Home Local News C.F. Smith planning to move headquarters from Rockingham to Pinehurst

C.F. Smith planning to move headquarters from Rockingham to Pinehurst

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ROCKINGHAM — A longtime Richmond County-based commercial real estate company is planning to move a little farther north.

C.F. Smith Property Group recently purchased a historic property in Pinehurst for its new headquarters, CEO Neil Robinette confirmed Wednesday.

The news was first announced July 26 by Triangle Business Journal.

Robinette said the purchase of the century-old Magnolia Place was “two-fold.”

The primary reason, he said, was as an investment strategy, meeting the company’s objective of growing its real estate portfolio.

The company has also been searching for an opportunity to have a headquarter presence in neighboring Moore County, Robinette added.

“Obviously it’s a big transition for us,” he said. “For our team today, it was a transition that made a lot of sense.”

The company, formerly known as Tri-City Inc., re-branded in 2020 in honor of its namesake founder, Claude Felton Smith Jr. — Robinette’s grandfather.

As a young entrepreneur, Smith founded the company in 1965 and developed his first shopping center in Rockingham.

The company’s portfolio has since increased to a variety of holdings — from retail, to medical and office, to solar to mixed-use to golf and resort communities — in 23 states.

Robinette started leading the company soon after Smith’s death in 2014.

C.F. Smith already has a strong presence in Moore County including Pinehurst No. 9 and several historic mixed-use buildings in downtown Southern Pines, according to its website.

Robinette said the company intends to keep some presence in Rockingham.

The current main office is located at Richmond Plaza and moved there from its former space in a standalone building on the property following a multi-million dollar renovation several years back.

Robinette said it is more room that would be needed for a satellite branch, so the plan is to lease out the office space.

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Recent additions to the plaza include Planet Fitness, Firehouse Subs, Aspen Dental and Burke’s Outlet. Headlines Hair Salon also moved to the plaza from its original downtown location.

The largest vacant space in Richmond Plaza at the moment is the former Save A Lot grocery store.

C.F. Smith announced earlier this year that Tropical Smoothie would be coming in to fill the void left by GNC.

Fuji Grill, which had closed down, was recently reopened by an experienced local restaurateur.

“I think he’s done a great job with that space,” Robinette said.

The company is also developing Broad Station Commons nearby, which will house Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s Subs and T-Mobile.

Robinette said Wednesday that they are seeing a lot of interest from retailers that have traditionally declined the Richmond County market.



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