Where we build
Abranova builds where it already owns, already has crews on the ground, and already knows what rent a finished unit achieves. That region is the North Carolina Research Triangle — and the case for it is not a hunch.
Figures sourced 2022 unless stated
Research Triangle Park
Located in the heart of North Carolina, the Research Triangle Region takes its name from Research Triangle Park and the three Tier 1 research universities minutes apart from one another — Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Comprising twelve member counties, the region is home to some of the fastest-growing companies and communities in the world. RTP itself remains one of the most successful science parks on earth: a hotbed for innovation where one in five residents holds a graduate degree, and where unemployment sits below the national average at around 4%.
Capital landing here
Housing demand in the Triangle is not a forecast. It is a consequence of decisions Apple, Google and Wolfspeed have already announced and are already spending against.
$1B+3,000 jobs
Apple announced it will invest over $1 billion in North Carolina, including a new campus and engineering hub in RTP creating at least 3,000 jobs in machine learning, artificial intelligence and software engineering. It is Apple's first campus on the east coast.
Cloud hub1,000 jobs
Google chose Durham for an engineering hub focused on cloud computing, aiming to create 1,000 jobs. The centre is being built in downtown Durham at 200 W. Morris Street, in the Durham Innovation District. The median Google worker earned just under $300,000 in 2021.
World's largestSilicon carbide
Wolfspeed selected North Carolina for the world's largest silicon carbide materials facility, partnering with North Carolina A&T to build a pipeline into the next generation of careers in the green economy.
The housing market
Up a record $6.9 trillion in a single year, and more than double the level of a decade earlier.
One of only 14 states whose total market value tops the $1 trillion mark.
Covering Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties.
Incomes
The Raleigh–Cary metro ranks first in the nation for the share of workers earning more than $100,000 a year in an area where the cost of living is below the national average. Durham–Chapel Hill ranks second among mid-sized metros.
74,860 of 633,260 workers earning $100k+
#2 among mid-sized metros
National share, adjusted for inflation
The Triangle labour market continues to heat up despite macroeconomic concerns. The Raleigh MSA saw a 16.4% year-over-year increase in median rental price as of September 2022 — twice the rate of US inflation over the same period.
The submarket
Most of the portfolio sits in Durham, so it gets the closest look.
Against a national average of 0.75%.
Raleigh, the larger city, managed 22%.
Faster than 90% of cities in the United States.
One of the most educated places in the country.
Durham's population was about 267,743 at the 2017 US Census estimate, having grown far faster than the national average since 2010 — and the growth has not been slowing.
Why Durham outran Raleigh on rent: affordability, plus high-paying technology and health care jobs in RTP. Research Triangle Park is home to 55,000 employees and performs $6 billion in combined annual research expenditure between companies and local universities.
Close to Research Triangle Park, downtown Durham and Duke, we aim at young professionals and students. The median age in 27703 is 29, and our research found that most people in that range lease for at least two years, with location and amenities playing a large role in the choice of home. A prime location, high-quality interior finishes and a genuine amenity centre are what win that resident.
| Measure | 1 mile | 3 miles | 5 miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,356 | 50,583 | 139,400 |
| Median age | 31.7 | 34.3 | 34.5 |
| Median income | $40,000 | $50,000 | $56,000 |
| Share of renters | 55.5% | 46.8% | 51.1% |
| Rental vacancy rate | 3.99% | 8.6% | 10.13% |
| Homeowner vacancy rate | 2.98% | 2.94% | 3.59% |
Demographics collected at 1, 3 and 5 mile radii around a Durham project site, used to test feasibility.
Median income understates household earning power near RTP, where a software engineer's mean salary was $90–100k.
Liveability
#2
Raleigh, out of 100 cities
Livability, 2019
#8
Duke University, scoring 92/100
US News Best Colleges
#2
Durham
Milken Institute, 2018
#3
Raleigh–Durham
Becker's Hospital Review
#4
Raleigh–Durham
CBS News, 2017
#1
250+ businesses of all sizes, 50,000 tech, STEM and creative workers
RTP
The metropolitan area's violent crime rate was lower than the national rate in 2020, calculated by US News from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports.
We underwrite this region off our own delivered projects in it. If you want to see how that translates into a specific deal, ask.
