A cold, wet storm gave us a good soaking the last few days, but has finally departed the Upstate and we're looking for nice clear days with highs in the mid to upper 50's for the rest of the week.

As growth pushes further into Greenville County, residents are rethinking the historic lack of zoning and considering it for the future. Building permits have increased 42% since 2001 and look to continue in that direction. The availability of jobs and raw land tend to fuel this growth, reports Grant Cunningham, a planning professor of Clemson University. Greenville school district's decision to build mega-schools in the outlying areas where land is cheap has also played a factor in the outward growth.

Year/Number of building permits: 2001/2032, 2002/2032, 2003/2099, 2004/2326, 2005/2896.

Source: Lee Polowczuk, Greenville County spokesperson & Greenville News

In commercial real estate, Bon Secours St. Francis Health Systems has taken an option on 54 acres in the new 250 acre Millennium Campus. This campus is adjacent to the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) project and across I-85 from the large planned-residential Verdae project. If fully developed, it would dwarf their downtown location (30.2 acres) and their satellite Women's and Family Hospital (15 acres) on the eastside. St. Francis recently abandoned a proposed parking deck joint venture with Greenville Hospital System on the Eastside campus.

Residential real estate sales have remained brisk throughout the fall and holiday season and are expected to continue into 2006. New home construction remains a major player in the inventory of homes available on the market.

Lee Cunningham

Lee was a professional mountaineering guide, climber and professional avalanche team/ski patroller for over 10 years.

Lee originally comes from west Texas, and moved to Charlotte, NC at an early age. Lee went to school at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Real Estate. Lee moved to Washington State where he worked in the summer months building custom homes including his own home. In the winter months he worked on a professional avalanche team at the ski resorts.Lee left Washington State deciding to seek a more challenging life as a guide on Kilimanjaro for Serengeti Safari in Kenya Africa. When Lee came back to the states he transitioned into head of sales and marketing with Mountain Madness guides. Sales and Marketing fit Lee's outgoing personality perfectly. Lee left the company to begin working with his father in industrial sales. Lee later moved to Greenville SC to take a position as National Sales Manager in industrial sales for Rieter, a German based company, where he gained valuable sales and marketing experience.

In Greenville Lee became interested in real estate again after purchasing a new home, investing in several rental properties and meeting and marrying Mechelle whose mother and brother are successful realtors in Atlanta, GA.

Realtor since 2000 CRS, Certificed Residential Specialist ABR, Accredited Buyer Representative, GRI, Graduate of the Realtor Institute Top 100 Teams in the Carolinas 2003 "The Rising Star" award by RE/MAX Realty Professionals 2004 Member, Multiple Listing Service Member, National Association of Realtors Member, Greater Greenville Association of Realtors RE/MAX 100% Club