Queensbridge Collective - 1 tower, maybe 2

[queensguy06]

Pure spec is not that far of stretch for this building.  Riverside announced a spec office tower here in Denver back in January 2020 that's 30 stories & 700,000 sq.ft.  Now that the pandemic is subsiding, they are actively pushing this project forward, even with rather grim numbers in the market currently.  As has been mentioned somewhere above, they are looking to capitalize on the need for companies to attract employees back to the office with higher end amenities.  Riverside's own marketing material highlights the current state of the Denver market:

The volume of tenants actively seeking space in the Denver-area market at the end of the second quarter remained down 32% from February 2020, although an additional 250,000 square feet of demand returned to the market during the quarter. The subdued demand has been coupled with the delivery of 1.4 million square feet of office space this year... An additional 833,000 square feet of office space remains under construction, which JLL predicts will lift vacancy rates further. Riverside is betting that 1900 Lawrence will benefit not only from its amenity package, but also from its location in an area of downtown Denver...that appears poised to densify further in the coming years.

The company seems to be taking the same strategy post-covid that they started pre-covid with projects completed including a 55 story, 1.5 million sq.ft. and 54 story 1.2 million sq.ft. spec office buildings in Chicago, with a third tower at the same size completing Q1 next year.

[DonkeyKong]

Hello...Long time lurker.  Saw this over the wkend and thought it was interesting.   

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-allstate-sell-northbrook-headquarters-20211008-bcohc3rrkzen3fggshudecf2ge-story.html

[Richhamleigh, DC]

17 hours ago, SouthendSnoop said:

I completely agree. It’s pretty much becoming it’s own city. 
 

as for the tenant, I wouldn’t be suprised if bofa signed a lease and made it a part of their tech center. Gateway village is incredibly outdated and not what a Fortune 500 company should be pushing in order to draw new tech talent. 

Thank you, light rail and solid planning.

[Mid South NC]

Worth sharing on UP! 

Cred. @the5and2project on the gram 

[go_vertical]

From that angle it sorta feels like three towers won't be as dense as originally thought. I'm sure it's a trick of the eye or something. 

[SydneyCarton]

It's a gigantic site.  I'm pleased that it won't be super-dense.  It will be nice to have greenspace interspersed.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2021 by SydneyCarton

[Hushpuppy321]

Gonna be pretty interesting to see the Site Plan and Building Massing for this large site.

[atlrvr]

4 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Probably one of the most "googled" walking routes in Charlotte.

[KJHburg]

This office tower keeps getting bigger and bigger.  In the intial press release it was at least 800,000 sq ft then I heard 1 M sq ft now I am hearing 1.2 M sq ft which would put it as the 2nd or so biggest office tower in the city.  DEC is 1.3 M sq ft and BofCC is 1.2 M sq ft.   All this leads me to  almost certainty there is an anchor tenant for this building and I have a few ideas whom it is.  

[csweet]

4 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This office tower keeps getting bigger and bigger.  In the intial press release it was at least 800,000 sq ft then I heard 1 M sq ft now I am hearing 1.2 M sq ft which would put it as the 2nd or so biggest office tower in the city.  DEC is 1.3 M sq ft and BofCC is 1.2 M sq ft.   All this leads me to  almost certainty there is an anchor tenant for this building and I have a few ideas whom it is.  

Awesome insight! Any hints as to whom it may be?

[KJHburg]

15 minutes ago, csweet said:

Awesome insight! Any hints as to whom it may be?

Not for sure but Riverside in its press release said "our national tenants are driving up to this market"   one of their anchors in Chicago is .....Bank of America.    BofA is doing a flight to quality new buildings everywhere from Houston to Chicago to even here in Charlotte.  Look they moved out of 101 Independence and the previously named BofA Plaza at the Square.  BofA leases a lot of space uptown but they own several buildings like BofACC,  1 BAC,  Gateway Plaza,  400 N Tryon building but they lease more space around town in 5/3 Tower,  the 525 Tryon building, Gateway Center,  WakeForest Center on N College and I am probably missing some places too.    They love to shuffle people around uptown too in different spots depending growth or no growth of that department.  

This list is from 2015 so could be out of date from the Biz Journal about BofA space uptown:

BofA’s big blocks uptown

 

Gateway Village: 1 million square feet     OWN THIS 

1 Bank of America Center: 700,000 square feet   OWN THIS 

Bank of America Corporate Center: 600,000 square feet   OWN THIS 

Bank of America Plaza: 400,000 square feet   VACATED 

Transamerica Square: 400,000 square feet  OWN THIS 

Wake Forest University Charlotte Center: 400,000 square feet   LEASED 

Hearst Tower: 350,000 square feet   VACATED 

Fifth Third Center: 300,000 square feet   LEASE 

Gateway Center: 300,000 square feet   LEASE 

101 Independence Center: 250,000 square feet  VACATED 

525 North Tryon: 200,000 square feet  LEASE

620 SOUTH TRYON LEGACY 600,000 sq ft here now (my add) 

so to answer my own question could they move out of 2 or 3 places and anchor a huge new office tower.  YES

Edited November 19, 2021 by KJHburg

[CLT2014]

Gateway Village has a terrible reputation among BofA employees. Being assigned that office is like getting cast away to a deserted island. The vibe is depressing, it isn't walking distance to anything appealing, it isn't well connected to the other offices Uptown, et... I wouldn't be surprised if BofA is ready to give that space up and move technology and ops employees to a better office. 

Edited November 19, 2021 by CLT2014

[carolinaboy]

30 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This office tower keeps getting bigger and bigger.  In the intial press release it was at least 800,000 sq ft then I heard 1 M sq ft now I am hearing 1.2 M sq ft which would put it as the 2nd or so biggest office tower in the city.  DEC is 1.3 M sq ft and BofCC is 1.2 M sq ft.   All this leads me to  almost certainty there is an anchor tenant for this building and I have a few ideas whom it is.  

I'm all for a new large and tall office tower but I'm beginning to wonder if South End is the appropriate place for such height. I think a tower of this magnitude would be an albatross in South End and would much rather see it in Uptown proper. I understand the magnetic pull of South End but have mixed feelings about a building this size there.

 

A block away from a light rail stop I see. I get it.

Edited November 19, 2021 by carolinaboy
added thought

[KJHburg]

This is very north end of Southend so it is sort of bridge district between the 2.  It is literally 2 blocks from 33 story Bank of America tower and Ally Bank Center etc.   I would not one a tower this high or big down by the Scaleybark station but I think this is appropriate for these blocks just outside the 277 loop.  

[deleted account]

19 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Gateway Village has a terrible reputation among BofA employees. Being assigned that office is like getting cast away to a deserted island. The vibe is depressing, it isn't walking distance to anything appealing, it isn't well connected to the other offices Uptown, et...

This is probably true since I've heard it enough elsewhere. I work in the 900 building (NOT for the bank). I like the building/complex, though I definitely miss the YMCA that closed. It's better now with the streetcar too. But I guess if you work for BOA, it's Siberia. 

[15895]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This office tower keeps getting bigger and bigger.  In the intial press release it was at least 800,000 sq ft then I heard 1 M sq ft now I am hearing 1.2 M sq ft which would put it as the 2nd or so biggest office tower in the city.  DEC is 1.3 M sq ft and BofCC is 1.2 M sq ft.   All this leads me to  almost certainty there is an anchor tenant for this building and I have a few ideas whom it is.  

I would be happy if this was Charlotte's new tallest or so. I doubt it would be but it'd be sweet.

 

 

[KJHburg]

37 minutes ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

I would be happy if this was Charlotte's new tallest or so. I doubt it would be but it'd be sweet.

 

 

It wont be as planned now but it will be in the top 5 or 6 for sure.  

[InTheYear2000]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Not for sure but Riverside in its press release said "our national tenants are driving up to this market"   one of their anchors in Chicago is .....Bank of America.    BofA is doing a flight to quality new buildings everywhere from Houston to Chicago to even here in Charlotte.  Look they moved out of 101 Independence and the previously named BofA Plaza at the Square.  BofA leases a lot of space uptown but they own several buildings like BofACC,  1 BAC,  Gateway Plaza,  400 N Tryon building but they lease more space around town in 5/3 Tower,  the 525 Tryon building, Gateway Center,  WakeForest Center on N College and I am probably missing some places too.    They love to shuffle people around uptown too in different spots depending growth or no growth of that department.  

This list is from 2015 so could be out of date from the Biz Journal about BofA space uptown:

BofA’s big blocks uptown

 

Gateway Village: 1 million square feet     OWN THIS 

1 Bank of America Center: 700,000 square feet   OWN THIS 

Bank of America Corporate Center: 600,000 square feet   OWN THIS 

Bank of America Plaza: 400,000 square feet   VACATED 

Transamerica Square: 400,000 square feet  OWN THIS 

Wake Forest University Charlotte Center: 400,000 square feet   LEASED 

Hearst Tower: 350,000 square feet   VACATED 

Fifth Third Center: 300,000 square feet   LEASE 

Gateway Center: 300,000 square feet   LEASE 

101 Independence Center: 250,000 square feet  VACATED 

525 North Tryon: 200,000 square feet  LEASE

620 SOUTH TRYON LEGACY 600,000 sq ft here now (my add) 

so to answer my own question could they move out of 2 or 3 places and anchor a huge new office tower.  YES

I certainly think it's possible for BofA, but my doubts stem from the roles that fill out Gateway and Wake(the two least desirable offices in uptown). BofA typically only keeps profit centers in class A+ offices and Gateway & WF has few of those. I could see a push to get tech folks in a fancy office but that would be a change to the current model.  Someone buy one of the  JLL folks a few beers and get the scoop for us.  

[joenc]

Didn't Bank of America recently adjust their tech executive team?

[TheRealClayton]

2 hours ago, carolinaboy said:

I'm all for a new large and tall office tower but I'm beginning to wonder if South End is the appropriate place for such height. I think a tower of this magnitude would be an albatross in South End and would much rather see it in Uptown proper. I understand the magnetic pull of South End but have mixed feelings about a building this size there.

 

A block away from a light rail stop I see. I get it.

It won't be an albatross because it won't be alone. 

[InTheYear2000]

1 minute ago, joenc said:

Didn't Bank of America recently adjust their tech executive team?

Tech used to be combined in one org with operations, those have been effectively split.

[DMann]

Perhaps that would hasten a bridge over I-277?

[queensguy06]

This is probably the project that I have been most amped about in some time, at least since DEC.  There are so many reasons to like where this project currently sits, from the location to the developer.  To me, it's one of those projects that can be transformative beyond it's actual buildout (i.e. extending Uptown into SouthEnd, spurring further discussion of a cap over the Belk, altering the skyline in height and aesthetic, etc.).

Now for my armchair mathematics on what my guess is for height/floors assuming the 1.2 million sq.ft. is the final build  - obviously these numbers will be based on floor plate size, so I've given a range and then my prediction:

Low end:  41 stories @ 581'
High end:  52 stories @ 737'

My prediction:  Third tallest building in Charlotte with 48 stories and 680'.  Talk amongst yourselves.

[Madison Parkitect]

2 hours ago, InTheYear2000 said:

I certainly think it's possible for BofA, but my doubts stem from the roles that fill out Gateway and Wake(the two least desirable offices in uptown). BofA typically only keeps profit centers in class A+ offices and Gateway & WF has few of those. I could see a push to get tech folks in a fancy office but that would be a change to the current model.  Someone buy one of the  JLL folks a few beers and get the scoop for us.  

From working on the Lowe's tower I know a big reason for them building it and making it such a nice office was to attract the young tech talent that are often given huge perks and cool offices in today's environment. I could definitely see BofA seeing Lowes build that tower and thinking "oh no, we're going to lose our talent, we need to get them into a better space." Don't know whether that means they'll be the tenant here, but it's possible that the Lowe's tower is putting some pressure on the other big players in town.

[KJHburg]

the site and yes don't worry this 3 tower complex of Riverside will have some competition very close by in terms of a high rise or two.    This area will very much look like a continuation of uptown Charlotte in the near future.