The Town of Waxhaw, North Carolina is a friendly, vibrant town with rich history. Located just south of the City of Charlotte, Waxhaw is growing quickly and has an affluent residential base.
As the town grows, one of its challenges is creating a sustainable tax base that’s not purely reliant on residential development. In 2015, Waxhaw decided to partner with Buxton to integrate analytics into its retail development process.
Recruiting Dunkin’ Donuts
A key success in Waxhaw’s partnership with Buxton to date is the recruitment of Dunkin’ Donuts. After being referred to a Dunkin’ Donuts real estate contact from a member of the community, Curt White, downtown development manager, arranged a meeting to explain why the town is a great fit for the brand. White used Buxton’s SCOUT application, a geospatial analytics tool, to conduct a comparison of Waxhaw’s proposed site and other similar Dunkin’ Donuts sites in the region. The reports clearly demonstrated that Waxhaw meets Dunkin’ Donuts’ trade area criteria and the company enthusiastically agreed to move forward with a site.
Overcoming Obstacles in Development
Like many development projects, the Dunkin’ Donuts deal was not without challenges. The initial site selected was subject to an ordinance prohibiting a drive-thru, and a community-sponsored amendment to change the ordinance did not pass.
Dunkin’ Donuts was committed to opening a location in Waxhaw, so White again turned to SCOUT to identify a different site in the city with comparable metrics. The new site – part of a proposed new development that had yet to finalize any tenants – was a great fit and the development project moved forward.
Analyzing Project Outcomes
Recruiting Dunkin’ Donuts has had a positive effect in more ways than one on Waxhaw’s economic development. After Dunkin’ Donuts agreed to the second proposed location, the shopping center’s broker was able to leverage that momentum to accelerate commitments from both Jersey Mike’s and East Coast Wings & Grill.
The Dunkin’ Donuts location is expected to generate $4,000-$6,000 in property taxes per year for the town, with the entire new 12,000 sq. ft. center bringing in approximately $12,000 per year in property taxes.
"Buxton puts the power in our hands.”
Continuing the Buxton Partnership
As Waxhaw’s story illustrates, empowering local government staff with tools and analytics makes a tremendous difference in economic development. White sees benefit in using the data both to set expectations and improve outcomes.
“The data really helped us have a more realistic picture of who we are from a retailer’s perspective and helps us to both target our outreach more efficiently and to set and manage expectations better with our community,” he notes.
But more importantly, having access to analytics gives Waxhaw more control over its future.
“Buxton puts the power in our hands,” explains White. “We aren’t reliant on Buxton every time we want to do something with a retailer. We have the ability to craft our own story.”