Ed Cone thinks so after a trip out to Corolla.
Could be. I haven’t been since 2002, the OBX being much, much easier to get to from suburban DC than Charlotte. In fact, I’m not certain how you would get to, say, Duck from Charlotte in less than 10 hours, maybe 2 days. And here’s a fun fact: The northern tip of Route 12 was not paved until 1985. Even into the early and mid 90s, it felt like you had stumbled into a time warp out there.
Anyway, around 2000-01 it was clear that the scourge of humanity — golf — would soon make inroads into the Northern Banks and with it scads of slack-jawed duffers were sure to follow. Once golf happens the oulet malls are sure to follow. This is because the ladies have have to something equally mind-numbing and expensive to do whilst their hubbies knock a little ball around and talk about their (imaginary) mistresses amongst themselves. The odd cigar is also smoked, as the courage to put something that is on fire into your mouth is highly prized among this oafish breed.
In sum, property owners and developers moved to make the Northern Banks less unique and, in theory, more appealing to broader population of vacationers. Maybe that works. But like car design, once you start aiming for the broad middle as your first development goal, especially when you start with a niche product, you sometimes lose more than you gain.
Overbuilding happens when too many real estate investors think that economies of scale will make up for lower marginal returns. The market, if allowed to function, will punish them accordingly. Then their wives will run off with the hired help while they are on the links.
It is nature’s way.
