Next Bank Tower?

[atlrvr]

I'm just curious as to whether anyone thinks that a non-Charlotte bank will build a tower here. BofA and Wachovia have towers in many cities, though most non-Charlotte banks don't have offices here. I think SunTrust is the most intruiging possibility since they have announced plans to quickly grow the NC market. Does it make sense for them to be in the largest banking city in NC, or does it make sense to stay in Durham where CCB was, or does it make sense to go to Raleigh?

A case can be made for most of the ones listed........forumers, you make the call.

[CLTfanatic]

I doubt that anything other than BOA or Wachovia will get built anytime soon.

but if I had to say which was the most likely, I would probably say one of the bigger investment banks.

[DigitalSky]

Prob. Suntrust if any, I think CCB will stay in Durham and BB&T will stay in Raleigh.

[Miesian Corners]

Prob. Suntrust if any, I think CCB will stay in Durham and BB&T will stay in Raleigh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

CCB ceased to exist last week. It became SunTrust.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

Eventually some investment banks should find their way down here, when the NYSE goes to its proposed more electronic route. I don't when the investment banks will come though. Maybe within 15 years if we keep our larger banks.

[Nomanizan]

Does it make sense for them to be in the largest banking city in NC, or does it make sense to stay in Durham where CCB was, or does it make sense to go to Raleigh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Charlotte is not only the largest banking center in Charlotte, Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the country. New York is first. CCB was purchased by SunTrust. I would suspect that the CCB building in Durham will undergo a name change and it possible that SunTrust may have a presence here in Charlotte.

[OE-305]

A few years back Doug Smith rumored that Deutsche Bank was thinking of locating their North American headquaters either here or in Tampa Bay. I never heard any followup on this though. Does anybody know anything more about this?

[SmellyCat]

Eventually some investment banks should find their way down here, when the NYSE goes to its proposed more electronic route. I don't when the investment banks will come though. Maybe within 15 years if we keep our larger banks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rumors have been abound for the past several years that Morgan Stanley is in play for either Wachovia (more likely) or BofA to acquire in order to expand their global investment banking platforms. Of course, both banks assiduously deny their interest, which makes me believe even more strongly that they're both in pursuit.

[atlrvr]

I would like to see one of them buy Morgan Stanley, but do you think it would bring a lot of jobs (and tower) to Charlotte? When Wachovia bought Prudential, they kept their NJ headquarters.

I remember the DB rumor. There was speculation they would occupy the Westin office phase. To my knowledge, they did nothing at the time. Maybe now that the economy is stronger, they're scouting cities again.

[trader]

if WB's stock would improve and they bought Morgan Stanley, they would definitley consolidate Inv Banking headquarters in NYC (BofA is already doing this so less impact). I think it would be an upfront and significant loss of high-paying jobs in Charlotte and no new Tower (except that already announced). the longer term prospects are interesting though for Charlotte under that scenario, where WB would have the clout and cash to continue expansion of its retail bank on its own terms, and could be one of the largest 3 or 4 financial services companies in the world faster than you would imagine. I believe they would also imediately be the largest brokerage (maybe also headquartered in NY - right now WB brokerage is in Richmond). who knows who wins... shareholders? charlotte? nobody? everyone? Still, I would not expect an announcement.

I remember reading about DB as well a long time ago. I wonder about oversees banks looking for a bigger US presence.

[SmellyCat]

I would like to see one of them buy Morgan Stanley, but do you think it would bring a lot of jobs (and tower) to Charlotte?  When Wachovia bought Prudential, they kept their NJ headquarters.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do believe it would certainly bring many back office type jobs to Charlotte. However, I'm not sure how many professional jobs it would bring to the area if MS was acquired. Both firms seem to be geographically diversifying these days and increasing their NYC presence. Seems as though people have short memories of 9/11 and just after it, when many financial firms were moving vast blocks of space and people out of manhattan (both because they were forced to and by corporate mandate to reduce concentration risk)

I promise you this, if and when the next terrorist act occurs in NYC, God forbid, you may see many more professional type jobs at Wachovia and BofA doing an about-face back here or to other cities.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

and like I mentioned before I bet that the moving over to a more electronics based system at the NYSE will allow for investment companies to not be consolidated in NY.

But Im not an investment banker so...

[BryanH]

Personally, I don't think any of these banking companies will build a tower in Charlotte anytime soon. SunTrust is the leading contender. Their tower here in Atlanta is pretty impressive. SunTrust does have smaller towers in many other cities and could see them putting one in Charlotte in the near future to capatilize on their expansion in to NC.

If Duetsche Bank is still seeking a corporate headquarters in Charlotte than they might be likely as well.

Personally, the next corporate tower I would like to see would be one of Duke Energy. Their downtown complex pales in comparison to the bank's towers. It is time they step up to the plate, although I realize the economy is certainly not showing any sign of a complete rebound, so that may be why.

[eastsider]

I would definately like to see Duke Energy develop a new tower. However this does not seem likely, they have expanded into old Wachovia Center (now 400 S. Tryon?) and they just sold a block of their property to Wachovia for their tower announced last week. I believe that is the same block Duke was planning to develop a tower on a few years back.

[monsoon]

I would have voted "none" if that had been an option.

BB&T is HQ'd in Winston Salem, not Raleigh.

As far as I know, the only non-Charlotte based banks that have built a tower in DT Charlotte, were Wachovia (now First Union DBA Wachovia), and Southern National (DBA BB&T). Ironically both Winston-Salem banks.

Duke in the past has maintained that building a shiney new tower, or even simply putting some paint on its present concrete building would not serve the interests of its "regulated" customers. i.e. The NC Utilities Commission might not look favorably on rate increases if Duke is wasting money. It should be noted however that Bell South, (aka Southern Bell) overcame this limitation when it built a new tower for its NC HQ. It used to be in the BB&T tower which is another reason that BB&T does not need more space in CLT.

I heard the rumors about Deutsche Bank. I would be very surprised if they were looking for anything this major in the USA now.

The USA economy is actually in pretty bad shape. This is mostly due to huge Federal deficits and the enormous trade imbalances caused by purchases of foreign oil and the transfer of our manufacturing base to China. Banks realize this is a ticking time bomb that will go off soon and are not going to be investing in signature towers. Any bank that breaks this rule, will be taken over.

Towers are of course also built if there is an economic need. i.e. can the space be rented. All of CLT's major employers are not doing any major hiring in CLT so I don't see the need. Does anyone know what the actual employment numbers inside the loop?

[peaceloveunderstanding]

i thought it was around 40k+ but I could be a little off.

[monsoon]

i thought it was around 40k+ but I could be a little off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At one point I remember it being about 65K.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

er maybe I am way off. I think maybe I was thinking of Arrowood.

[appatone]

Out of the options above I went with Deutschebank, I just feel a foreign bank may target Charlotte for North America expansion more than it would any other NA city. Who knows maybe Barclay's could be a potential player. I think Barclay's has NA offices in San Fransico though.

[monsoon]

Barclay's used to have offices in Charlotte. I'm not sure what happened to them. They were rumored once, long ago, to be planning a big expansion in CLT.

[atlrvr]

There was some scandal or something, and they withdrew a lot of their US operations. They were planning a 20 something story off ice tower where 222 S. Church is (the Angry Ales)......I think there is a rendering of it on Emporis. It was a good looking building that is similar in design as Goldmand Sachs proposed building in downtown Manhattan.

[BryanH]

If SunTrust, the leader in the poll right now, does put up a tower in Charlotte, I'm sure it won't be enormous. It could be in the mid-to-low range size height wise. The new one they are anchoring in Nashville is only 13 stories high.

Sidenote: Now that SouthTrust has been bought out by Wachovia, the space STrust occupies in Southpark could be a great spot for SunTrust to open up a substantial workforce in CLT. Considering Wachovia will probably shed that space since they occupy a building nearby.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

What about Wells Fargo? Were they not at one time looking to have a larger presence on the east coast?

[monsoon]

I honestly don't see why any major bank would located into Charlotte. We have BofA and Wachovia, aka NCNB and First Union, because they are home grown.

[atlrvr]

Because Charlotte has a large talent pool of bankers, and a high concentration of associated businesses (i.e. banking lawyers/accountants, check processors, etc.)