Five Below executives are buying mansions and opening offices in Naples
Who wouldn’t want a piece of the SWFL action?! According to Naples Daily News, the details are as follows:
- Five Below is taking over office space in the four-story 4099 Tamiami Trail building at Old Trail Drive across from DeVoe Cadillac in Naples.
- This coincides with Collier County mansion purchases by the discount store’s executives or their related trusts including a $5.7 million Pelican Bay gem tied to CEO Joel Anderson, according to public records research by In the Know.
- Five Below is on track to open 170 to 175 new stores this year and end fiscal 2021.
- While it has an impressive $11 billion market cap, that’s nowhere near the $30 billion of Ametek, which is opening corporate offices in Naples that could become new headquarters and would make it Southwest Florida’s highest.
Many corporate leaders have been making the move down south especially during the pandemic. Five Below was actually ahead of the game and opened satellite offices to accommodate their business before the peak of coronavirus.
This started with executives working remotely in their second homes and encouraging their companies to proceed with remote work – which has actually reduced operating costs and increased productivity.
There was, however, an interesting insight from the article regarding real estate – even though there are more corporate headquarter moves, they are getting smaller and smaller in terms of real estate requirements. Especially since remote working is more established, offices will continue to get smaller as the need for worker space will diminish.
Why Corporations are Moving to the Sunshine State
So what’s the draw? Florida, in general, has been quite the hot spot for attracting a number of industry leaders. According to the article, “the absence of a personal income tax in Florida, relative real estate bargains, low property taxes and the impact of remote workers staying in Southwest Florida and bringing their companies with them from states such as Boston, New York, Chicago, and California.”
We can definitely expect more of a corporate presence in SWFL. This article refers to these headquarter moves to SWFL as the ‘holy grail of economic development and I couldn’t agree more!
In my opinion, we are continuing to see the trend of residential and commercial developments making their way to South West Florida. It’s no surprise that many Big Players around the country are bullish on our little paradise.
What Does This Mean for Homeowners?
I am interested to see what happens to our housing market this season (October-March). We are seeing interest rates trending upwards. Historically, winter is the optimal time for homeowners to put their houses up for sale.
This may be a good time to upsize or downsize before the craziness that we have seen over the past 18 months comes to a halt. We have reached a new norm with home prices. I think we’re going to see the market shift from a hyper seller’s market into a healthier, more balanced market.
Leave A Comment