In a candid talk, Attorney Jonathan Breeden converses with local business man, Paul of HTR Commercial, about the stunning transformation Johnston County has witnessed over past decades. From burgeoning neighborhoods to prospering businesses, they discuss how strategic planning and development have made Johnston County a coveted North Carolinian destination.

Paul and I have been friends for the whole 23 years I've lived in Johnston County. And I think he's going to have a lot of good things to say about Johnston County and what it's like to build a business here. He's been in commercial real estate for a long time. Welcome to the podcast, Paul. Thank you very much.

But, that's the main gist of the work side of things and just so yeah. Right. So, yeah, I mean, you've been with I guess. It's Barry Woodard and James Lipscomb, everybody in Johnson County knows you're not, you know, you're not in Johnson County long if you don't know James Lipscomb and Barry Woodard, two of the, two of the nicest people you will ever meet.

A national brand had come to Clayton, so it felt like that was kind of putting Clayton on the map and and kind of Johnson County to a certain extent on the map. So I decided to jump ship here again, thinking 6 percent interest rate was the refiles are done. Purchase is going to slow down. I mean that tells you what kind of foresight I had to know that.

Rates would get down all the way to two point something. Right, right. And now we're up to seven percent and people freaking out and I mean we were just there not, you know.

Jonathan Breeden: So you and I have both been here. You've been here 25 years. I've been 23 years. What has been the most surprising thing about Johnston County?

And all the other thing, and all the other apartments, you know, 300 unit apartments, all the townhouses, all the other restaurants, and I, downtown really has not necessarily gotten larger, downtown Clayton has not necessarily gotten larger, but it is amazing how the flowers plantation area is unbelievably nice and the Riverwood area is really nice too.

But I wanted to be close to Raleigh with all the things that offers and be me being a huge Wolfpack fan and stuff like that. That was one of the reasons I came here. But I don't think I had any idea. I don't know if anybody did that, continue to grow like this at this pace and it's not slowing down.

Paul: Well a big part of this is the, we're very fortunate to be where we are in the United States. I mean, North Carolina is a great state and the area, the triangle area is a great area. So we're very fortunate from that standpoint of view. There's still some poor areas in the state of North Carolina, and there's some areas in the United States that aren't really doing real well.

So we're just, we're real, real lucky. And it just you know, in a lot of ways we're very lucky.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and we also have the intersection of. Arguably the two biggest interstates in the United States intersecting here with I 40 and I 95, and we're sort of halfway between Miami and New York, and we're right in that area, whether it's here or Lumberton or whatever, depending on which part of the cities you're going or starting from.

I think they've all been a little surprised too, but I think that is, I think that has helped that, that they've had a plan. I mean, 40, 42, a little bit of a mess with too many entrances onto the road and a fair number of crashes. But you know, that was in the mid nineties, they weren't real sure what they were doing.

But now with the new intersection, the DOT is building up here. I just think good management of over by the County over the years has helped.

Paul: I agree 100%. It is a very difficult thing to manage. Growth in a good way and I think they've done a very good job.

So I, I think. They've been doing really good and it looks like that the future is going to be good there too.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, I'm excited about what's coming. They've you know, they've kept our tax rates fairly low. They just did a 4 cent tax cut last year. I think the commissioners have done a pretty good job of funding the schools they gave the schools.

Like 90 million or something in local financing last year, which is a big chunk of the local budget. I think that's all positive. I think the commissioners in the school board are getting along, which I think also helps that's not always been the case of politics get involved and everything else.

So what are some of the things that you see you're on the horizon here for Johnson County? Any projects that you're well, we got districts getting ready to happen. I know you're not directly involved in that, but you know, some of the players maybe talk a little bit about that.

Well,

But I think that this will rival that area and you know, have an access to the hospital and have an access to, they're going to put some office space out there and there's no telling how many well, and also a nice hotel, but there's also no telling how many nice restaurants will probably come out there.

So we're, I just think it's going to be a wonderful thing and it will be part of the continued growth that, that we're seeing

Jonathan Breeden: in the county. And for those listening who have never heard of Is it is penny or is it copper? It's copper. It's copper. My bad. Excuse me. Copper penny. It's the copper district.

The penny family

Jonathan Breeden: So, okay. Right. So it's the copper district. And for those of y'all listening, not heard about it, this is going to be a huge mixed use development.

Similar to North Hills that is going to be at 42 and the 70 bypass, which is going to become the I 42 and not be called the 70 bypass here before too long. And it's going to be right there where the hospital is and all of the, there's a nursing home and all of that. And that's going to be, that's going to be unbelievable.

And the copper district is going to have 10 story buildings. I think I heard possibly 10

Paul: stories there when the original concept came out and here again, I don't know any more than what's public knowledge and what's talked about at the county commissioners meetings and stuff like that. But, you know, originally, I think when they were conceptually laying this out was before COVID and before.

Right. Because right now, I guess you got a three story hospital, and I would think that, whatever's going to go on over there, because I think they have up to like 300 acres now. They've acquired additional land around there. Okay. There's some. So, that's the great thing that the county is starting to recognize.

Hey, let's start letting these municipalities go up instead of out. And that is great. Here again, that's part of smart growth. And I'm glad

That should be opening up. I mean, we'll see what the weather, but possibly,

And then they've already got the 2 bridges over I 40 completed and then they'll be able to sort of complete that diverging diamond that they've got that is going to be there and then, you know, The 540 is coming along and it's going to be completed in the next year. I've seen a lot of different dates, but I've seen January of 25.

Paul: Yeah. When you create easy access to RTP and where the jobs are. It's easier for people to expand farther out to where they want to live. So it's just going to open up the Smith field and all the way, you know, Benson and down 95, even a little bit further, maybe even on the meadow. A lot of these people are going to see the growth that they don't want.

I mean, the four oaks is the meadows and. I don't know about Newton Grove, but anyway, a lot of people don't get excited. I mean, around here, people have not been excited in the past 20 years, which goes back to the county commissioners. You know, they've done a great job because I'm sure they've had, I'm sure they've heard it from their fellow peers that when they go out to eat and stuff like that, hey, why don't you slow down the growth?

Jonathan Breeden: Well, and, we sort of think about it out here, but there's a lot of other growth points in this county right now, with the this, the.

70 and 95 with the old North state food hall and that entire development by adventure development with industrial space and it's going to have some housing components to it as well. I mean, that's going to completely transform Selma as well. Pine level, I think has gone to like maybe at least.

The last I heard, we're talking about maybe putting a moratorium on approving new neighborhoods, because they approved so many new neighborhoods in Pine Level, and they've got to figure out what they're going to do about sewer and police and all of that. And a town like Pine Level could easily double in the next 10 years.

People want to live in Johnston County. People want to live in the triangle and we need to make it as good a place as it can be. And I think ultimately it benefits, I think it benefits everybody. Cause you're not going to stop it. It's a free world. People can live where they want to live.

This is a desirable location with desirable weather. We have a great transportation system, pretty good schools, access to everything you would want in Raleigh. We're getting more and more restaurants out here.

Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don't have to face it alone.

Jonathan Breeden: Speaking of that, what are some of your favorite restaurants here in Johnston County?

So those are my main two staples around here. And I wear Jersey Mike's out for lunch. Way too much. So, in downtown Clayton, I love Clayton Steakhouse, Manny's. They've done a great job with downtown Clayton on the restaurants down there. And Smithfield's got a lot of good vibe going down there with their stuff.

And just like you said, Selma. I think I just read where they have got another brewery that's coming in and there'll probably be some kind of restaurant tied into that. So, I'm with you in the next, I think, five to seven years, Selma's going to be drastically different than it is right now.

Downtown, the architectural Look for Selma and Smithfield downtown to me is really neat. I just think those both those downtowns are really neat.

It is. It's definitely worth the trip as is downtown Smithfield. Of course, I go to downtown Smithfield all the time with the courthouse being an attorney, but downtown Selma is neat. And I enjoy Manning's and Clayton's Steakhouse and Crawford's cook shop there in downtown Clayton. I mean, that was a big thing, I think, for Clayton to get somebody of the quad.

I mean, Scott Crawford is a nationally known chef. I mean, he is a phenomenal entrepreneur, phenomenal chef. And for him to choose Clayton for a restaurant, people line up trying to get a Crawford restaurant and for Clayton to get one, a few years ago was great and he's a good guy and he's built a tremendous business there along with Manning's and everything else.

And they've got the Front Street Tavern now and so there's really no reason for people.

And hopefully, maybe we'll be able to have the owner, Colleen Robey, on this podcast in a few weeks. So anyway, well, I guess we'll start to sort of wrap this up. So what do you see? I guess, what has you sort of excited? And we've talked about the growth, the good and the bad, but what kind of has you excited about?

Moving forward, whether it's with your business, with HDR commercial, living in Johnston County, what has you excited about the next couple of years?

Paul: Oh, man. I guess personally, my kids will be finishing up high school and moving on to college, and then just trying to figure out the next phase of my life with my wife and what all we, you know, it's time for us to start doing more adventure stuff, so we might be spending more time outside of Johnson County than inside of Johnson County once that starts happening, but I am looking forward to the continued growth and

I hope we can stay smart, keep crime low, and keep the schools good, like you were saying, because I think that's kind of what will keep our growth going. And if we mess up those areas, then it's really going to give us, it's going to hurt. And as long as we can keep those in line, then, The future should be bright for us.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, great. Well, if anybody that's listening to this is interested in how to reach out to you and HDR commercial, what's the best way to do that?

Jonathan Breeden: anytime. All right. Or hdrcommercial. com. Yep.

Paul: He looks up through there to you and access

Jonathan Breeden: email through there. All right, that's awesome.

We've got a lot of great guests coming on here in the next few weeks. And we don't want you to miss it. Thanks a lot.

.

That's the end of today's episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.

If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.