More than 300 CCIMs and guests packed into the banquet hall this week at Carmel Country Club to hear this year's third and final N.C. CCIM Commercial Real Estate Forecast. (Nos. 1 and 2 were held in Raleigh and Greensboro.) There should be a word for someone who attended all three. Trifector? Triumphant? Road Warrior?

Baked chicken and baby greens sustained everyone while they heard what many already knew: We're recovering—slowly. Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner (below) was the star. Mark says the national economy across the board is likely to improve 2% or 3% in the coming year. But the caveat is that the country is doing it with about 7.5 million fewer workers.

Locally, the Charlotte office market saw no new starts in Q4 '10, though companies did start filling in existing space. Commercial property sales had gotten overheated late in the last decade, Mark says, which unfortunately left many properties with inflated sales prices that probably aren't going to hold up in resale. Absorption of existing retail space was strong, in part due to construction being at an all time low. He also anticipates lending for new construction will remain largely flat, since many lenders still owe TARP money or have other financial baggage that's keeping their fingers tight on the purse strings. ?Credit is more likely to tighten than loosen as we go forward,? Mark says.