Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[Desert Power]

On 9/14/2019 at 2:42 PM, kermit said:

On 9/14/2019 at 2:31 PM, CLT2014 said:

The R&D portion of the new headquarters campus would be the most likely reason they go somewhat suburban. The needs of an R&D campus that needs to handle chemical and resin deliveries, solvents, freight elevators, ventilation, et. would require a custom built building in Uptown. They could separate the R&D campus from the administrative functions of the company, but there are certainly synergies from having R&D leadership / teams co-located with the business units. 

I could see them in an area like near Camp North End where they could build a 4-5 story R&D building next to a 12 story tower for admin. 

Sounds like a job for Gold District / Charlotte Pipe area.

Plenty of land in the Levine Expanse in 1st Ward for something like this too, but it would be a game-changer in the areas you guys listed.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Desert Power

[stw52]

https://better.com/ setting up in Charlotte. Plan for 1000 jobs over the coming years. 

[J-Rob]

Full Observer Story.  Better.com opening at WeWork in RailYard.   There are no incentives attached, which means there are a few other big fish out there still since we know incentives have been discussed by government leaders.   Moving to CLT largely because of partnership with Ally.  They really need to make CLT the official Ally HQ.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article235129747.html

Edited September 16, 2019 by J-Rob

[Madison Parkitect]

23 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

They really need to make CLT the official Ally HQ.

Any chance that's one of the big HQ announcements coming before the end of the year? Or have we ruled that out already?

[QClifer]

There is no talk of Ally moving here from the top. Not happening

[CLT2014]

29 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

Moving to CLT largely because of partnership with Ally.  They really need to make CLT the official Ally HQ.

Biggest reason the HQ probably won't be moving anytime soon.... Ally's Auto and Auto Insurance business are all largely located in Detroit and drive 86% of the revenue of Ally Financial. Leadership is smart and not looking to alienate the employees that drive the vast majority of the firm's earnings.  Charlotte has been a nice hub to grab talent for the deposits bank to lower the cost of funding, but Ally is still largely an auto lender and those teams are in Detroit. 

Edited September 16, 2019 by CLT2014

[J-Rob]

38 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Biggest reason the HQ probably won't be moving anytime soon.... Ally's Auto and Auto Insurance business are all largely located in Detroit and drive 86% of the revenue of Ally Financial. Leadership is smart and not looking to alienate the employees that drive the vast majority of the firm's earnings.  Charlotte has been a nice hub to grab talent for the deposits bank to lower the cost of funding, but Ally is still largely an auto lender and those teams are in Detroit. 

With the partnership with better.com, they are obviously trying to drive mortgage revenue, which based on the size of mortgages compared to car loans, could catch up pretty quickly. 

38 minutes ago, QClifer said:

There is no talk of Ally moving here from the top. Not happening

I know you mentioned this before too.  I totally believe you.  I still think it should happen whether it does or not.  Last time I checked they were posting jobs in CLT, not Detroit.

Edited September 16, 2019 by J-Rob

[lancer22]

43 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

Any chance that's one of the big HQ announcements coming before the end of the year? Or have we ruled that out already?

It is not

 

[Clemson16]

31 minutes ago, lancer22 said:

It is not

 

How big are the big fish in relation to this announcement?

[Guest]

4 hours ago, CharlotteWkndBuzz said:

I'm trying to get my bearings straight...The pedestrian bridge appears to be parallel with the light rail bridge, which makes me wonder does the Westin need this when there is going to be the Rail  Trail extension? 

Its all the same bridge, this bridge is for the Rail Trail Extension

[lancer22]

27 minutes ago, Clemson16 said:

How big are the big fish in relation to this announcement?

Bigger fish, but within the same species.

 

[Madison Parkitect]

3 minutes ago, lancer22 said:

Bigger fish, but within the same species.

 

Oh damn! So a bank! 

[KJHburg]

Better.com already has  62 or so employees (from my sources)  at the WeWork at the Railyard.   At this growth they will need their own space and using WeWork as others like MUFG Union Bank to launch their expansion into the Charlotte market.  Here is the Business Journal article about it and great win for Charlotte.  Their partnership with Ally Bank is crucial resulting in 70% of Ally's mortgage originations.  Most of their employees are at their NYC HQ and a few in California all very high cost states to do business.  I watch this to grow big as they predict.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/16/digital-mortgage-lender-seeks-to-hire-1-000-in.html?iana=hpmvp_clt_news_headline    Open to all to read

They have offices at the World Trade Center in NYC, San Fran and Orange County all high cost places to do business for sure. And all started in WeWork and grew into their own space which will happen here at some point.

And yeah this is the not the BIG one yet.

Also  big announcement tomorrow in Raleigh specifically Sanford NC of a major Indian automotive parts manufacturing which could lead to Manhindra opening a plant here maybe.

""An Indian manufacturing giant appears to have chosen the greater Triangle region for a massive project – one that includes initial investments worth more than $170 million.  “Project Forge,” identified by sources close to the negotiations as Kalyani Group, is now expected to create 460 new jobs over the next 10 years, averaging nearly $52,000 in annual wages, according to documents on file with the City of Sanford, site of the project's proposed location in Lee County.  And it could be a long-term play, as initially, sources told the Triangle Business Journal the project could one day mean more than $1.5 billion in investment"""   From the Triangle Business Journal

Love the fall for the econ development announcements and fall foliage and football of course.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

In other good news global manufacturer adding an R&D center in Charlotte adding 25 jobs.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/16/manufacturer-to-add-r-d-center-25-jobs-in.html

[KJHburg]

Here is the Agenda story about Better.com new office in Charlotte.

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/179590/fintech-startup-better-com-plans-to-add-1000-high-paying-jobs-in-charlotte/

[Cadi40]

Just wake me up for the big announcement fellas 

[J-Rob]

1000 jobs is a big announcement.  Maybe not the big fish we are all waiting for, but most places in the US would be salivating over 1000 jobs which will most likely lead to real estate development down the line.

[DMann]

Any thought that they might backfill the current Ally building when they move into their new digs?

[KJHburg]

Once 2021 comes and Ally Bank moves out of its S Church St offices to their tower there will be a block of open space in that building so it is definitely a possibility.  Plus it would be only 2 blocks from the new Ally Center on S Tryon. 

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, DMann said:

Any thought that they might backfill the current Ally building when they move into their new digs?

I think that's a real possibility.

[jordan704]

I have a friend that works in that building and claims they are not moving. As I stated before they said they didn't have room in the new building. Source isn't a low level position either. 

[KJHburg]

1 hour ago, jordan704 said:

I have a friend that works in that building and claims they are not moving. As I stated before they said they didn't have room in the new building. Source isn't a low level position either. 

So you are saying Ally Bank is keeping a lot of if not all of their space in south Church St building.?  I do know they have people at WeWork in the First Citizens Bank and in Southpark and Ballantyne as well. 

[lancer22]

15 hours ago, jordan704 said:

I have a friend that works in that building and claims they are not moving. As I stated before they said they didn't have room in the new building. Source isn't a low level position either. 

For what it's worth they are currently trying to backfill the current Ally space with another tenant. Methinks your friend is wrong.

[CLT2014]

All of Ally's floors are listed as available for lease on Trinity's website as well and actively being marketed: https://www.trinity-partners.com/listing/ally-center/

[jordan704]

*Deleting my snarky remark* 

Edited September 18, 2019 by jordan704
Unnecessary