Conservation Easements

Despite historic successes, conservation efforts remain critical to protecting Upstate’s natural beauty

Source: Greenville News (September 1, 2022) – The mountains and foothills of northwestern South Carolina are a place of singular beauty and abundant natural resources, causing people to flock here for centuries. That growth has exploded exponentially in recent decades and, if left unchecked, it has the potential to destroy the very things that drew…

The Breakout Cities on the Forefront of America’s Economic Recovery

May 9, 2021 (Source: Wall Street Journal)  -Rising stars such as Greenville, S.C., Des Moines, Iowa, and Provo, Utah, built out vibrant economies even before the pandemic; now, they are drawing new workers and businesses The pandemic is accelerating growth in midsize cities, positioning them to lead the charge in the nation’s economic rebound. Even…

COVID-19 Has Changed The Housing Market Forever. Here’s Where Americans Are Moving (And Why)

October 11, 2020 – Source: Forbes/Peter Taylor – Amid all the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19 over the past six months, one thing is assured: the pandemic has re-ordered real estate markets across the board on an unprecedented scale. Some of this may be irreversible. Real estate’s re-sorting this time isn’t just based on markets…

SC Real Estate Simmering on All Fronts

November 23, 2020 (Source: Greenville Magaine/David Dykes/L. C. Leach III) Be it large or small commercial, industrial, office, retail, residential, or space devoted to tourism and greenery, the current real estate market in South Carolina is a boom looking for a place to erupt. And during the inaugural SC Leadership Exchange webinar in November, real…

Greenville, SC Might Just be the Hottest City in America Right Now. Here’s Proof.

Think you know the South — BBQ, country music, pickup trucks? Nope. Put your assumptions on hold when you visit Greenville, South Carolina, because here you’ll find far more fun, food, and straight-up personality than those typical Southern staples imply. Once you visit, you’ll realize that, out of the dozens of “Greenvilles” around the country,…

Georgia Leads in Innovative Land Conservation

Considered by many as a founding father of wildlife ecology and land preservation, Aldo Leopold believed “conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves in the public interest.” The conservation movement he helped inspire is now debating the appropriateness of those rewards when the land is owned by a real-estate partnership. I labor on the front lines of this debate as the head…

Greenville Named Fourth Fastest-Growing U.S. City

Source: Greenville News (May 25, 2017) –  A new report released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau probably won’t shock many who’ve watched the fast-paced development and influx of jobs in Greenville within the past decade. The city of Greenville, according to the bureau’s latest population figures, is the fourth-fastest-growing city in the nation —…