carolina - $138,500, North Carolina State University - $110,800, North Carolina Central University - $99,300 and Meredith - $72,500.  Since 2000 these figures represent a 34.3 percent increase at Duke, a 37.3 percent increase an UNC, and a 21.1 percent increase at NCSU.  UNC now ranks third in the nation, for public schools, for average full professor pay behind the University of Maryland at Baltimore and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

It is a tough job to try and remain competitive with the top private schools such as Harvard and Stanford.  Harvard’s average was $184,400 and Stanford’s was $173,700.  While a number of private universities may pay more than the Triangle universities, the cost of living in North Carolina is enough less than the cost of living in California and in East coast communities to make the overall pay at Triangle universities about equal to them.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com 

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Delta Airlines and NCSU Renew Service and Plans.  The nonstop service Delta Airlines offered from Raleigh Durham International Airport to Los Angeles was terminated in January of this year.  While it was a popular flight they cited increased fuel costs and declining passenger numbers as their reasons for terminating the service.  It would appear that the real culprit concerning passenger decline was Delta’s change of the departure time from the original time to one that was an hour later and which produced an unfavorable arrival time.  None-the-less, Delta plans to start the service again for a limited period.  It will start on June 5 and stop on August 18.  After that - stay tuned.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY REVIVES CONFERENCE FACILITY AND HOTEL PROJECTS.   These projects were proposed in 2002 but were shot down by private hotel owners and legislators.  They said the projects presented unfair competition.  This time around the university will issue requests for proposals from private developers.  NCSU is pushing for these facilities because of the many meetings the university has with industry and academic groups on its’ Centennial Campus.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  $72 Million animal hospital Underway.  The hospital will be called the Randall B Terry Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center.  Mr. Randall, a High Point, North Carolina publisher earned the honor of having the hospital named after him by contributing $24 million of its cost.  The 115,000 square foot building will more than double existing treatment capacity.  When finished in 2009 the building will handle 30,000 cases annually.  A 500 space parking deck near the intersection of Blue Ridge Road and and Hillsborough Street will service the facility.  In the near future the College of Veterinary Medicine will break ground on a “flex” building of 47,500 square feet.  It will be part of this 20 year $500 million complex.

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: www.JohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina.  Arnold Palmer piloted his personal jet into Raleigh yesterday to attend the launching ceremonies for the North Carolina State University golf course his company designed.  Arnie, who won 62 PGA titles and whose company has designed more than 300 golf courses, is right at home in Raleigh.  He attended Wake Forest University which, at that time, was located just up the road from Raleigh in Wake Forest.   

The golf course will be located on the N.C. State Centennial Campus and be called the Lonnie Poole Golf Course.  Lonnie, a local business man, donated $3 million of the course’s $11.6 million cost.  Some twenty years in the making, the course will finally become a reality.  It will be the first course Arnie’s company has done on a college campus.  Perhaps this was meant to be since the two Palmer architects who will be in charge of the project are N.C. State graduates.  When completed it will be a public course.  It will be a major force in furthering N.C. State’s professional golf management and turf management programs.  It will also provide research, teaching and environmental testing opportunities.  Another thing it will most certainly help is the recruiting of young men and women for N.C. State’s golf team. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Website: wwwJohnFish.com

Raleigh, North Carolina - NC State University is planning a $500 million dollar, 20 year program that will quadruple the size of its veterinary school. The plan calls for more than 20 new research buildings where a combination of private and N.C. State scientists can develop drugs and treatments for animals and humans.  The college of veterinary medicine will shortlybreak ground on a 47,5000 square foot ”flex” building and, depending on the timing of funding, hopefully start a $38 million animal hospital by spring of 2008.  When completed the new Biomedical Centennial Campus will cover about 1.5 million square feet. 

John Fish (919) 696-3474   Email: marvmax@mindspring.com   Webmail: www.JohnFish.com