Socio-economic development management of large territorial complexes requires knowledge of their development model. In historical practice, two large economic development models of territories appeared: consumer model and investment model. The basis of the first one is the demand (needs) of people living in the territory, of the second it is investment in the main capital of territorial economic entities and large infrastructure projects. Essentially, these two models are not based on two mutually exclusive, but on two mutually reinforcing directions of territorial socio-economic development. But anytime there is dominance (and preference) of one or the other direction. Moreover, if we consider their implementation in terms of end results - economic growth rates, expressed in synthetic indicators of territory development, for example, GRP, it turns out that in this regard there is no obvious prefer-ence of one over the other. The model of territory socio-economic development based on consumption is relatively conservative evolutionary in nature. As for the investment model, it is more revolutionary in nature and depends on the volume and structure of investments coming into the territorial complex. The authors analyzed the socio-economic development state of a large territorial complex - the North Caucasus Federal District, based on official statistics and long-term observations. They revealed the features of existing development model, formalized and quantified the dependencies of GRP and the factors that ensure its growth. The authors also formulated conclusions and suggestions.