New Building Progress

(Last Updated on 03/19/2010)

Thursday, March 18, 2010

After receiving a report on the bids, the Building Committee's recommendation and the CPA's comments about the contractors, the Board of Directors felt most confident that the best general contractor for this project is Clancy & Theys Construction Company and voted to hire them. Clancy & Theys is also the lowest bid out of the nine received.

Friday, February 26, 2010

The Building Committee interviewed the top two contractors and will be making a recommendation to the Board at its meeting on Thursday, March 18th.

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Building Subcommittee met to get additional information from the General Contractors. Their findings will be reported to the full Building Committee at their meeting on February 26th.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Building Committee Met and Opened Sealed Bids

A sub-committee will meet on Friday, February 12th to review the bids in further detail.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Request for Bids Letter Posted - Click Here to view this letter now.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Board of Directors Pass Building Motion

The WRAR and MLS Boards of Directors passed the following motion at their September 24, 2009 meeting:

Authorizing John Lennon to order the PME (plumbing, mechanical, electrical) and other necessary items for the proposed building on Sir Tyler and amending the budget to show payment from reserves.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The following Motion was passed by the membership at the 2009 Annual Meeting & Election:

We, the members of the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS®, support and authorize the Board of Directors to move forward with the projected construction of a new building with construction expected to begin in the Spring or Summer of 2010 with the following stipulations; the Board of Directors will:

Inform our membership of our progress via website and by invitation to member offices;
Continue due diligence for a building appropriate for our needs and responsive to the current economy.

NOTE: The Board wants to assure you that if at any time the financial projections change for the worse, we will not proceed with the current plan.

Building Task Force

Name	Email
John Lennon - Chair	Johnlennon@oceancrest.com
Jane Dodd	jane@janedodd.com
David Flory	dflory@ec.rr.com
Clark Hipp	clark@hippbest.com
Dottie Kilpatrick	dkilpat211@aol.com
George Laney	george@prulaney.com
John Pierson	jpierson@bryantre.com
Tom Spencer	tomspencer@seacoastrealty.com
Jeff Sweyer	jsweyer@c21sweyer.com
Louise Voelker	louisevoelker@remax.net

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

(FAQs Updated on 09/17/09)

Topic	Member Comment/Question	Comment/Answer
Banquet Area	Who will utilize the banquet rooms besides the REALTORS^®? Is that also available for rent?	The facility will be available for lease. Extensive discussions have been held with caterers, wedding, and meeting planners, etc., to insure the facility exceeds expectations and to confirm the demand for such a facility.
Building Design	Sounds exciting. Can we see the building plans along with the site plan? Great Job!	Each floor’s preliminary design may be seen by clicking on the links below: > 1st Floor (Occupied by WRAR) > 2nd Floor (For Lease with Build Out for Tenants Needs) > 3rd Floor (Meeting & Event Rental Space) The site and landscaping plans are still preliminary.
Contractors	Do we anticipate having the final bids in by our Sept. annual meeting? How many contractors were allowed to bid? Please tell me we are keeping the work among local folks! Thanks!	There are no final bids. The architect prepared an RFP, but without HVAC & P, M&E. The RFP was made available to 10 local contractors. 6 returned estimates. HVAC & P, M&E contractor estimates were within 10% range.
Cost of Project	What is the projected cost of this project?	Between 2.75 and 3.75 million dollars.
Cost Overruns	I have been through projects like this before and from my experience very few construction projects come in on or under budget, even with the best laid plans. I realize that some assumptions have to be made when planning for any project. The planning to this point has been wonderful and very thorough, however I feel like the economy is experiencing conditions we could have never expected a few years ago…maybe ever, I have heard many people say it’s the worst they have ever seen. The numbers used for the projections are admittedly conservative…just not as conservative now as compared to when the projections we made. Keep in mind that I am brining up these questions so I can support the project with confidence.	The contractors that submitted the budget estimates were careful to inflate their estimates for two reasons 1) the numbers they provided were not based on complete CDs (did not have plumbing, electrical and mechanical drawings-PM&E); 2) they put a premium on the fact that the date for starting the building was not set and the variables of labor and material were too difficult to pin down. The initial estimates—before PM&E are: Contingency: $500,000 + Escalation: $167,000. Together these equal $667,000 or 15.6% of the total project—which is a considerably high percentage.
Dues Going Up?	Will the new building result in increased dues or fees for members?	There are two projections: > Private Business Firm > CPA These are before the cash savings on taxes. The WRAR will have sufficient reserves after the construction.
Leasing Second Floor	Who will be n charge of leasing the second floor space? Will we be using a broker/manager or handling in house, if so who’s responsibility will it be?	The pro forma clearly shows a 3% management fee being paid: $9,063 for year one and $45,317 for years 2-5.-Our CEO has owned and managed a commercial office building in High Point and done residential property management at a franchise firm. He has negotiated two leases with the General Services Administration as well as many other leases within the building. The management included all of the accounting, hiring maintenance peoples, etc. Whether the Board would want it done internally to utilize the cost savings is not known—which is why the pro forma shows the management fees.
Less Space	Why are we planning WRAR to occupy less square footage than we currently occupy? Shouldn’t we be planning for more space for the future?	The big difference is in “useable” square footage. Currently have 4 people in cubicles in a room that is 12 X 14. We have 7 people each in one room each of which is 12 X 14. The current building is a staff building while the proposed building is a member building. Based upon the current design, 16 staff can be accommodated. Additionally there is a room across from the classroom (next to the elevator) for a potential marketing person. When you look at the configuration of the space, there is classroom space and a boardroom space that has a moveable wall—thus making the square footage much better for use. For example, the current building can only seat 28 classroom style upstairs. In the combined classroom/Board space, 40 people can be accommodated classroom style. This will lower costs for outside meeting facilities without the necessity of using the third floor. There is also a kitchen area with amenities that is not part of the current building. It is sorely needed for meetings. In our efforts to build “green” features, we will eliminate paper and plastic products and utilize the dishwasher. Also, REALTOR® Store inventory is kept in the attic and upstairs bathrooms. There is storage immediately adjacent to the store on the first floor. The architect has done a remarkable job in designing the space.
Location	Where is the property WRAR owns free and clear?	At the end of Sir Tyler Drive on the right.
Manage Banquet Facility	Who will be in charge of banquet sales and management? Are we hiring a new position? When will sales begin?	Initially, Dayma Edwards will be doing this. Dayma is earning her Certified Meeting Planner designation. A part time person would be hired when needed as her assistant to assist her with the management of the committees and councils. The expense for that position would come from the leasing of the third floor.
Membership Drops	What financial quotes or estimates do you have that would tell us we can still afford it if our membership drops below 1,400?	The last time WRAR had less than 1,400 primary REALTOR® members was during 2004. Click Here for years 2001-2009. The current REALTOR® count is 1,838. The CPA provided an analysis to the Board of Directors - Click Here.
Money	If membership drops 16% like it did at YE 2008, how can the Association still afford the new building?	The Association has sufficient undesignated reserves to fund a 16% drop in membership for three years. During the growth years, the Association reserves grew to over $2 million dollars all while expanding member services. The MLS also has reserves that have NOT been used to calculate whether the building could be built. Boards of Directors have been working toward this goal since 2001.
On-Line Voting	Why can’t we vote “online” is one I hear a lot.	The Board chose to conduct this business at the Annual Meeting as provided in Bylaws, Article XII, Section 1. Either online voting or a vote at a meeting is permitted.
Proxy Voting	Since I cannot attend the meeting, why can’t I give my proxy to someone?	Legal counsel has been consulted on this issue. The Bylaws provides that the authority for conducting meetings is governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, new revised as adopted in the Bylaws, Article XV. Section 45 of Robert’s states that a member must be present "It is a fundamental principle of parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the members of an organization who are actually present at the time the vote is taken in a legal meeting. Exceptions to this rule must be expressly stated in the bylaws. Such possible exceptions include: (a) voting by postal or electronic mail, or facsimile transmission (fax), and (b) proxy voting."
Rental Rates Too High	The pro-formas were prepared using $18/sf rent rates. Rates below $18/sf are becoming the norm and from all I have read and heard, commercial real estate is in for a very tough ride for the next several years. If the situation arises that find us with a significant drop in membership and a reduction in rent rates we are quickly in the red with the operation of this building and will have to raise dues to support it.	Reducing WRAR’s contribution from $12 to $5 p.s.f. and the rentable second floor space from $18 to it to $15 p.s.f. there is still a positive cash flow before taxes. If it is not 100% leased, then for a period of time monies would need to come from reserves.
Square Footage	How much square footage is there?	See Building Design above for proposal. The 1^st floor is for WRAR with approximately 7,310 which is less than in the current building. The staff offices have been considerably reduced. The 2^nd floor has 10,400 with 7,584 net leasable. 3^rd floor has 7,400 plus two green roofs.
Voting	Do I understand this that the Board IS allowing the membership to vote for a new building or not????	Yes! At the Annual Meeting on September 17th.
Why Now?	Why build now?	The Goal: > To serve the current needs of the members. > Prepare for the future needs of the current members. > Prepare for the needs of the future members. This is not a new idea. It began in 2001 when the Board did due diligence about the current site and concluded it could not serve the long-term needs of the members. Since 2003, two task forces have been convened to work toward a new site and a new facility. Commercial experts, residential agents and company owners have investigated, hired experts and asked very tough questions. The land is purchased and is free from any debt. The goal has always been to create a revenue stream to offset members’ costs. The current economic conditions have created very low interest rates and constructions costs.
Parking	Is there adequate parking?	There will be over 100 daytime parking spaces at the building not including on street space. We are working on being able to utilize the utility easement, too, which is quite large. Since most of the meetings will be at night or late evening, there is plenty of parking at adjacent facilities.