Investors are interested in opportunistic retail property deals in metro Charlotte, NAI Southern Real Estate SVP Neill Wilkinson tells us, citing the recent sale of Mint Hill Festival in Mint Hill--especially in light of the fact that a bank owned the property.The result, he says, was a lot of low offers that werent even considered. The 59k SF property ultimately sold for $2.5M, with Neill repping the seller, Regions Bank.

Romans Property prez Chris Orr, who repped the buyer in the deal, a Canadian investment group, tells us that from his client's perspective, Charlotte and the Southeast are a good place to find long-term sustainable growth. Canada is much like the US in 2005, he notes. (They must've just heard "Don't Phunk with My Heart" for the first time.) Its hard for real estate firms to get solid returns, so my client is having me look for property across major metros in the Southeast. Charlotte in particular has emerged from the recession with more strength than anticipated.